Biography

I completed my PhD in Astronomy in 2012, co-hosted by the University of Porto (Portugal) and Aarhus University (Denmark). I then joined the University of Birmingham (UK) as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2012 – 2017). In 2017, I took up a position as Research Scientist at the University of Göttingen (Germany). Later that year, I joined the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA) — currently as Assistant Researcher — and the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Porto (FCUP) — currently as Invited Assistant Professor. I was a Visiting Scientist at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara (USA) in 2019. As of 2021, I lead the Stellar Astrophysics Research Group at IA, heading a multidisciplinary team composed (at the time of writing) of 22 researchers and 12 PhD students.

In 2018, I was awarded a prestigious Marie Curie Individual Fellowship (160 kEUR) by the European Commission. This was followed, in 2020 and 2025, by the award of two highly competitive FCT CEEC Individual contracts (total: 737 kEUR), having respectively ranked 1st and 4th nationwide in the Physics panel (Assistant Researcher level). I am or have been Co-I in 8 other funded projects, namely, an ESA - PRODEX Experiment Arrangement (404 kEUR), as well as 4 NASA (total: 220 kUSD) and 3 FCT (total: 397 kEUR) projects.

I have or have had scientific coordination roles within the TESS (NASA), PLATO (ESA), and Ariel (ESA) space mission consortia. I led the work that allowed predictions to be made of the asteroseismic potential of TESS, helping shape the performance requirements for the instrumentation. I currently lead a working group within the PLATO Data Center, overseeing development of a key part of the mission's science pipeline. Concerning Ariel, I lead a working group responsible for determining the fundamental parameters of the mission's target stars.

My research activity encompasses the fields of stellar astrophysics, exoplanetary science, and Galactic archaeology. I have authored 210 publications (H-index of 52 and a total of ~9,036 citations; source: SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System). Among these are 127 articles in peer-reviewed journals (including 2 in Science, 2 in Nature, 1 in Nature Astronomy, and 1 in Nature Communications), 2 edited books, 1 edited conference proceedings volume, 1 book chapter, 40 conference proceedings papers, and 27 online data catalogs. Altogether, I am first author/lead editor of 35 publications and second or third author/editor of 39 publications (across all types). I am Associate Editor for the leading open access journals Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences and Frontiers in Physics. I am also a referee for 6 international journals, with ~2.2 reviewed manuscripts on average per year.

Since 2015, I have presented 31 talks at international conferences and research institutes worldwide, including 2 invited review talks, 10 invited talks, 7 invited research seminars, and 12 contributed talks. I am a regular evaluator in international panels for funding research (e.g., NASA Astrophysics Data Analysis Program, NASA Postdoctoral Program, Swiss National Science Foundation, and Research Foundation – Flanders) and a reviewer for state-of-the-art observing facilities (e.g., Hubble and OPTICON). I have been a member of the Scientific Organizing Committee of 8 international (4 as Chair) and 1 national (as Chair) conferences and advanced schools. These activities are complemented by my active membership of a number of associations and societies, namely, the International Astronomical Union, the Marie Curie Alumni Association, and the Portuguese Astronomical Society. As of 2024, I am an elected member of the Organizing Committee of Commission G4 (Pulsating Stars) of the International Astronomical Union.

I supervise or have supervised 20 research projects: 2 postdoctoral researchers (1 completed, 1 ongoing), 6 PhD (2 completed, 4 ongoing) and 4 MSc projects (all completed), 2 predoctoral internships (both completed), and 6 undergraduate projects/internships (5 completed, 1 ongoing). I am accustomed to being a member of academic degree juries (10 times a member, 4 of which in international juries). Moreover, I have extensive teaching experience, both at the undergraduate (4 courses lectured at the University of Birmingham) and postgraduate levels (1 PhD and 1 MSc courses lectured at the University of Porto). I have also been an invited lecturer in 2 international advanced schools and have previously delivered training courses for high-school teachers.

Finally, I am an avid science communicator, having given 21 public talks and organized 13 events in three different countries since 2015. I often contribute to the national and international media on research-related stories (at least 21 TV/radio/podcast appearances, 37 written press/online media contributions, and 2 magazine articles since 2015).