Speakers

Professor Sir Martyn Poliakoff CBE FRS FREng studied at King's College, Cambridge, B.A (1969) and Ph.D. (1973) under the supervision of J. J. Turner FRS on the Matrix Isolation of Large Molecules. In 1972, he was appointed Research/Senior Research Officer in the Department of Inorganic Chemistry of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1979, he moved to a Lectureship in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Nottingham. Promotion to Reader in Inorganic Chemistry and then to Professor of Chemistry followed in 1985 and 1991 respectively. In addition, he is Honorary Professor of Chemistry at Moscow State University (currently suspended). From 1994-99, he held an EPSRC/Royal Academy of Engineering Clean Technology Fellowship at Nottingham. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society (2002), of the RSC (2002) and of the IChemE (2004). He was awarded CBE (2008) for "Services to Sciences", and knighted in 2015 for "Services to the Chemical Sciences". He was made Honorary Member of the Chemical Society of Ethiopia (2008) and Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2011) and Honorary Fellow of the Chinese Chemical Society (2015). In 2012, He was elected a Fellow of the Academia Europaea and, in 2013, Associate Fellow of TWAS, the World Academy of Science and Associate Member of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences (2014), Honorary Fellow of the RSC (2015), Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2016) and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2017). He was a Council Member of the IChemE (2009-13) and Foreign Secretary and Vice-President of the Royal Society (2011-16) In 2018, he was appointed Honorary Professor at Beijing University of Chemical Technology and was awarded the 2019 James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public by the American Chemical Society. He received an Dr hon causa from the New University of Lisbon (2019), and Honorary Doctorates from Newcastle University (2022) and Warwick University (2023). In 2021, a Nottingham Tram was named in his honour and in 2022 he was appointed Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Broxtowe. His research interests are focussed on supercritical fluids, continuous reactions and their applications to Green and sustainable Chemistry.. Since 2008, he and his colleagues have collaborated with videomaker Brady Haran to make chemistry videos for the YouTube channel Periodic Videos.

Ana Rita Lado Ribeiro (ARLR) is Principal Researcher at at LSRE-LCM (FEUP) and has a great expertise in Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Science & Engineering and has exceptional skills in the field of Water Monitoring & Treatment. She was Postdoctoral researcher (2014-18), Doctoral Researcher (2019-2022), and Assistant Researcher (2023) at LSRE-LCM (FEUP) and visiting researcher at Loughborough University, UK (2018). Currently, she is Executive Editor of Chemical Engineering Science (Elsevier) and Associate/SI Editor of Chemical Engineering Journal Advances (Elsevier).

Dr Ribeiro research interests include: (i) the development of analytical methods (achiral and chiral) for analysis of contaminants of emerging concern in the environment by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS); (ii) the development of novel miniaturized sample preparation methodologies; (iii) the removal of contaminants of emerging concern (organic pollutants, antibiotic resistant bacteria and resistance genes) in water/wastewater by biological treatments and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs); (iv) the identification of metabolites (biodegradation) and reaction by-products (AOPs); (v) environmental policy; (vi) membrane technologies; and (vii) risk assessment.

She initiated a research theme at LCM in the Department of Chemical Engineering (LSRE-LCM/FEUP): Analytical Tools for Environmental Monitoring. ARLR has participated as team member in several research projects and recently she was awarded with a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant (ERA-ARE, Project Ref. 101039270). She is Principal Investigator (PI) of a national financed project (STAR, Ref. 2022.02842.PTDC), FEUP PI of another national funded project (ENANTIOTOX) at LSRE-LCM, and was PI of a national funded project (SAMPREP, Ref. POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030521). Moreover, she is Member of the Management Committee (MC Substitute) of WaterTOP COST Action CA18225 (Taste and Odor in early diagnosis of source and drinking Water Problems). Moreover, she has co-authored 2 patent requests, > 80 publications in JCR indexed journals and 10 chapters in books or in book series with peer review (h-index 37), presenting her work in highly ranked international conferences.

ARLR was recognized as a cross-field Highly Cited Researcher (2021) by the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate, for the production of multiple highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations; is among the top 2% of cited scientists in the subfield of Environmental Science, based on the impact of Scopus citations of scientists in 2019/20/21; and was awarded with the FEUP Scientific Recognition Award 2019 and 2020. In 2020, 6 of her publications of the preceding 5 years were ranked in Web of Science as top 1% highly cited papers in the academic field of Environment/Ecology. Most of her articles are published in JCR indexed journals ranked as top 5% (Environ Sci) or top 10% (Anal Chem). One co-authored paper published in Water Research, was selected by Science for Environment Policy (European Commission's Environment Directorate-General) and Water JPI Newsletter (10/2016).

