History and Mission
Founded in 2007, CITCEM – Transdisciplinary Research Center for Culture, Space and Memory is an R&D unit (n. 4059) based at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto (FLUP), funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology. (FCT) andbrings together researchers from previous research units.
CITCEM carries out research in an area of the Humanities and Social Sciences, promoting a multidimensional approach and awareness. Cooperation with other institutions is a strong pillar of CITCEM’s strategic plan, strengthening research networks in a scientific world without borders.
CITCEM is FLUP’s largest R&D Unit with more than 150 integrated members, serving as a dynamic nexus for master’s and doctoral students (60 FCT scholarship holders) and post-doctoral researchers enrolled in FLUP courses, associated with four departments.
CITCEM'S STRATEGIC PLAN 2025-2029
The new strategic plan 2025-29, centered on the theme “Finding (multi-species) communities and broadening dialogues”, seeks to broaden the concept of “communities” beyond humans and establish scientific society-nature dialogues. It is aligned with the UN’s 2030 Agenda and the European Commission’s priorities, namely the Green Deal and resilience in the face of the green and digital transitions, as well as the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-30).
A panoply of subtopics guide the groups’ objectives and projects, namely communities and the deconstruction of national essences; inequality and vulnerability of communities (economic, social, cultural, health, gender); life cycle, human beings and invisible groups (families, older, younger, discontinuity with ancestors, loneliness); communities as places of knowledge (a comprehensive evolution of biodiversity in natural museum collections); online communities and (in)visibility; mobilizing communities of activism (e.g. visual arts, literary arts, performing arts, architecture) and creative sectors, operating in the cultural, artistic and educational fields.
To achieve their objectives, seven research groups work in a transdisciplinary, interdisciplinary and collaborative way
PRIORITIES AND THIRD MISSION OF THE CITCEM
Seeking to organize activities in a systematic way, aligned with the funding lines requested, CITCEM has defined six priorities
- Internationalization and international collaboration
- Young researchers
- Scientific employment / Integration into a research career (FCT Tenure)
- Advanced training
- Competitive research projects and internal research projects
- Knowledge transfer – academia/society/environment (dissemination, courses, citizen science, editorial activity, databases and digital platforms)
CODE OF ETHICS
CITCEM is a signatory to the ALLEA (All European Academies) “European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity” and is guided by the “Code of Ethics and Academic Conduct of the University of Porto”. CITCEM’s collaboration with the FLUP Ethics Commission (CEFLUP), the U.Porto Ethics Commission (CEUP) and the Complaints Portal for reporting harassment and fraud ensures that research activities meet the highest ethical standards.