The Foundation

A reference in the support of scientific research

The BIAL Foundation was created in 1994 by the BIAL pharmaceutical company together with the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities. BIAL Foundation’s mission is to foster the scientific study of the human being from both the physical and spiritual perspectives. It is managed by representatives from both institutions.

Along the years the BIAL Foundation has developed an important relationship with the scientific community, first in Portugal and then worldwide. Today it is a renowned institution, particularly in the Neuroscience and Parapsychology research, which aims to stimulate new researches that benefit people, providing more health and enabling us to reach new levels of knowledge.

Awards

Among its activities the BIAL Foundation manages the Prémio BIAL de Medicina Clínica, created in 1984, which is focused on the recognition and enhancement of basic and clinical research. Over 20 editions it has distinguished 108 written works of major impact on medicine and has become acknowledged as a prestigious prize in the Health field. In 2018, the BIAL Foundation created the BIAL Award in Biomedicine, in order to extend its scope of activity and to recognize the most outstanding and relevant discoveries that have been made in the broad biomedical field. This prize has been awarded, since 2019, every two years alternating with the Prémio BIAL de Medicina Clínica. In 2020, to honour the memory of the physician and great immunologist Maria de Sousa, the Portuguese Medical Association and the BIAL Foundation decided to promote, in partnership, the Maria de Sousa Award, to support young Portuguese researchers, up to the age of 35, with scientific projects in the area of Health Sciences, including a mandatory internship in an international center of excellence.

Grants for Scientific Research

The BIAL Foundation also supports scientific research projects for the neurophysiological and mental study of the human being, in the areas of Psychophysiology and Parapsychology. To date the BIAL Foundation has already approved for funding 865 projects, involving 1702 researchers from 30 countries. The research funded by the BIAL Foundation in the areas of Psychophysiology and Parapsychology from 1994 to March 2024 has resulted in the publication of 1957 articles in indexed journals (in Scopus or Web of Science), 1718 of which with an average impact factor of 4.2 and 383 in journals with an impact factor greater than or equal to 5. Almost half of the articles were published in journals that ranked in the first quartile (Q1) in their subject area. By March 2024, there was a substantial number of citations (45.764), with 591 publications cited more than 20 times.

Symposia

In 1996 the BIAL Foundation began to organize the Symposia entitled "Behind and Beyond the Brain", a Forum that gathers every two years world-renowned experts in neurosciences and parapsychology, as well as several researchers supported by the Foundation.

In addition, the Foundation has an online database that can be accessed by the scientific community and by the general public here.​

Patronage

Classified as a non-profit institution of public utility, the BIAL Foundation includes among its patrons the Portuguese President, the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities and the Portuguese Medical Association.

 BIAL Foundation at a glance

Management

For 2022-2025

Board of Directors


Luís Portela - Chairman
Executive Committee

Daniel Bessa
Executive Committee
Nuno Sousa
Executive Committee

Miguel Portela

Patrícia Teixeira Lopes

Fiscal Board

Júlio Pedrosa de Jesus

President

Nuno Amado

Ernst & Young Audit & Associados - SROC, S.A.

Here represented by Rui Vieira

Scientific Board

António Damásio, President
University of Southern California

Osborne Almeida
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry

Mario Beauregard
University of Arizona

Fabrizio Benedetti
Università di Torino

Aviva Berkovich-Ohana
University of Haifa

Dick Bierman
University of Amsterdam

Olaf Blanke
École Politechnique Fédéralde de Lausanne (EPFL)

Jason Braithwaite
Lancaster University

Etzel Cardeña
Lund University

Maria do Carmo Fonseca
Instituto de Medicina Molecular (iMM)

James Carpenter
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Miguel Castelo-Branco
Universidade de Coimbra

Alexandre Castro-Caldas
Instituto de Ciências da Saúde - Universidade Católica Portuguesa

Axel Cleeremans
Université Libre de Bruxelles

Rui Costa
Allen Institute & Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown

