All the activities are under a driving force - the Unit's internationalization. Thus, for each research group there will be an international anchor institution to support this policy. Strong emphasis will be given to national cooperation.

The Unit's distintive attitude, in the near future rely on:

• The use of multidisciplinary expertise and the interdisciplinary approach to focus on key aspects of the production chain using expertise that will bring new added knowledge to understand how the biological systems adapt to the new demands and optimization required for economic exploitation under sustainable concepts, through higher innovative technological inputs (our novelty).
• Cover vertical studies in the areas of: climate change, integrative biology and quality, ecointegrity and biosystems engineering.

Thus, special attention will be given to:

• Assess the uncertainty about intensity and risks of climate change in the living systems considering scenarios of how the crops might adjust. Biological studies from cell to whole plant level plus the technological inputs from the biosystems engineering group, with expertise to develop physical and analytical modelling, embedded systems for remote sensing, environmental monitoring, computer vision techniques and physiological parameters monitoring and data processing, will help to understand the necessary adjustments and identify production techniques that can be used to overcome that changes whilst maintaining yield at high economical levels and produce foods of high quality with improved health effects.
• The use of natural resources as biofuels and biomaterials of multipurpose use and the ecosystems sustainability through studies of ecological disruption of the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, benefiting from the expertise of the bioengineering.