3Bs is situated in one of the most industrialised regions of Northern Portugal (PT11) where the economy is strongly based on traditional, low-tech and small family businesses. Withstanding these traditions, the group has been a lighthouse and an example on the exploitation of the regional research potential within the biomedical area. Based on interdisciplinary research where collaboration and cooperation are hallmarks of its culture, 3Bs is worldly recognised for its excellence and innovative approaches in the field of macro and microscale processing of biomaterials. The project POLARIS aims to strengthen this position of 3Bs by boosting the group activity in the field of Nanomedicine. An action plan that involve upgrading the group infrastructure with state of the art equipments for processing and characterisation of biomaterials at nanoscale as well as recruiting experienced researchers and technical staff in this field has been created and will be attained by the close cooperation with 4 leading European institutions: Chalmers University of Technology, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, University College Dublin and University of Strathclyde Glasgow. Transfer of know-how and experience between the partners will be enhanced by several events targeting scientific community but also the general public. A local SME – StemMatters is also part of the partnership since the 3Bs aims to become dynamic “innovation engine”, facilitating and accelerating the transfer of innovative technology from basic research to industry. Thus, POLARIS seeks for actual implementation of the obtained results that can be a vital “bridge” to growth, competitiveness, sustainability and employment in PT11.