A new dimension in cancer research - the 3D microenvironment - has to be developed. The FoReCaST project intends to create a new research area at 3B’s Research Group (UMINHO; University of Minho) focussed on the development of in vitro 3D cancer study models. These models will have the complexity and hierarchical organization of natural extra-cellular matrix (ECM) of tumour cells found in vivo. In this context, 3B’s-UMINHO will strategically use the knowledge gained during the last ~20 years in the field of biomaterials sciences and tissue engineering.