Research outputs that
create knowledge and
improve clinical outcomes

The Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS)
was established in 2003 to develop biomedical research
within the School of Medicine of the University of Minho.

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ICVS at a glance

Discover ICVS' milestones.

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  • Establishment of ICVS

    INSTITUTIONAL

  • Recognition as an R&D unit by FCT

    INSTITUTIONAL

    1st Ciência Falada

    OUTREACH

  • Inauguration and certification by the Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture of the animal house facilities

    INSTITUTIONAL

    1st completed PhD

    POS-GRADUATION

  • First outreach activities

    OUTREACH

  • Launch of the MD/PhD program

    POST-GRADUATION

  • 1st registered patent

    TRANSLATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

  • Inauguration of the definitive facilities of ICVS/ECS

    INSTITUTIONAL

  • Creation of MSc and PhD programs by ICVS/ECS

    POST-GRADUATION

  • Launch of the 1st spin-off in Medical Devices – iSurgical3D

    TRANSLATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

    STORZ minimally invasive surgery laboratory

    INSTITUTIONAL

  • Status of Associate Laboratory to ICVS/3B’s

    INSTITUTIONAL

  • Launch of the Clinical Academic Center of Braga (2CA-Braga)

    INSTITUTIONAL

    1st European project coordinated by ICVS

    SCIENTIFIC

    Launch of the 1st spin-off in Life Sciences – BnML

    TRANSLATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

    >10000 participants in ICVS outreach activities

    OUTREACH

  • Launch of the 1st spin-off in Medical Education – iCognitus

    TRANSLATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

  • 1000 peer-reviewed published articles

    SCIENTIFIC

  • Inauguration of the new animal house facilities

    INSTITUTIONAL

  • 1st La Caixa Foundation project

    SCIENTIFIC

  • Patent sold for > € 1 million – KidneyNav

    TRANSLATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

    2000 peer-reviewed published articles

    SCIENTIFIC

  • > 100 PhD researchers

    INSTITUTIONAL

    Diagnostic service to the community – COVID-19

    TRANSLATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

    1st ERC grant

    SCIENTIFIC

  • 1st researcher in tenure track

    INSTITUTIONAL

  • Restructuring of ICVS into thematic teams

    INSTITUTIONAL

Let’s Build Something Together

What’s new?

Read about the latest news and events from ICVS

ICVS Secures Over €2.27 Million from FCT for 11 Independent Research Projects

ICVS has been awarded funding exceeding €2.27 million under the “Scientific Research and Technological Development Projects in All Scientific Domains” call by FCT, with 11 projects led by researchers from the institute. These projects highlight the diversity and excellence of research at ICVS, with impact across key fields such as neuroscience, regenerative medicine, infectious diseases, parasitology, and medical technologies.

Read More

Next on ICVS

Discover ICVS’ next events

July 2025
Jul 14
Jul 14, 2025 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

July 14th at 1 pm, don’t miss Ana Isabel Silva "Novel therapeutic approaches for bladder cancer" at the A0.02 auditorium in UMinho’s School of Medicine.

Jul 17
Jul 17, 2025 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Your research data is valuable to the University of Minho, so organizing and sharing it securely increases its impact, promotes good Open Science practices and enhances reuse by other researchers.

Jul 24
Jul 24, 2025 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Sandro Queirós (SQ) graduated in Biomedical Engineering in 2013 by the University of Minho (Portugal). In 2018, he completed a joint Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering by the University of Minho (Portugal) and in Biomedical Sciences by KU Leuven (Belgium). Since 2018, SQ is a full-time researcher at ICVS, having been granted an FCT-funded junior research position in 2020.