organisation - the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência

THE IGC AT A GLANCE
The Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) is an international biomedical research
and graduate training institute, dedicated to promoting multidisciplinary science
of excellence and a new generation of scientific leaders.
The IGC operates as a host institution that provides an entrance hall into Portugal
for national and international researchers and clinicians, with a view to setting
up and developing research programmes of excellence and strengthening the
scientific community, both nationally and internationally.
The IGC mssions are thus:
• To identify, educate and incubate new research leaders, providing state-
-of-the-art facilities and full financial and intellectual autonomy to pursue
research projects;
• To export new leaders in biomedical research to research centres and academia
in Portugal and internationally;
• To provide international graduate teaching and structured training programmes;
• To promote the values of science in society, scientific literacy, and the
active participation of citizens in scientific research, through engagement
with different communities and stakeholders;
• To foster technology transfer, intellectual property (IP) licensing and commercialization
and start-ups.
The IGC was set up by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, a Portuguese private
institution of general public utility, in 1961.
The institute is part of the Oeiras Campus, home to several other basic and applied
research centres in biology, biotechnology and chemistry, including the
Associated Laboratory ITQB, made up of the IGC, the Instituto de Tecnologia
Química e Biológica (ITQB) the Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica
(IBET) and the Centre for the Study of Chronic Diseases (CEDOC).
Since 1998, the IGC has hosted 77 research
groups; 36 of these have moved on to other
research institutes, 31 to research centres
in Portugal.
37 research groups in Portugal are IGC-associated
groups, with access to IGC facilities
and services.
The IGC pioneered graduate training in
Portugal. Since 1993, 6 PhD Programmes
have been set up, with approximately 80
speakers/year/programme;
By October 2011, 540 PhD students had
started their science education at the IGC
in programmes and research groups;
A worldwide network of over 350 Gulbenkian
alumni hold regular meetings.
RESEARCH
Research at the IGC is organism centred, hypothesis driven, integrative and multidisciplinary
in approach. The focus is on the genetic bases of development
and evolution of complex systems, spanning the following areas:
• Evolutionary biology
• Cell biology, cell cycle, DNA repair and ageing
• Inflammation, immunity and auto-immunity
• Host pathogens interactions
• Developmental biology in animals and plants
• Genetics of complex diseases: malaria, diabetes Type I, lupus
• Behavioural neuroscience
• Theoretical and computational biology
IGC PEOPLE
In 2011*:
368 People work at the IGC
• 33 Average age
30 Nationalities
• 275 Portuguese
• 95 Rest of the World
318 researchers (does not include
facilities or services staff)
144 PhD holders
• 35 Principal Investigators
18 Portuguese
17 Rest of the World
17 Female
18 Male
• 9 Research Fellows
• 11 Facility/Service Heads & Staff
• 89 Post-docs
93 PhD students (not including
1st year students)
44 Technicians
31 Trainees
22 Facilities/Service Staff
4 Visiting scientists
13 Masters Students
17 Administrative Staff
4 PhD Programmes
35 Research Groups
9 Research Fellows
2 new Research Fellows
4 departing research groups
*As of December 2011.
IGC ANNUAL REPORT ‘11
THE IGC AT A GLANCE
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