CIMAR - LA | - CCMAR -

Established in 2002, CIMAR-LA brings together two excelllent marine research centers in Portugal: CCMAR and CIIMAR. With a combined capacity of over 330 PhD researchers, this associated laboratory aims to advance ocean science to deliver societal benefits and enable sustainable development.

The mission of CIMAR-LA is to understand, protect and sustainably explore the full potential of marine and aquatic ecosystems through multidisciplinary research, innovation and advanced training. For this, CIMAR-LA drives excellence in marine-related research fields in view of enabling a coordinated response in support of public policies at a regional, national and international level.

Strategic Goals

CIMAR-LA has three strategic goals:

  • To put in place strategies to attract and retain top level researchers from different research fields, this way contributing to the advancement of marine sciences and to scientific employment.
  • To promote meaningful knowledge exchange and collaboration in different fields and scales, in view of providing sound scientific advice, innovation and technological solutions to tackle societal challenges and achieving sustainability goals.
  • To leverage international prominence by increasing the capacity of Portuguese marine centres to attract international funding, talents and collaborations.

Contribution to public policies

CIMAR-LA contributes to several UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, including goals 13 (Climate Action) and 14 (Life Below Water), and to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). At a European level, it actively contributes to the European Green Deal and to reach the targets of four of the five missions set by the European Commission for 2030: “restore our ocean and waters”, “a climate-resilient Europe”, “conquering cancer” and “caring for soil is caring for life”.

CIMAR-LA supports national public policies directed towards a better environment, social equality, research economy and health, including those outlined in national strategies for the sea, adaptation to climate change, education and development, and environmental education. Finally, CIMAR-LA supports regional Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialization, with emphasis on those related to scientific development, blue economy, circular economy, decarbonatization and ocean literacy.