Virgínia Ribeiro de Andrade is the president of AGRAFr (Portuguese Graduate Association in France) and researcher in the field of Cellular Biology and Development, having recently started a post-PHD at the Hubrecht Institute in the Netherlands.

Vírginia has a bachelor’s in Biochemistry by the University of Evora, e concluded her master’s and PHD at Sorbonne Université – Université Pierre et Marie Curie.

The work she developed during her PHD at the Cellular Biology and Membrane Traffic Laboratory, at the Pasteur Institute, in Paris, resulted in the publication of scientific articles in world renowned journals.

Of the several awards received, we choose to enlighten the award for best PHD thesis of 2022, by the Club Exocytose-Endocytose, in France.

Vírginia has received recently a post-PHD scholarship by the EMBO (European Molecular Laboratory Organization), a renowned European organization.

The president of AGRAFr is interested in the communication of sciente, havind participated during her PHD in various activities of divulgation with the Native Cientists, Déclics e Vie ma Vie de Chercheur.

You can view Virgínia Andrade’s LinkedIn profile here.

AGRAFr – Association des Diplômés Portugais en France – is an independent, non-profit organization that aims to represent and promote the interests of all Portuguese graduates and Portuguese descendants in France.

AGRAFr is committed to the success of the Portuguese graduate community living in France, and to the projection of Portugal’s image in France. As such, AGRAFr’s main goals are: supporting the integration of its members in the French society as well as supporting their potential return to Portugal; promoting interaction and sharing of personal and professional experiences among members; stimulating cooperation between the Portuguese graduate community living in France and the French and Portuguese academic and business community; and strengthening the influential position of the Portuguese graduate community and Portuguese descendants among the French population. Since its creation, AGRAFr has organized several activities that allow members to get to know each other and share experiences, as well as foster discussions on topics relevant to the Portuguese graduate community in France.

Viviana Silva is since 2021 President of ASPPA e.V., Association of Portuguese Postgraduates in Germany, an independent and non-profit organization founded in 2012, committed to representing, promoting and defending the interests of Portuguese with an academic degree residing in Germany.

Viviana is also the Regional Leader of “Smart Manufacturing”, at Cargil Agricultural Supply Chain EMEA, which she joined in March 2022.
Previously, she spent more than 10 years at BASF (Germany), where she held different roles, in the area of ​​innovation in the departments of Central Research, Global Technology for Agricultural Solutions; “Smart Manufacturing”; and “Corporate Sustainability”.
She was Research Leader at the University of Porto in the area of ​​biorefineries and Business Unit Leader at Fluidinova S.A., in the field of nanomaterials. She was Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança and evaluator of European FP7 projects for the European Commission.
Viviana has a degree and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto. She has a postgraduate degree in Business Management at the Porto Business Management School.
She has received several awards, including 1st place in the IChemE Award for Innovation & Excellence for “Sustainable Technology”, 2008. She has 5 patents, more than 50 scientific articles and about 40 oral communications.
She has been a member of the Portuguese Diaspora Council since December 2022.

You can view Viviana Silva’s LinkedIn profile here.

In addition to being president of the Portuguese American Post Graduate Society, Sílvia Curado is also Director and Research Assistant Professor at the Grossman school of medicine and at the Langone medical center in New York.
Sílvia holds a PhD in Molecular Biology, Genetics and biological development from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory
Since December 2022, Sílvia is officially a member of the Portuguese Diaspora Council.

You can view Sílvia Curado’s LinkedIn profile here.

Dr Diogo Martins is a Public Health medical doctor and leads the Snakebite programme at the Welcome Trust, one of the largest charity foundations in the world whose mission is to support science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone.

He has previously worked at the World Health Organization and participated in the negotiations of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Dr Martins is the incumbent president of the Portuguese Association of Researchers and Students in the UK (PARSUK) and a Doctorate in Public Health (DrPH) candidate at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, in the United Kingdom.

You can view Diogo Martins’s LinkedIn profile here.

Paulo Gomes is the president of AGRAPS.ch (Portuguese Graduate Association in Switzerland) and the Management Liaison Officer of CERN for Portugal.

Paulo Gomes has a degree and doctorship in Electronic Engineering and Computers by the IST, University of Lisbon. During his degree, Paulo found an interest in Particle Physics, joining the group of Professor Mariano Gago and the LIP (Portuguesa Laboratory of Particle Physics and associated technologies).

In 1985, Paulo Gomes did an internship at CERN, in Geneva, Switzerland. Afterwards, he joined a Portuguese team at LIP, who collaborated in experiences of CERN. After his PHD, in 1996, Paulo Gomes was invented by the CERN to work with a group dedicated on cryogenesis. From 2010 to 2017, Paulo lead the team responsible for the automation systems for accelerator vacuum. Since 2018, Paulo is an advisor, in the vacuum group, for the development of control systems and for collaborations with academia.

Since 2016, he has also been responsible for CERN’s liaison with Portugal, which has contributed to fostering relations between the Organization and national, academic and governmental entities, through the organization of institutional visits and various collaboration agreements, among other actions.

You can view Paulo Gomes’s LinkedIn profile here.

David Pereira de Castro is the president of SPOT Nordic (Portuguese Reserchears and Professional Graduate Association in the Nordic Countries) and is a researcher of International Economic Policies at Copenhagen Business School.

David Castro has a degree in Public Administration by ISCSP, University of Lisbon, and concluded his master’s on International Business and Politics at Copenhagen Business School, having collaborated as an assistant researcher in various projects related to the development theories concerning the organization and application of sustainability policies on multinational companies.

In 2017, David Castro joined the audit team for digitization and strategic planning projects at the Ministry of Economy under the responsibility of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Economy. After moving to Copenhagen, David assumed leadership roles in organizations related to entrepreneurship and innovation, strategic consulting, and assessment of strategic and legal alignment within the scope of business policies to promote sustainability.

Since 2020, the president of SPOT Nordic been part of a set of business projects focused on food production, strategic consultancy and the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship in an academic context, between Portugal and the Nordic Countries.

You can view David Pereira de Castro’s LinkedIn profile here.