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 the 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 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 19 editions it has distinguished 105 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 supported 775 projects, involving more than 1600 researchers from 29 countries. The research funded by the BIAL Foundation in the areas of Psychophysiology and Parapsychology from 1994 to March 2022 has resulted in the publication of 2075 papers, 1606 of which in indexed journals (in Scopus or Web of Science) and 1361 in impact factor journals. Almost half of the papers were published in journals that ranked in the first quartile (Q1) in their subject area. By March 2022, 1430 papers were cited on average 23 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

Fiscal Board

Júlio Pedrosa de Jesus

Presidente

Nuno Amado

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

Here represented by Dr. João Carlos Miguel Alves

Scientific Board

António Damásio, President
Los Angeles

Osborne Almeida
Munich

Mario Beauregard
Arizona

Fabrizio Benedetti
Turin

Aviva Berkovich-Ohana
Israel

Dick Bierman
Amsterdam

Olaf Blanke
Lausanne

Jason Braithwaite
Lancaster

Richard Broughton
Northampton

Etzel Cardeña
Lund

Jose Carmena
Berkeley

Maria do Carmo Fonseca
Lisbon

James Carpenter
N. Carolina

Miguel Castelo-Branco
Coimbra

Alexandre Castro-Caldas
Lisbon

Axel Cleeremans
Brussels

Rui Costa
New York and Lisbon

Hugo Critchley
Brighton e Sussex

John Cryan
Cork

Rodrigo Cunha
Coimbra

Hanna Damásio
Los Angeles

Ronald de Kloet
Leiden

Martin Dresler
Nijmegen

Michael Fanselow
Los Angeles

Peter Fenwick
Londres

Rainer Goebel
Maastricht

Bruce Greyson
Virgínia

Morten Kringelbach
Oxford

Stephen LaBerge
Stanford

Antoine Lutz
Lyon

Julia Mossbridge
Evanston

Rui Mota Cardoso
Porto

Craig Murray
Lancaster

Catarina Resende Oliveira
Coimbra

Morten Overgaard
Aarhus

Joana Palha
Minho

Alvaro Pascual-Leone
Harvard

Dean Radin
California

Amir Raz
Montreal

João Relvas
Porto

Sidarta Ribeiro
Rio Grande do Norte

Christopher A. Roe
Northampton

Stefan Schmidt
Friburgo

Gary Schwartz
Tucson

Andrea Serino
Lausanne

Alcino Silva
Los Angeles

Mário Simões
Lisbon

Peter St. George-Hyslop
Toronto

Robert Stickgold
Harvard

Jessica Utts
Irvine

Eus Van Someren
Amsterdam

Rufin VanRullen
Toulouse

Caroline Watt
Edinburgh

Menno Witter
Trondheim

Robin Wooffitt
York

Institutional Documents

Find and download here documents from the establishment of the Foundation to reports and accounts.

Establishment of the Foundation

Ordinance Recognizing the Foundation
Deed of Foundation
Initiative and Initial Assets

Reports and Accounts

2021
2020
2019
2018
2017

Other Documents

Articles of Incorporation
Declaration of Public Interest
Confirmation that the Foundation serves the Public Interest
Renewal of the confirmation that the Foundation serves the Public Interest
Code of Conduct

Other Information

Other information

Contacts

Address

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

Tel. +351 22 9866150/00
Fax. +351 22 9866199
Email. fundacao@bial.com

Support Services

Paula Guedes
Secretary General
paula.guedes@bial.com

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

Sandra Pinto
Communication Manager
sandra.pinto@bial.com

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