UAlg Researcher Award
Requirements
- To hold a legal-employment contract with UAlg, as a teacher or researcher, for at least 3 (three) uninterrupted years, as of December 31st of the year prior to the edition of the competition
- Not to have received the UAlg Researcher Award in the 5 (five) years prior to the submission of the application
Prize Operation
- Applications will be accepted from individuals and must be submitted using a fully completed online form.
- The form must contain five articles and/or other relevant works of the applicant's authorship, or research results that highlight the work developed at UAlg, in the 3 (three) years prior to the edition of the competition.
- The jury reserves the right to request further clarification to check the eligibility of the information provided, as well as to clarify aspects necessary for a correct evaluation of the application
- Each candidate may submit only one application
- Only applications that fully comply with the conditions and requirements set out in the Regulation will be admitted
Award
The prize consists of a diploma and an award of 5,000 (five thousand) Euros.
Application
It will run, exceptionally, from 1 to 30 May 2025.
The applications are made exclusively through an online form that will be available during the application period.
Contest Jury (2025 edition)
Doctor Paulo Miguel Barros Pacheco Seara Sá, Associate Professor with Aggregation, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Algarve
Doctor José Eduardo Marques Bragança, Associate Professor with Aggregation, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Algarve
Doctor Maria Manuela Martins Guerreiro, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Economics, University of Algarve
Doctor João Miguel de Sousa de Assis Dias, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Algarve
Doctor Sónia Marisa Pedroso Gonçalves Bogas, Assistant Professor, Higher Institute of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lisbon
Prize Awarding
The prize will be presented in December, of each calendar year, at the public University Day ceremony.
Award winners
Pedro Fonte é docente da Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT) e investigador do Centro de Ciências do Mar (CCMAR).
Farmacêutico, doutorado em Ciências Farmacêuticas com especialização em Nanotecnologias e com formação complementar em gestão, Pedro Fonte tem desenvolvido trabalho na área da Tecnologia Farmacêutica, com foco em nanomedicina e sistemas avançados de administração de fármacos. O seu objetivo passa por “melhorar a eficácia e a segurança dos medicamentos”, integrando ciência, tecnologia e visão estratégica do setor.
A sua ligação à UAlg começou em 2019, através do Concurso Estímulo ao Emprego Científico (CEEC), que lhe permitiu integrar a área da Tecnologia Farmacêutica e lançar uma linha de investigação própria. Desde então, tem conjugado investigação e docência, participando também ativamente na formação avançada, incluindo funções de direção no Mestrado Integrado em Ciências Farmacêuticas.
Quando explica o seu trabalho fora do contexto técnico, o investigador recorre a uma imagem simples: as nanopartículas funcionam como “transportadores inteligentes” que protegem o fármaco e o conduzem ao local onde é necessário. Esta abordagem pode ser determinante em áreas como cancro, diabetes e medicina regenerativa, permitindo tratamentos mais direcionados e com menores efeitos adversos.
Entre os projetos em curso, destaca-se o desenvolvimento de um produto nanotecnológico com fatores de crescimento capazes de formar um hidrogel no momento da aplicação em feridas - uma solução com relevância adicional por dispensar cadeia de frio, o que a torna útil “em contextos de guerra, catástrofe ou em países com recursos limitados”.
Também estão em desenvolvimento transportadores lipídicos para administração de proteínas terapêuticas e plataformas de microfluídica com aplicações promissoras na regeneração tecidular.
Para Pedro Fonte, o impacto da sua investigação passa por melhorar terapias e aproximar o conhecimento da sociedade e da indústria. As suas linhas de trabalho procuram contribuir para soluções mais eficazes, seguras e acessíveis, promovendo também a transferência de conhecimento e a formação de jovens investigadores.
Sobre a distinção agora atribuída, que se materializa-se na entrega de um diploma e de uma dotação no valor de € 5.000, o investigador afirma: “recebi a notícia com um grande sentido de honra e responsabilidade”, sublinhando que este reconhecimento representa também um estímulo para continuar a aprofundar a investigação e a contribuir para a projeção científica da instituição.
Manuel Aureliano Alves is a lecturer at the Faculty of Science and Technology (FCT) and a researcher at the Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR).
He holds a degree in Biochemistry, a Masters in Cell Biology and a PhD in Biochemistry/Bioenergetics from the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra. At UAlg, he has been promoting and developing biochemistry teaching and research since 1997, together with his students from the UAlg Biochemistry Student Centre - Nebqual and collaborators.
At the UAlg Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR), she studies proteins involved in the mechanism and regulation of muscle contraction, namely myosin, actin and Ca2+-ATPase. In addition, because of the biological activities of polyoxometalates (POMs), such as decavanadate (V10), he has focused his research on the probable use of these POMs as potential future drugs in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, cancer, diabetes and, more recently, in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
For Aureliano Alves, "university institutions must encourage and develop originality of thought in their students, one of the great pillars of molecular and applied sciences". Commenting on the award, he said: 'I am truly honoured to have received this award, because recognition at home is simply the best and often not enough. I dedicate this prize to my mentors and/or collaborators who knew how to wait for me... and to you...'.
Jorge Assis is a marine ecologist, data scientist, and climate change analyst, leader of the new Biodiversity Data Science research group (www.biodiversitydatascience.com; CCMAR, University of Algarve). He has a strong background in statistical modelling and an interest in patterns and drivers of biodiversity, biogeography and evolution, with global applications in climate change impact assessments (e.g., IPCC). During the last years, Jorge Assis focused his work on two major questions: how climate-driven distributional shifts and oceanographic connectivity structure global marine biodiversity, from genes to ecosystems, and what are the main consequences of climate change and local selective pressures to marine biodiversity.
For Jorge Assis, "this award is recognition of my work and commitment, but also a way of thanking my family and the institution itself, which have supported and moulded my academic career, from graduation to the present day."
Ana Grenha is the leader of the Drug Delivery Laboratory at CCMAR-UAlg, which is dedicated to the development of drug delivery systems (transporters), with a particular focus on the inhalation (pulmonary) route, and is also interested in exploring the potential of materials of natural origin, namely polysaccharides, in search of new therapeutic applications. The group works in an area with a high impact on society, having proposed therapeutic applications in the area of respiratory infections, such as tuberculosis, and recently started a line related to pulmonary vaccination.
For Ana Grenha "it is a great honour for the group to receive this award, which she considers to be recognition for the work it has been doing at UAlg and CCMAR, always with an eye on innovation and improving therapeutic solutions, which is, after all, the main motto of the pharmaceutical area."
