The initiative "MIcSeaOnMed - Technical cooperation for the Valorization of Fish by-products up to the Health and Well-being sectors”, co-funded by the EEA grants Portugal through the Fund for Bilateral Relations is coordinated by 3B's Research Group from University of Minho, and counts with the enrolment of 4 partners from Iceland: University of Iceland Biomedical Center, Matís, Codland and Iceland Ocean Cluster.
It aims the cooperation between Portugal and Iceland on the valorization of fish by-products, marine biomaterials and biomedical applications.
On the 28th of February took place the formal kick-off of this initiative with an online meeting between the coordination and partner members to establish common goals and purposes of the project and as a result a mission to Iceland took place between 5th to 8th of April.
In Iceland, 3B´s members visited partner’s facilities and shared their research on marine biomaterials and biomedical applications from fish by-products and marine organisms and Icelandic partners showed the Value Creation in the Icelandic Fisheries Sector, particularly the use of codfish by-products for applications on the biomedical, cosmetic and nutraceutical sectors, where possibilities of collaboration between both countries began to emerge.
The initiative will be followed by the workshop “Blue Biotechnology: from the academy to the entrepreneur sector” to be held in Guimarães on 24th of May and will count with speakers from Iceland and Portugal representing a further step to establish long-term partnerships, namely under the scope of collaborative research and innovation projects.