The international evaluation panel of the FCT R & D units rated the Institute of Environmental Health of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon as Very Good and also made very encouraging comments regarding the challenges that lie ahead for the 2020-2023 horizon.

The ISAMB (Environmental Health Institute) of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon (FMUL) was evaluated by an international panel, composed of 11 experts from several European institutions of reference, obtaining the final classification of Very Good and a total financing of 784 thousand euros for the 2020-2023 period, including two PhD scholarships.

Established in 2013 by FMUL, it was integrated a year later in the FCT’s National Scientific Research System. The ISAMB began this evaluation exercise with an initial classification of Good, but mostly, with a responsibility to present a renewed project of investigation, innovation and development that would allow it to advance to a higher level.

Much more than a grade, this classification is also the recognition that the ISAMB was able to build an ambitious, coherent strategic project focused on its future position as an internationally recognized research centre in the area of Environmental Health. In fact, that was precisely what the evaluation panel stated in its justification of the assessment: in addition to currently being a national reference in some areas of Environmental Health, the ISAMB’s potential for growth and international positioning as a centre of excellence is also an expectation.

Expanding, doing more and being better is a responsibility of the entire ISAMB team and, more broadly, FMUL. The next four years will therefore consist of intensive work in order to follow a trajectory that is already of significant growth – for example, in 2018, the ISAMB was part of the top-5 structural units of FMUL with the highest scientific productivity. The ISAMB team is motivated to reach the end of 2023, not only to meet the expectations generated today, not only to generate new expectations for the future, but with the certainty of having done its best to dignify its identity and its mission, as well as the Faculty of Medicine and the University of Lisbon.

Professor António Vaz Carneiro, PhD

Executive Director of the ISAMB