ARLR has been co-/supervisor of 5 PhD students (Chem and Bio Eng PhD Program, Env Eng PhD Program, FEUP), co-/supervisor of the dissertations of 9 students from the Integrated Masters in Environ/Chem Eng/Bioengineering at FEUP, as well as the research work of 2 Postdocs, 2 visiting Postdoc, 9 PhD visiting students (Chem Eng, FEUP), and many granted researchers and undergraduate students.

ARLR was Portuguese delegate in the Seed Group of ‘Water JPI Knowledge Hub’ Water4SDGs KH; Management Committee member of COST Action CA18225 WaterTOP; and Core Team member/ECIs facilitator in COST Action CA17133 Circular City. Moreover, she has been member of some societies/networks in the field of chemistry and environmental sciences, namely: IWA, ACS; IAEAC; SPQ, EFB, EuChemS-DAC Sample Preparation Study Group and Network.

ARLR has been evaluator of international projects (Horizon Europe, France, Croatia, Chile, Argentina), referee of several peer-reviewed international journals and conference proceedings and was awarded as referee with Elsevier and Publons prizes. She is/was member of the Editorial Board of 5 scientific journals and Guest Editor of 9 Special Issues (4 Elsevier, 1 MDPI journals).

Timothy Noël is a researcher in the field of synthetic organic chemistry and technology, with a particular interest in the delicate synergy between the two fields. In 2004, Tim earned his MSc degree in Industrial Chemical Engineering before pursuing his passion for synthetic organic chemistry, which led him to complete his PhD in the field at Ghent University in 2009. Following his PhD, he traveled across the Atlantic as a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow to work with Professor Stephen L. Buchwald at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he gained valuable experience and expertise in flow chemistry. Upon returning to Europe, he joined Eindhoven University of Technology as an Assistant Professor in 2012, and later became an Associate Professor in 2017. In 2020, Tim was promoted to Full Professor at the University of Amsterdam, where he is now the Chair of Flow Chemistry.

He coordinated the Marie Skłodowska-Curie ETN programs “Photo4Future” (2015-2018) and “PhotoReAct” (2021-2024). He is the editor in chief of Journal of Flow Chemistry and the current president of the Flow Chemistry Society.

His research in the area of flow chemistry was recognized with several awards, including the DECHEMA award (2017), the Hoogewerff Youth Prize (2019), the IUPAC-ThalesNano Flow Chemistry Award (2020), the KNCV Gold Medal (2021), ERC Consolidator Grant (2022), the ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Lectureship Award (2022) and the ChemSocRev Pioneering Investigator Lectureship (2023). He was also named Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2024.

Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Nanotechnology, a research center that works on the synthesis and application of nanostructured materials for the sustainable production of chemicals and energy at the University of Alicante, http://nanomol.es/en/home/

President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). Previously served as Vice President of the Inorganic Chemistry Division and as a member of the Executive Committee and Bureau of IUPAC https://iupac.org/

President of the Young Academy of Spain, which brings together 50 of the country's most talented young researchers and works to promote science, research, and innovation in Spain https://academiajoven.es/

Rafael del Pino Professor. Since 2019, he has directed the Science and Society Chair and the 10 Technologies for Spain report, which identifies, explains, and puts into context the 10 technologies that, in the opinion of an expert panel, are key to improving the competitiveness of the Spanish productive sector.

Founder of Rive Technology, a technology-based company that commercializes nanostructured catalysts that significantly reduce CO2 emissions while increasing energy efficiency. In 2019, W. R. Grace acquired this technology and now markets it worldwide https://grace.com/industries/refining-technologies/fcc-catalyst-application/

Founder and President of Celera, a talent acceleration program that supports and provides resources and mentoring to 10 young members each year. 80 young people have already benefited from this program. They have funded more than 10 companies valued at $500 million and are mentoring other young people https://www.acelerame.org/

His contributions to chemistry, catalysis and sustainable energy generation have been recognized with some of the most prestigious awards, including the King Jaime I Award in 2014, the Kathryn C. Hach Award for Best Entrepreneur in the Chemical Sector by the American Chemical Society in 2018, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Chemical Society and a Member of the Emerging Technologies Council of the World Economic Forum https://www.weforum.org/agenda/authors/javier-garcia-martinez

Isabel Ferreira is a Principal Coordinating Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, with a PhD in Chemistry. She has held key roles, including Vice-President, Mentor of the MORE Collaborative Laboratory, and Coordinator of the Mountain Research Center. Her research on natural products, nutraceuticals, and functional foods has led to over 1000 publications. She was an Associate Editor of Food & Function (Royal Society of Chemistry) and has contributed to FCT (Portugal), FWO (Belgium), and European programs like H2020 and Horizon Europe. Ranked in the top 1% of most cited researchers globally, she has received numerous awards, including the Gulbenkian Award (2001), the European Social Innovation Prize (2019) and the Superbrands Award (2023). Her work has led to commercialized patents and spin-off companies, and she has led major projects like Mobilizer ValorNatural.