Hugo Critchley
Brighton and Sussex Medical School

John Cryan
University College Cork

Rodrigo Cunha
Universidade de Coimbra

Neil Dagnall
Manchester Metropolitan University

Hanna Damásio
University of Southern California

Ronald de Kloet
Leiden University Medical Centre

Martin Dresler
Radboud University Medical Center

Michael Fanselow
University of California, Los Angeles

Sarah Garfinkel
University of Sussex

Rainer Goebel
Maastricht University

Bruce Greyson
University of Virginia

Nouchine Hadjikhani
Harvard Medical School

Sheena Josselyn
University of Toronto

Hasse Karlsson
University of Turku

Morten Kringelbach
University of Oxford

Steven Laureys
Université de Liège

Antoine Lutz
Lyon Neuroscience Research Center

Julia Mossbridge
University of San Diego & Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS)

Rui Mota Cardoso
Universidade do Porto

Craig Murray
Lancaster University

Catarina Resende Oliveira
Universidade de Coimbra

Joana Palha
Universidade do Minho

Thierry Pozzo
Université de Bourgogne

Stuart Quan
Harvard Medical School

Dean Radin
Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS)

Amir Raz
Chapman University

João Relvas
Universidade do Porto

Sidarta Ribeiro
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

Giuseppe Riva
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Christopher A. Roe
University of Northampton

Florian Röhrbein
Technische Universität Chemnitz

Stefan Schmidt
Universitätsklinikum Freiburg

Gary Schwartz
University of Arizona

Andrea Serino
Lausanne University Hospital

Mário Simões
Universidade de Lisboa

Peter St. George-Hyslop
University of Toronto & University of Cambridge

Robert Stickgold
Harvard Medical School

Jessica Utts
University of California, Irvine

Eus Van Someren
Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience

Rufin VanRullen
Université de Toulouse

Caroline Watt
University of Edinburgh

Menno Witter
Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Robin Wooffitt
University of York

Joseph Zihl
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Ambassadors

Over the last 30 years, dozens of talented, inspiring, and visionary researchers have passed through BIAL Foundation, but they still prestige and honour the institution today. This section intends to tribute and recognize the high merit of our Ambassadors.

Embaixadores

Embaixadores

Ralph Adolphs

Neuroscientist

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Embaixadores

Etzel Cardeña

Psychologist

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Embaixadores

Fátima Carneiro

Pathologist

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Embaixadores

Miguel Castelo-Branco

Neuroscientist

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Embaixadores

Alexandre Castro Caldas

Neurologist

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Embaixadores

Axel Cleeremans

Psychologist

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Embaixadores

Teresa Coelho

Neurologist

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Embaixadores

Rui Costa

Neuroscientist

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Embaixadores

José Cunha-Vaz

Ophthalmologist

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Embaixadores

Teresa Paiva

Neurologist

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Embaixadores

Joana Palha

Neuroscientist

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Embaixadores

Dean Radin

Chief Scientist

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Embaixadores

Caetano Reis e Sousa

Immunologist

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Embaixadores

Chris Roe

Psychologist

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Embaixadores

Stefan Schmidt

Psychophysiologist

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Embaixadores

Manuel Sobrinho Simões

Pathologist

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Embaixadores

António de Sousa Pereira

Physician

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Embaixadores

Rui Vaz

Neurosurgeon

Know more

Contacts

Address

Fundação BIAL
À Av. da Siderurgia Nacional
4745-457 Coronado (S. Romão e S. Mamede)
Portugal

Tel. +351 22 9866150/00
Email. info@bialfoundation.com

Services

Paula Guedes
Secretary General
paula.guedes@bialfoundation.com

Sylvie Marinho
Grants and Projects Manager
sylvie.marinho@bialfoundation.com

 

Sandra Pinto
Communication Manager
sandra.pinto@bialfoundation.com

Carina Rodrigues
Awards and Symposium Manager
carina.rodrigues@bialfoundation.com

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