InnovPlantProtect (InPP) was present at the Science 2025 Meeting in Lisbon, at the Nova SBE Campus, to take part in the parallel session “Crop Protection for One Health, and Food and Environmental Sustainability”.
The Encontro Ciência took place from July 9 to 11 at the NOVA SBE Campus in Carcavelos, with the motto “Science, Innovation and Society”. Portugal's largest science and technology meeting was the stage for promoting and discussing the scientific, social, cultural and economic impact of research in Portugal, exploring the intersection between science, innovation and society, to inspire new ideas and foster transformative collaborations.
The director of the Data Management and Risk Analysis Department, Ricardo Ramiro, and the director of the New Biopesticides Department, Cristina Azevedo, presented some of the results of their work in this session co-moderated by the executive director, António Saraiva.
During the session, two important solutions for the agricultural sector, developed by our team, were presented:
iCountPests - an innovative app that uses AI to detect and count pests accurately and quickly in photos of chromotropic traps.
InPP 2 - a broad-spectrum biofungicide capable of fighting Botrytis cinerea, the fungus responsible for gray rot in tomatoes.
CoLAB MORE Colab - Collaborative Mountain Research Laboratory and Sfcolab - Collaborative Laboratory for Digital Innovation in Agriculture, were also present at the parallel session, as well as GREEN-IT, to discuss how science and innovation can tackle the challenges of climate change and promote more sustainable agricultural systems.
On June 30, InnovPlantProtect (InPP) was present at the meeting “7 years of CoLABs: impacts and perspectives”, which brought together political decision-makers, experts from the Portuguese innovation ecosystem, leaders from different sectors, representatives of public and private entities and the representatives of the 41 Collaborative Laboratories (CoLAB), at the Pavilhão do Conhecimento in Lisbon.
The meeting, organized by the Forum of Collaborative Laboratories (FCoLAB), aimed to reflect on the impact of the work carried out by the different CoLABs over the last seven years, as well as to address future prospects and identify strategies to boost the contribution of scientific research and innovation to the economy and society.
This initiative was an opportunity to showcase the products, services and solutions developed by CoLAB over the last seven years, highlighting its contribution to innovation, competitiveness and sustainability in various sectors of the economy. The application recently launched by InPP, iCountPests, which allows pests to be counted automatically using images from traps, reducing the time invested in monitoring and making it possible to create a pest history, was also highlighted.
The event was attended by the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, the Secretary of State for the Economy, João Rui Ferreira, Manuel Heitor, from the IN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research and former Minister of Science and Innovation, António Grilo, President of ANI, among others.
In his speech, the Minister for Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, highlighted the purpose of science at national level: “We hope that the science created in Portugal will generate innovation. More than technology, innovation is the answer to society's problems. You are the agents of change!”.
During the session, the main activity indicators and proven impact of the first seven years of CoLABs' activity were also presented, and multisectoral perspectives on their role in the national science and innovation ecosystem were debated, focusing on topics such as socio-economic impact, internationalization, business competitiveness, technological innovation and sustainability.
The activity indicators and the impact of the 7 years of activity are as follows:
More than 260 projects approved
More than 1,300 qualified jobs created
19M€ in tax revenue generated
More than 900 interactions with companies
33 patent applications (10 granted)
680 scientific articles published
The two afternoon panels were attended by companies, partners and management entities, who reflected on the impact generated so far and presented proposals for maximizing CoLAB's long-term contribution to both the economy and Portuguese society.
At a time when the basic funding options for CoLABs are being discussed, this event is of the utmost importance. The area of crop protection, in particular, needs more investment in innovation. Holding this event was important for bringing this urgent and strategically important issue to the debate.
The InPP was also present in the exhibition area, receiving important visitors, including the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, the Secretary of State for the Economy, João Rui Ferreira, the Secretary of State for Science and Innovation, Helena Canhão, the President of the FCT, Madalena Alves, the President of the National Innovation Agency, António Grilo, the President of the National Monitoring Committee for the RRP, Pedro Dominguinhos and the Executive Director of Ciência Viva, Ana Noronha.