Manuel Souto Salom (Valencia, 1988) is an Oportunius Research Professor and Principal Investigator at CIQUS (University of Santiago de Compostela). He is also a Guest Professor at the University of Aveiro. He holds a double degree in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from the University of Valencia and from the École de Chimie, Polymères et Matériaux (ECPM) de Strasbourg (France), respectively, doing a research internship at PLAPIQUI (Argentina). He also earned a Master’s degree in Molecular and Supramolecular Chemistry (2011) from the University of Strasbourg conducting his Master thesis at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST, Lisbon). He obtained his PhD in Materials Science at Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) with Prof. Jaume Veciana in 2016 conducting two research stays at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and at the University of Antwerp. In 2017, he started to work as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Molecular Science (ICMol-UV). In 2019, he started his independent career as an Assistant Professor at the Chemistry Department of the University of Aveiro and CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials. In 2022 he was promoted to Principal Researcher (tenure, Permanent Researcher/Assoc. Prof.) at the same institution. He received, among other distinctions, the first runner-up NanoMatMol PhD award (2017), the PhD Extraordinary award (2018), and the European Award on Molecular Magnetism Doctoral Thesis (2020). His research interests encompass molecular electronics, electroactive polymers and organic batteries. His main current research interest is the design and synthesis of new functional electroactive porous frameworks (e.g., COFs & MOFs) based on redox-active organic building blocks for energy storage applications. In 2021, he was awarded an ERC Starting Grant with the project ELECTROCOFS, which aims to design new redox-active COF-based electrodes for rechargeable batteries

Mirtha Alejandra de Oliveira Lourenço is a European Research Area Postdoctoral Fellow (ERA-PF) funded under the application to the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)-PF 2021 call. She started this position in March 2023 at the University of Aveiro/CICECO, where she is developing sustainable porous silicas for optimal CO2 uptake from biogas (GRACE project). She holds a degree in Chemistry and a Master's in Chemistry in the field of Chemical and Industrial Processes from the University of Coimbra. In December 2016, she obtained the Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Aveiro (UA). During this period, under the supervision of P. Ferreira and J.R.B. Gomes, she focused her research on developing new functionalized periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) for different adsorption and catalysis applications, combining computational and experimental methods. In 2018, she started to work as a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Prof. C.F. Pirri at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) - Center for Sustainable Future Technologies (CSFT), Italy. Here, she developed novel carbon based materials for environmental applications, such as gas adsorption/separation and catalytic CO2 reduction. From May 2021 to May 2022, she was a Researcher at the CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials focusing on the synthesis and structural elucidation of functionalized porous silicas towards CO2 adsorption-separation under the EU-funded NMR4CO2 project, led by L. Mafra. In November 2021, she was awarded a Junior researcher grant by FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) to valorize biomass waste for biogas upgrading.

Vânia Calisto (VC) graduated in Biochemistry and Food Chemistry in 2007 (17/20) at the University of Aveiro (UA). Within 2008 and 2011, VC was awarded with a FCT scholarship to pursue a PhD at UA on the 'Environmental Occurrence and Fate of Psychiatric Pharmaceuticals' (supervised by Prof. Valdemar Esteves). During this period, VC took an internship at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM, Berlin). In 2010-2012, VC was co-chair of the Young Chemists Group of the Portuguese Chemical Society and Delegate to the European Young Chemists Network (EYCN) of EuCheMS. From 2012 to 2018, VC held a post-doctoral fellowship aimed at the development of biowaste-based porous materials for the removal of pharmaceuticals from water. In 2014, VC was distinguished with the L'Oréal Medal of Honor for Women in Science for her post-doctoral work. Since then, VC has focused her research on the development of microporous carbon materials (namely biochar and powdered, granular, functionalized and magnetic activated carbons) obtained by conventional and microwave pyrolysis of agro-industrial wastes, with further application as adsorbents or photocatalysts for the removal of pharmaceuticals from wastewater. In 2019 VC was awarded by FCT with an Assistant Researcher position at the Chemistry Department of UA and the Associated Laboratory CESAM. VC is the Coordinator of the Research Group 'ASAEC - Analytical Sensors and Applied Eco-Chemistry' since 2020. In 2021, VC was awarded by the Portuguese Chemical Society with the Young Investigator Ramôa Ribeiro Prize, for her contribution in the development of microporous materials. Currently, since February 2022, VC is an Assistant Professor at the Chemistry Department of UA. VC was the Principal Investigator of 4 FCT projects, and research team member in 8 projects (5 national and 3 European Projects). Overall, VC supervised 2 post-doctoral researchers, 8 research fellows, 9 PhD students (5 international students in collaboration), 11 MSc students, 21 final BSc projects and mentored several volunteers per year in her lab. VC published 75 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, 26 % of them as senior author and 82 % in collaboration with international institutions. Moreover, VC presented 49 posters and 65 oral communications in scientific meetings (22 of them as invited speaker). VC has an h-index of 32 and 2958 citations, corresponding to an average of 39.4 citations per paper (Scopus, 04/02/2024).

