Since May 2014, the Institute for Astrophysics and Space Science (Lisbon node, IA) is officially part of the European Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) support structure as a Centre of Expertise (CoE). This status was granted by ESO after the recognition of the IA team’s capability to support the community with the use of ALMA, in addition to the already existent EU ALMA Regional Centre (ARC) nodes.

The Portuguese ALMA CoE (PACE) is now composed of a team of researchers, technical, administrative, and outreach personnel. IA members are currently involved in seven approved ALMA proposals. The tasks of the PACE are partly the same as those of an EU ARC node, including, for instance, proposal preparation support.