Science

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

He was Professor of Physical Chemistry at Oxford University from 1965 until his retirement in 2007. His research focused on theoretical chemistry and magnetic resonance, but his interest eventually turned to writing. He published over 70 books, including university textbooks and science books for the general public. His best-known book for general readers is Atkins’ «Physical Chemistry», which is now in its eleventh edition and used all over the world. Atkins continues to give lectures and is an active proponent of various humanist and secular associations. In 2016, he received an award from the American Chemical Society for communicating chemistry to the public.

Last updated: November 2018

Co-author of the book «The Science of Youth» (Elsinore, 2017). A psychologist who studies ageing and obesity, she directs the Center for Aging, Metabolism and Emotions at the University of California, San Francisco.

Last updated: November 2020

Science journalist for radio, television and the press. Trained at Columbia University in New York, NOVA and the Haute École ICHEC in Brussels, he was also Communications Coordinator at ISCTE-IUL. He has received awards from the Association for the Promotion and Development of the Information Society and the online magazine «Ciência Hoje».

Last updated: November 2020

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

With a PhD in Biochemistry from University College London (UCL), Camilla Pang is a postdoctoral scientist specialising in translational bioinformatics at a pharmaceutical company developing treatments for diseases with immunological and neurological causes. She is the author of «Explaining Humans» (Penguin Viking, March 2020), a memoir that draws on scientific principles to understand human behaviour, from the perspective of a person suffering from autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The book was a finalist for the Royal Society Insight Investment Best Scientific Book Award 2020.

Last updated: October 2021

A Portuguese neuroscientist, he is the CEO and director of the world's largest brain research centre, the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute in the US. He is a professor at Columbia University in New York. He researches the neurobiology of action in health and disease. His laboratory uses approaches from genetics, electrophysiology, optics and behaviour to investigate the mechanisms that underlie action activation and action learning. His findings have led to new hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying the creation of movement and motor dysfunction in Parkinson's disease.
He graduated from the University of Lisbon in 1996 and started the GABBA programme (Graduate Programme in Areas of Basic and Applied Biology) at the University of Porto the following year. He did post-doctoral studies with Alcino Silva at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) and then post-doctoral work with Miguel Nicolelis at Duke University.
He was director of Champalimaud Research and deputy director and researcher of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme. In 2012, he became an international early career scientist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and received the Young Researcher Award from the Society for Neuroscience. He is President of the American-Portuguese Biomedical Research Fund.
He was awarded the Ariëns Kappers Medal of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the U19 Brain Initiative Award (15.3 million dollars over five years). He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. He is a Commander of the Order of Sant'Iago da Espada (2014) and received the silver medal from the Portuguese Ministry of Health (2014).

Last updated: November 2021

Neurologist and Assistant Professor of Neurology at Yale University School of Medicine, USA. He is the editor of Science-Based Medicine, a website dedicated to exploring science issues in medicine.

Last updated: November 2023

Journalist and science editor at the «Público» newspaper.

Professor of Digital Media at the Nova School of Social and Human Sciences, where he founded and coordinates INOVA Media Lab, a research and development laboratory working in the areas of immersive and interactive narrative, the social impact of Artificial Intelligence, web platforms and social media, innovation and digital transformation, information visualisation and science communication. He coordinates the Master’s degree in New Media and Web Practices and is part of the Council of Europe's group of experts on Artificial Intelligence and Education. He is the author of several scientific articles and book chapters published internationally. He was awarded the German Marshall Fund of the United States Fellowship (2016) and the Calouste Gulbenkian – Knowledge Award (2019), for co-coordinating the scientific dissemination programme 90 Seconds of Science.