Ciências Biológicas

Overview

In the Department of Bioengineering, research and teaching interests of the Biological Sciences scientific area range from Molecular and Cellular Biology, Biochemistry and Microbiology to the contemporary genome-based view of Biology. Ongoing interdisciplinary research programs involve molecular biosciences across disciplines, from molecules to systems, and synthetic and molecular systems biology strategies to under- stand how biological systems orchestrate their multiple functions envisaging the exploitation/control of their biological activities. The scientific area of Biological Sciences offers a multidisciplinary education that involves the fundamentals of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Biochemistry and Microbiology, the molecular tools and the strategies of Genetic Engineering, the understanding of Microbial Biochemistry and Physiology, the Functional and Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics, the Integrative Microbiology and the Molecular Systems and Synthetic Biology perspective. There is a focus on the study of microorganisms which is critical for the un- derstanding of the fundamental mechanisms of life and for new developments and applications in industrial biotechnology, environmental restoration and energy production and in human and animal health and food sectors. The Biological Sciences scientific area is involved in all the undergraduate and graduate training programs with a biological component offered at IST, as well as in advanced postdoctoral training in the field. Students, at all levels, do have the opportunity to actively participate in research training in the laboratories of the Biolo- gical Sciences Research Group of the Institute of Biotechnology and Bioengineering (IBB), Centre for Biological and Chemical Engineering at IST.