On June 11th, InnovPlantProtect (InPP) held a seminar on “Six years of innovation: CoLABs” path to the future of the agricultural and agri-food sectors", at the National Agriculture Fair (FNA) in Santarém.
The event brought together, for the first time, six Collaborative Laboratories (CoLABs) with direct involvement in the agricultural and agri-food sectors: InnovPlantProtect, CoLAB4Food, FeedInov CoLAB, Food4Sustainability, MORE CoLAB and SmartFarmCoLAB.
Round table 1 - Sofia Couto (ANI), Paulo Madeira (InPP), André Mota (Colab4Food), Cristina Monteiro (FeedInov), Margarida Palma (Food4Sustainability), Albino Bento (MORE CoLAB), and Helena Vazão (SmartFarmCoLAB)Round table 2 - Isabel Martins (Vida Rural), Pedro Viterbo (Fertiprado), Rui Lima (SenseTest), Jaime Piçarra (IACA), Gonçalo Amorim (BGI), Andreia Afonso (Deifil Technology) and André Sá (TEROMOVIGO)Closing session - Tiago Pinto (ANPROMIS), António Saraiva (InPP), Miguel Teixeira (CoLAB4Food), Ana Sofia Santos (FeedInov), Nuno Serra (Food4Sustainability), Albino Bento (MORE CoLAB) and Helena Vazão (SmartFarmCoLAB)
The program included two round tables. The first, dedicated to “Innovation in Action: The Results and Impacts of CoLABs in Agriculture and Agrifood”, representatives from each CoLAB took part, presenting success stories and projects developed, with emphasis on the intervention of the innovation manager at InnovPlantProtect, Paulo Madeira, He shared InPP's achievements in developing solutions for more sustainable agriculture.
The second round table, under the theme “Partnerships for the Future: How CoLABs are Driving Innovation in the Agricultural and Agri-Food Sector”, The event was attended by partner companies and associations, who stressed the importance of collaborating with the CoLABs. Among the speakers were Pedro Viterbo, manager of Fertiprado, InnovPlantProtect's partner, accompanied by representatives of the following organizations Sense Test, Associação Portuguesa Dos Industriais De Alimentos Compostos Para Animais (IACA), Building Global Innovators (BGI), DEIFIL Technology and TeroMovigo.
The seminar ended with a moment of joint reflection, with speeches from all the executive directors of the CoLABs present, including the executive director of InnovPlantProtect, António Saraiva, The meeting was organized by the European Commission, which stressed the importance of cooperation and strategic coordination between the Collaborative Laboratories, reinforcing their collective commitment to innovation and sustainable development in the agricultural and agri-food sectors.
Round table 1 - Paulo Madeira (InPP)Round table 2 - Pedro Viterbo (Fertiprado)Closing session - António Saraiva (InPP)
Throughout the seminar, the importance of synergies between science, innovation and the market became clear, as did the need to strengthen funding and guarantee conditions for the continuity and growth of these Collaborative Laboratories, whose impacts are already visible in the national agricultural and agri-food ecosystem.
This meeting was an important moment for sharing experiences and strengthening collaborative work, charting a joint path towards a more competitive, sustainable and innovative future for agriculture and agri-food in Portugal.
InnovPlantProtect (InPP) took part in the second edition of the Summer Course in Plant Biotechnology, promoted by the Biotechnology Information Center (CiB), which took place between July 10 and 13 in the city of Coimbra, with the motto of innovation for sustainability.
InPP was represented by the executive director of Innovplantprotect, Pedro Fevereiro, and the director of the Specific Crop Protection department, Sandra Correia, who spoke at the theoretical session entitled “Cell culture for the production of metabolites”, which took place on the morning of July 11, and on July 12, the penultimate day of the event, the executive director spoke on the topic of “The green biotechnology sector in Portugal”.