Mª. JOÃO CABRITA obtained her degree in Food Science (1991) and MSc in Plant Nutrition, Soil Fertility and Fertilization (1994) at Technical University of Lisbon. Her PhD in Agrarian Sciences was obtained at 2004, and Habilitation in 2015, both at Évora University. She is now Associated Professor at Crop Science Department at Évora University (ÉU), researcher and vice-director of MED - Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development. She is also researcher at CHANGE - Instituto para as Alterações Globais e Sustentabilidade. She is head of Enology Laboratory from MED-UE.

For the last years, her research was focused on wine and olive oil chemistry mainly aroma and colour compounds, and chromatography/mass spectrometry techniques. She has co-authored ten book chapters and 56 articles in peer-review journals. She was PI of two projects (2016-2020), one national (PTDC/AGRPRO/2003/2014 - Por3O - Portuguese Olive Oil Omics for traceability and authenticity) and one international (ARIMNet2 – MedOOmics - Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil Omics: profiling and fingerprinting) and researcher at 4 ongoing projects. Currently she is the coordinator of UÉ participation in Vine and Wine Portugal - Driving Sustainable Growth Through Smart Innovation (Consórcio V&W Portugal) with 4 sub-projects: Biogrape Sustain, Solvit, MikS4Vine, and PPP4Vine Biocontrol. She is also a research member in - PSSA Programa de Sustentabilidade do Azeite do Alentejo.

During her researcher career she has been mainly dedicated to wine technology and wine chemistry, in line with her teaching career mainly around wine technology, stabilization and sensory analysis in Enology (1st cycle) Viticulture and Enology (master) and Food Science (PhD program).  Currently she also supervises or co-supervises 7 PhD students.

Vânia M. Moreira (VMM) holds a doctoral degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry (2008) from the University of Coimbra, in Portugal. She is currently an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Coimbra. She is awarded with the "Title of Docent" (Dosentti) from the University of Helsinki, in Finland, since 2015. Prior to her relocation to Portugal in 2019, she was a post-doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra (2009-2012), a post-doctoral reseacher at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Finland (2012-2015) and later a PI (2015-to date), and then a Lecturer in Medicinal Chemistry (2017-2020), at the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences (SIPBS), at the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, UK. She is a highly international researcher having worked & lived in Portugal, the USA, Italy , Finland and the UK. VMM is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) since 2018, a professional recognition scheme for university lecturers with teaching practices well-aligned with the United Kingdom Professional Standards framework (UKPSF). She also holds a post-graduate certificate in knowledge exchange, from the University of Strathclyde, since 2019. Her research focuses on finding new therapies to target resistant infections by exploring the medicinal properties of small terpenoid compounds. She also investigates innovative surfaces based on polymers from nature, in search for more eco-friendly antimicrobial polymers that can replace those derived from fossil-fuels. VMM has attracted funding as leading project investigator (PI) and as project participant from international sources including Business Finland, the Academy of Finland, the Magnus Ehrnrooth Foundation, the Huonekalusäätiö, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC, UK), Tenovus Scotland, the European Union (Seventh Framework Programme, FP7), the European networking COST action CM1307 (2016-2018), the Portuguese national funding agency for science, research and technology (FCT) and the University of Coimbra (INOVC+). She has authored/co-authored several peer-reviewed publications and is an inventor in patents. She supervises/has supervised post-doctoral researchers, doctoral and masters’ students. Her work was presented in international and national scientific meetings as oral and poster communications. She has been the examiner of doctoral and masters’ thesis and the external reviewer for grant applications of research institutions in Serbia, Slovenia, the UK, Finland and Denmark. In recognition of her research achievements, VMM was highlighted by the European Federation of Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC), as one of the "New talents Europe 2016". Other international awards and distinctions, won competitively throughout her career incude: the Chancellor’s Research Fellowship, University of Strathclyde, UK (Set 2017), selection for the ERC StG 2015 Interview step (appl. no. 678342, 1 499 714EUR), having her doctoral work selected by Atomium Culture EU news highlights (2012), receiving the highest grade in her doctoral dissertation defense at the University of Coimbra (2008) and receiveing the "Best student of Pharmacy in Portugal" award, in 2013 (Prémio Sociedade Farmacêutica Lusitana). VMM is a Committee Member for the Group for the Promotion of Pharmaceutical chemistry in Academia (GP2A) since 2019, a member-led network of academic medicinal chemists in Europe, where she organises several international conferences and promotes student exchange programmes. She serves(ed) as a member scientific advisory and session chair of several international meetings. She is a regular reviewer for several journals in the field of organic & medicinal chemsitry.

