The Portuguese Biochemical Society

Mission & Vision

The aims of the Portuguese Biochemical Society (SPB) are:

• to promote teaching, learning and research in biochemistry in Portugal and abroad, as well as to stimulate scientific enlightenment in this field of knowledge:
• to bring together all individuals interested in biochemistry from a pedagogic, cultural and scientific point of view;
• to sponsor, promote and disseminate the organisation of special interest meetings and workshops by its members, as well as the National Congress of Biochemistry, which takes place every two years;
• to provide opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to present their work at international meetings or at the National Congress of Biochemistry, by awarding studentships to defray part of the meeting registration costs.

Furthermore, as member of the FEBS and IUBMB, as well as associate member of the PABMB, IUPAB and EBSA, the SPB thrives to promote scientific exchange with its international partners.

Key Activities

SPB is quite interested in developing activities promoting teaching activities in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and is very committed in disseminating biochemical sciences within the younger population, mainly by promoting their active participation at its annually sponsored meetings and at the National Meeting, where over 60% of attendees are university students.

History

SPB was founded in 1957 as an independent section of the Lisbon Society of Medical Sciences. It became an autonomous society in 1967 as a result of the introduction of Biochemistry in the curricula of several Portuguese Universities. Since then, the SPB has became progressively more and more implemented in the Portuguese scientific community and has played a major role in bringing together all those interested in the various fields of biochemistry.

SPB was also one of the founding members of FEBS in 1964.

SPB has at the present two affiliated organisations, the Portuguese Society of Plant Physiology and the Portuguese Biophysical Society.

In addition, various research interest groups also exist within SPB, with the purpose of stimulating research in specific areas, such as (1) Free Radicals and Oxidative Stress, (2) Gene Expression, or (3) Clinical Biochemistry.

SPB is financed by member fees but is sponsored by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) and various other Foundations and companies for meeting organisation.

Membership

SPB has approx. 400 paying members (2015).

At present, SPB accepts non-residential scientists as members, i.e. scientists living in other countries within or outside the “FEBS community” and Europe.