Science

Helena Rafael holds a degree in Social Communication from NOVA University Lisbon, which she completed in 1993, and a postgraduate qualification from ISCTE. She began her career in the digital sector at LaNetro during the internet boom of the 1990s.
She later established the communication departments of the publishing houses Presença and Principia before taking on the same role at Gradiva, where she has been since 2006.
Currently, she is leading an editorial and graphic renewal project at the publishing house, founded by Guilherme Valente in 1981.

Last updated: January 2025

Founder of the consulting company ‘MD Media Fusion’, presenter of the programme ‘Economia Sem Fronteiras’ and television commentator on the ‘News Now’ channel.
She has spent most of her career in the USA, where she was a reporter for ABC News, Fox News and a correspondent for TVI, based in New York, covering the major global events of recent decades.
Specialising in Justice and International Politics, she followed media cases in the New York courts, including those of Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein and ‘El Chapo. She has interviewed figures such as Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu and Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Last updated: January 2025

He is an artificial intelligence specialist and co-founder of ‘Data Science for Social Good Portugal’, an association that develops data science and artificial intelligence projects with a positive social impact.
He leads the Data and Artificial Intelligence teams at Mollie, one of Europe's major fintech companies.
With a decade of experience in data and AI, he has developed and implemented artificial intelligence solutions in various sectors. He combines in-depth scientific knowledge with a practical and effective approach to implementing AI, and has been recognised with awards in the field.
He is a guest speaker on ‘data & AI’ at Nova SBE and has a diverse background in national and international companies.

Last updated: january 2025

DeepMind Professor at the University of Cambridge, where he leads the AI field, and a Senior AI Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute.
As a former Director of Machine Learning at Amazon, he implemented solutions for Alexa, Prime Air, and the company's supply chain.
A co-host of the Talking Machines podcast, he has written a series for The Guardian and regularly contributes opinion pieces to various media outlets.
Known for his political and social work with the UK's Council for Artificial Intelligence, the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI), and the OECD's Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), his research focuses on improving data management, scientific discovery, and empowering humans to regain control over large AI systems.

Last updated: january 2025

Senior Fellow at Harvard University and Former Assistant Director for Space Policy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
In almost 20 years of U.S. government service, Dr. Uzo-Okoro has developed several national space policies and contributed to over 60 NASA missions and programs – as an engineer, technical expert, manager, and executive – in space science and technology topics.
At the White House, she led the space, aeronautics, and manufacturing portfolios, and has released space policy on Earth Observations, Orbital Debris, LEO including Microgravity research, Space Weather, In-space Servicing Assembly and Manufacturing, Aeronautics, human exploration, and space science.
She has an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and three masters degrees in Space Systems, Space Robotics, and Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University (APL), MIT (the Media Lab), and Harvard University, respectively. She earned her doctorate degree in Aerospace Engineering from MIT.
Her story is profiled in President George W. Bush’s book, «Out of Many, One».

Last update: january 2025

Andrew Hessel is a distinguished figure in the realm of genomics and synthetic biology, making transformative strides in advancing human and animal health through cutting-edge innovations.
He is a co-founder of Humane Genomics, an early-stage venture committed to the development of synthetic viruses with profound implications for health and wellbeing. Andrew is the Co-founder and Chairman of the Center of Excellence for Engineering Biology, a pioneering institution that catalyzes breakthroughs in the manipulation of biological systems.

Last update: december 2024
Andrew's influence extends to the Genome Project-write, an international scientific initiative that aims to engineer complete genomes, including the human genome.

Researcher in science and environmental communication at MARE – Centre for Marine and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon. He has a PhD in Environmental Engineering from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, a Master's Degree in Applied Ecology and Conservation from the University of Kent and a degree in biology from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

A developmental and evolutionary biologist, he is a scientist, teacher, author of books on science and science communication and film producer. He directs the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science Education Department and the HHMI Tangled Bank Studio. He is Professor of Biology at the University of Maryland and Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin. He was awarded the Rockefeller University's Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing About Science in 2016.

Last updated: April 2021

He graduated from, obtained his doctorate and taught at the Instituto Superior Técnico (1971-97). In 1998, he became Full Professor at the Institute of Chemical and Biological Technology (ITQB-Nova) where, now retired, he still runs a laboratory. He was a NATO fellow at Oxford University (UK) and an A. v. Humboldt Foundation fellow at the Max-Planck Institute for Coal Research and the Technical University of Munich, both in Germany. His research focuses on the application of organometallic chemistry and inorganic chemistry to catalysis and medicine. Co-founder of a start-up dedicated to discovering carbon, monoxide-based drugs for treating inflammatory diseases. Co-author of around 220 scientific articles and patents.

Last updated: November 2018

An Emmy-winning writer, producer and director, she specialises in science communication. She co-created the television series «Cosmos», presented by Carl Sagan, wrote and produced the sequels «Cosmos: A Journey Through Space-Time» (2014) and «Cosmos: Possible Worlds» (2020), as well as publishing a book of the same name (Gradiva, 2020). She was creative director of NASA's Voyager Interstellar Message Project, the gold disks carried by the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft.

Last updated: October 2020