e.biofilm — Group of Excellence on Engineered Biofilms

Last week, our team joined the 2nd edition of “Jornadas da Ciência Aberta da Universidade do Porto“, anchored in this year’s motto: For Transparent and Responsible Research (“Por uma Investigação Responsável e Transparente”).

Across two rich days at Edifício Abel Salazar, we had the opportunity to learn and contribute from both a research leadership and project management perspective.

In the first day, our project coordinator Nuno Filipe Azevedo joined the panel on open science practices in research projects to share e.Biofilm’s hands-on experience, workflows, and daily challenges in implementing open and reproducible research.

During the dedicated Post Conference Sessions, our science management team rolled up their sleeves for the “Growing Together Scenario Sprint. Teaming up with fellow science managers, Inês, Ana and Pedro tackled real scenarios around data management plans, FAIR principles, and open access compliance. 

Beyond the sessions, the event left us with three essential takeaways:

 1. Open Science is about reproducibility, not oversharing. It doesn’t mean making everything indiscriminately public, but rather ensuring the methods, protocols, and foundational datasets are transparent enough to produce better, more reliable, and verifiable science.

 2. A solid Data Management Plan (DMP) is the backbone of transparency. Efficient data management from day one isn’t just an administrative tick-box, it is what turns the FAIR principles into daily lab practice.

 3. Transparency is protection, not vulnerability. Many researchers still fear that sharing data opens the door to ideas being “scooped.” In reality, using trusted open repositories establishes clear provenance, date-stamped attribution, and public authorship – safeguarding research far better than keeping files on local drives.

A big thank you to SIP and UPdigital for fostering such a collaborative and practical space for the research community! 👏🚀

We are honored to host Prof. Peyton at Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto during his sabbatical period. His stay marks another milestone in strengthening collaborations with global references in biofilm engineering.

Affiliated with the world-leading Center for Biofilm Engineering and having served as Director of Montana State University-Bozeman Thermal Biology Institute for 12 years, Dr. Brent Peyton brings nearly four decades of pioneering research in biofilm and microbial processes across natural and engineered systems.

His extensive contributions – spanning over 155 peer-reviewed publications and 5 patents in environmental biotechnology – cover key areas such as: extremophiles, in situ bioremediation, heavy metal bio-toxicity, biofilm control strategies, and algal and fungal bioprocesses for biofuels.

During his stay at FEUP, Prof. Peyton will collaborate with our research team, engage with students and researchers, and deliver a series of scientific seminars and advanced training sessions.

Stay tuned for upcoming announcements on dates and seminar topics!
Please join us in giving Dr. Peyton a very warm welcome to Portugal! 👏🧫

Our team was back at Universidade do Minho for the VII Chemical and Biological Engineering Doctoral Symposium, an inspiring event organized by and for PhD students.

Across the “Health” and “Food and Feed” poster panels, our early-stage researchers and PhD students showcased their latest work in biofilm science – ranging from novel therapeutic and antimicrobial strategies to advanced biofilm characterisation and emerging industrial applications. 🏭💊

Events like this are a fantastic platform to exchange peer feedback, discuss translational paths, and foster cross-institutional collaborations.

Proud of our team members Vânia Pinheiro, Catarina Sandiares, Gabriela Monteiro, Marta Gomes, Rui Macedo and Megan Braga for actively representing the project and sharing their work! 💡

Congratulations to the organizing committee and all the prize winners! 👏

Last week, our team was in Braga at Universidade do Minho for the 6th edition of BiofilmsON’26 – Practical Course & Symposium on Biofilms, exploring this year’s theme: 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨.

It was an intense week of scientific exchange, hands-on training, and strong project representation:

🎤 Our ERA Chair, Darla Goeres, was an invited speaker delivering an insightful talk entitled “Beyond the Bench: Turning research into impact”.

💡 Hands-on Training & Flash Talks: our PhD students completed the full practical course – dividing into hands-on modules from ecological imaging to gene expression – and showcased their research during the symposium:
• Megan Braga – 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵: 𝘔𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘴
• Catarina Sandiares – 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯: 𝘗𝘕𝘈-𝘍𝘐𝘚𝘏 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮𝘴

Proud to see our researchers continuously expanding their skills and sharing knowledge! 🚀
A big thank you to the organizers for hosting such an immersive and collaborative event! 👏