ITQB NOVA Day marks its 32nd anniversary within NOVA
Last Friday, on the 4th of July, ITQB NOVA’s community came together to celebrate another year – the 32nd since the institute’s integration into Universidade Nova de Lisboa. This was an opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of ITQB NOVA’s members and to look forward into the future of research and education at the institute.
The ceremony welcomed several guests, including Isabel Nunes, NOVA Vice Rector, Elvira Fortunato, professor at NOVA FCT and Director of CENIMAT, and former Minister for Science, Technology, and Higher Education. Rosalia Vargas, President of Ciência Viva and Director of Pavilhão do Conhecimento, and João Dias de Sousa, representing Fundação Jacqueline Dias de Sousa, also attended the ceremony.
Cláudio Soares, ITQB NOVA researcher and NOVA’s Pro-Rector, gave the opening remarks on behalf of NOVA’s Rector João Sàágua, followed by Pedro Patacho, Oeiras Municipality City Councilor. The programme proceeded with the presentation of the Best Thesis Awards, sponsored by Fundação Jacqueline Dias de Sousa. Ana Sofia da Costa Moreira received the 2023 award for her engineering approach to accelerate the production of lentivirus, essential tools in gene therapy. The 2024 award went to Giulia Francescato, whose PhD research focused on synthesizing new metal complexes with potential applications, for instance, as antifungal agents against candidiasis.
This year’s Early Career Research Award (ECRA) was granted to Mario Del Rosario and Raquel Portela for their project “Monitoring Staphylococcus aureus Intracellular Infection-Induced Cellular Stress Using PhotoFiTT.” This project aims to use live-cell imaging and AI-based analysis to better understand cellular stress responses to bacterial infection, contributing to the development of more effective infection models and therapies. This award is attributed annually by ITQB NOVA, in partnership with the Oeiras Municipality, and is sponsored by Sarstedt.
Following the awards, a tribute was paid to ITQB NOVA's staff members celebrating 25 years at the institute – Catarina Brito, Catarina Paquete, and Sandra Viegas - and those who retired last year – Abel Oliva, Ana Almada, Lisete Galego, and Madalena Pereira.
Throughout the event, the community revisited video highlights from the past year, including ITQB NOVA’s Open Day. Closing the ceremony, João Crespo, ITQB NOVA Dean, highlighted opportunities and challenges of the past year, recognizing the hard work of the whole community and their contributions to the institute’s “very own environment”.
The day ended with a traditional "Arraial” featuring a barbecue, a live performance by ITQBand and games at the student’s "quermesse”, bringing the community together in celebration.
