FCT President awarded with Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo Prize

Helena Pereira, President of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), is the recipient of the Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo 2020 Prize awarded by the Instituto Superior Técnico (Técnico). The prize will be awarded in a ceremony to be held on December 6th, Monday, starting at 14h30, in the main hall of Técnico.

Helena Pereira, a former student of Técnico, wins in the Role Model category - a student with more than 15 years of career. She is a full professor at the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon. She was vice-president of FCT from 2017 to 2019, and was then appointed President of FCT's Board of Directors, a position she holds to this day. Graduated in Chemical-Industrial Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico, PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) from the Faculty of Biology of the University of Hamburg, Germany and aggregated from Instituto Superior de Agronomia, her area of research has been forests and forest products, including bioenergy and biorefineries, in an integrated and multidisciplinary perspective. She has always shown interest and commitment to the gender issue in research and was president of Amonet, the Portuguese Association of Women Scientists.

In the jury's mention, the award is given to Helena Pereira for the "recognition of her active and committed participation in university teaching and in academic and science and technology management, highlighting the meritorious effort to hold demanding high-level public positions at the service of the academic and scientific community. She contributed to the progress of science, being recognized by the international and national scientific community."

The award also distinguishes in this edition Maria Teresa Parreira, in the Young Alumna category, for her academic path, involvement in extracurricular activities, and performance in her training and master's thesis.

The Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo Award was established, in 2016, by Técnico as a way to promote the relevance and gender equality in the Institute, and to recognize the crucial role that women play in all areas of Engineering. In previous editions Maria da Graça Carvalho (2016), Isabel Vaz (2017), Manuela Veloso (2018) and Paula Panarra (2019) were awarded.

More information on the award page and session brochure.

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