President of FCT awarded Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo Prize

Helena Pereira, President of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), has been awarded the Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo 2020 Prize by the Instituto Superior Técnico (Técnico). The award will be presented at a ceremony to be held on Monday, December 6, at 2:30 p.m., in Técnico's main hall.

Helena Pereira, a former student at Técnico, won in the Role Model category - a student with more than 15 years' experience. 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 later appointed President of FCT's Board of Directors, a position she still holds today. With a degree in Chemical-Industrial Engineering from the Instituto Superior Técnico, a PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) from the Faculty of Biology of the University of Hamburg, Germany and an aggregate degree from the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, her area of research has been forests and forest products, including bioenergy and biorefineries, from an integrated and multidisciplinary perspective. She has always shown interest and commitment to the issue of gender in research and was president of Amonet, the Portuguese Association of Women Scientists.

In the jury's citation, the prize is awarded to Helena Pereira for "recognizing her active and committed participation in university teaching and in academic and science and technology management, highlighting her meritorious efforts in holding 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."

In this edition, the prize also honors Maria Teresa Parreira, in the Young Alumna category, for her academic career, involvement in extracurricular activities and performance in her training and master's dissertation.

The Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo Award was established in 2016 by Técnico as a way of promoting gender relevance and equality at the Institute, and recognizing the crucial role that women play in all areas of Engineering. Previous editions have honored Maria da Graça Carvalho (2016), Isabel Vaz (2017), Manuela Veloso (2018) and Paula Panarra (2019).

More information on the prize page and the session brochure.

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