The aim of this Summer Course, which also has the support of the Center for Functional Ecology (CEF) of the Department of Life Sciences of the University of Coimbra (UC), is to disseminate the different areas of plant biotechnology and the impact that biotechnological tools can have on mitigating the effects of climate change, as well as on food production, with a view to ensuring food security.
The National Monitoring Committee (CNA) of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) visited Alto Alentejo on July 4 to take stock of the implementation of the projects financed by the PRR in the region and to hear from the various final beneficiaries about their concerns, difficulties and suggestions.
The meeting at InnovPlantProtect (InPP), followed by a guided tour of the facilities, was aimed at monitoring the Interface Mission project, financed by the PRR, to guarantee basic public funding for the collaborative laboratory (CoLAB), as well as the projects “+Valorcer - Valorizamos a organização da produção de cereais” and “SNM_XylellaVt - Sistema Nacional de Monitorização de Insetos Vetores da Xylella fastidiosa“, led by InPP, and the Blue Bioeconomy Pact and InsectERA projects, in which CoLAB is a partner.
As well as this, it was also possible to present to the President of the CNA, Pedro Dominguinhos, the scientific research and innovation developed by the five departments over the four years of CoLAB's existence, to align strategies for future applications to the PRR, as well as to highlight the added value that the InPP is bringing in terms of establishing jobs in the region.
The delegation also had the chance to talk to some of our researchers about their careers, their academic and scientific career at various national and foreign universities, and to find out what led them to move to the city of Elvas.
In addition to this project, other applications that have already been submitted to the PRR, which are relevant to the region and are still awaiting approval, were also discussed, as well as the intention to submit others that are currently being drawn up.
InPP's executive director, Pedro Fevereiro, as well as the department directors, Cristina Azevedo, Sandra Correia, Ricardo Ramiro, iLaria Marengo and David Learmonth, welcomed the delegation.
On the 5th, InnovPlantProtect (InPP) was present at Ciência 2023 - Meeting with Science and Technology in Portugal, which included the participation of Pedro Fevereiro, executive director of InPP, in the session “Innovation, sustainability and food safety: what is the positioning and roadmap of CoLABs in the Agro sector?”, which took place for the first time in the city of Aveiro.
The session brought together the collaborative laboratories (CoLABs) in the area of Agriculture - the InPP, the FeedInov CoLab, o Food4Sustainability, o SmartFarmCoLAB and CoLAB VINES&WINES -to discuss together the technological and strategic paths that the CoLABs have defined to respond to the needs and demands of the agricultural sector.
The session was structured with an international keynote speaker, followed by a round table moderated by a journalist, with the presence of the 5 CoLabs and the discussion open to the public. The expected results were the identification of innovations in progress and the understanding and possible adjustment of the strategic lines developed and to be developed, as well as greater efficiency in the interaction between the Colabs in the area of Agriculture.
The initiative, which brought together experts and researchers from different scientific fields, was attended by the Prime Minister, António Costa, and by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Elvira Fortunato, the Minister for the Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, the Minister for the Economy and the Sea, António Costa Silva, and the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Maria do Céu Antunes. The meeting was closed by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
The 2023 edition of Encontro Ciência took place between July 5 and 7 in Aveiro, at the Santiago da Prata University Campus. University of Aveiro, The event was dedicated to the theme “Science and the Ocean Beyond the Horizon” and focused on the ocean and water.
Encontro Ciência is the largest annual science and technology event in Portugal, promoted by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in collaboration with the National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture - Agencia Nacional de Cultura Científica e Tecnológica - Ciência Viva and, this year, also with the University of Aveiro. The initiative also has the institutional support of the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education and the Parliamentary Committee for Education, Science, Youth and Sport.
National R&D institutions, namely FCT R&D units, CoLABs, Associated Laboratories and State Laboratories, take an active part in the scientific program of Encontro Ciência every year, through their participation in the many parallel thematic sessions, demonstrations of R&D activities and posters by PhD students.
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