Paulo J. Costa (Lisbon, 1980) is an Assistant Researcher at BioISI—Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisboa. He is also an Invited Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the same Faculty.  
After graduating in Chemistry (2003, FCUL), P. J. Costa obtained his PhD. at the University of Lisbon (2007, UL), specializing in quantum-mechanical calculations mainly applied to transition metal complex-mediated catalysis. After short Visiting Scientist periods at ICCOM, Florence, Italy, and Institut de Chimie de Strasbourg, France, a post-doc in CICECO-Aveiro (2007-2013),  and a short period as Research Assistant in QOPNA-Aveiro (2013-2014), he won an Assistant Researcher position in the 2014 FCT Investigator Programme, and moved to Lisbon (FCUL, 2015), establishing the Computational Chemistry & Molecular Interactions Lab (https://ccmi.campus.ciencias.ulisboa.pt; https://bioisi.pt/laboratories/36).
In his research Lab, computational techniques comprising quantum-mechanical calculations, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and machine learning techniques are used to understand (bio)molecular recognition phenomena mediated by non-covalent interactions, especially the most exotic ones. New computational approaches and parameters to tackle the current limitations of standard methods are also developed. Ultimately, P. J. Costa's research aims to provide a deeper understanding of (bio)molecular interactions at a molecular level while also attempting to offer a quantitative analysis of binding contributions, thus facing the current challenges in computer-aided drug design routines.
The excellence of the research has been recently recognized by the 2024 ULisboa/CGD Scientific Prize (Prémios Científicos ULisboa/Caixa Geral de Depósitos 2024) in the scientific area of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering or by the CIÊNCIAS 2023 Science & Innovation Merit Award in the Chemical Sciences and Technologies.

Daniela Correia graduated in Chemistry in 2009, obtained her master degree in Characterization Techniques and Chemical Analysis in 2011 and the PhD degree in Materials Engineering in 2016, all from the University of Minho, Portugal. Her PhD was in collaboration with the international Center for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (CBIT) Spain, being focused on the development of electroactive scaffolds for tissue engineering applications in which Daniela Correia had a successful scientific stay. After, Daniela Correia obtained a fellowship within the Electro-Bio project focusing on the development of electroactive materials with different morphologies and dimensionalities and their surface wetting properties modification and integrated an FCT project focused on printing novel photovoltaics with the International Iberian Nanotechnology center (INL) and the Physics Center of University of Minho. Afterwards, in 2016 she obtained a Post-Doc researcher fellowship from FCT at the Physics Center of University of Minho and Chemistry Center of University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal. Currently, Daniela Correia is as Junior Researcher awarded in the highly competitive FCT Scientific Employment Stimulus and integrated the Chemistry Center of UM in the same area of the present project. Her research interest is focused on the production of smart and multifunctional materials by different processing methods in different morphologies and dimensionalities, and in tailoring and optimization the properties of novel, high performance multifunctional materials based on ionic liquids (ILs) and polymers for sensors and actuators applications. Further, she has also expertise in the modification of the surface properties such as adhesion and wettability of the materials by changing the chemical composition or topography of the material surface. She was PI of 1 Exploratory Project FCT Call for R&D Projects in All Scientific Domains 2022 (2022.05932.PTDC) and 1 on-going bilateral project from FCT Call Scientific Cooperation Agreement between Portugal and Germany- 2023-24 (2022.15339.CBM). She is scientific adviser of PhD, master and research project students and integrates outreach activities through oral presentations and experimental activities to secondary schools. She has published 127 articles, is co-author in 4 book chapters, yielding an h-index of 36 and almost 4433 citations in specialized journals, and five journal covers.