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Located in the Central of Portugal, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, the city of Aveiro is a popular tourist destination, famed for its canals, Nouveau architecture and colorfully Moliceiro boats. Famous for its unique lagoon and canals, Aveiro is known as “The Portuguese Venice”.

Aveiro is located 1 h from Porto Airport and approximately 2 h from Lisbon Airport. 

 

From Porto Airport

 

Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (Porto Airport) is located 80 km north of the city of Aveiro. The train is the best and cheapest way to get to Aveiro, as it takes you close to the city center. To get to the train, you can either take the metro from the airport or a taxi to the main train station in Porto (Porto – Campanhã): 

- A taxi costs about 25 € and the journey from Porto airport to Porto – Campanhã train station takes about 25 min. 

-The Metro (title Z4 Andante ticket) costs about 2.60 € and takes about 40 min from Porto airport to Porto – Campanhã train station (Line E: Aeroporto – Estádio do Dragão).

 

When you are at Porto – Campanhã train station, you can take the train to Aveiro. You have several options: 

- High-speed Intercidades and Alfa Pendular trains take about 50 min to reach Aveiro but are a bit more expensive (Intercidades costs about 13 € and Alfa Pendular between 15-21 €).

- Local suburban trains offer a regular service throughout the day. The trip takes about 70 min and costs 3.55 €. 

You can find the timetable of the different trains here: https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en/train-times

The Aveiro train station is within walking distance (15 minutes) from the city center. From the Aveiro train station you can also take the Bus or Taxi to move around the city.

 

Alternatively, you can also rent a car at Porto airport and drive south to Aveiro. This is a 75 km trip, mostly on the highway, and should take about 1 h. 

 

 

From Lisbon Airport

 

Portela / Humberto Delgado Airport (Lisbon Airport) is located about 250 km south of the city of Aveiro. As this is a long trip, the best is to take a train from Lisbon to Aveiro using an Intercidades or an Alfa Pendular train.

 

To go from the Lisbon Airport to the main train station (Lisboa – Oriente), you can: 

- Take the Metro, using the red line to Oriente train station. The ticket costs just 1.50 €.

- Take a taxi, which costs about 10 € and takes around 15 min. 

- Take the bus (705 and 744 ) to the bus station Oriente, which costs about 1.80 €. You can buy your ticket inside the bus.

 

When you get to Lisbon – Oriente train station, you can take the high-speed Intercidades or Alfa Pendular train to Aveiro. The Intercidades and Alfa Pendular trains take about 2 h and 2h30 min, respectively, to reach Aveiro Intercidades costs between 21-31 € and Alfa Pendular between 28-40 €).

- Local suburban trains offer a regular service throughout the day. The trip takes about 70 min and costs 3.55 €. 

You can find the timetable of the different trains here: https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en/train-times

The Aveiro train station is within walking distance (15 minutes) from the city center. From the Aveiro train station you can also take the Bus or Taxi to move around the city.

 

Alternatively, you can also rent a car at Lisbon airport and drive north to Aveiro. This is a 255 km trip, mostly on the highway, and should take about 2h45 min. 

Hotel Imperial *** 

Address: Rua Dr. Nascimento Leitão, 1, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234380150 

Email: reservas@hotelimperial.pt  

Website: www.hotelimperial.pt  

 

Hotel Afonso V *** 

Address: Rua de Dr. Manuel das Neves, 3810-101, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 425 191 

Email: info@hotelafonsov.pt  

Website: https://www.hotelafonsov.pt/  

 

Veneza Hotel *** 

Address: Rua Luís Gomes de Carvalho 23, 3800-211 Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 404 400 

Email: reservas@venezahotel.pt  

Website: https://www.venezahotel.pt/  

 

Hotel das Salinas *** 

Address: Rua da Liberdade 10, 3810-126, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 404 190 

Email: reservas@hoteldassalinas.com  

Website: https://www.hoteldassalinas.com/  

 

Hotel Jardim *** 

Address: Praceta D. Afonso V, 3810-094, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 426 514 

Email: info@hoteljardim.pt  

Website: https://www.hoteljardim.pt  

 

Hotel Aveiro Center *** 

Address: Rua da Arrochela 6, 3810-052, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 380 390 

Email: reservas@hotelaveirocenter.com  

Website: https://www.hotelaveirocenter.com/  

 

Meliã Ria Hotel & Spa **** 

Address: Cais da Fonte Nova, Lote 5, 3810-200, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 401 000 

Email: melia.ria@meliaportugal.com  

Website: https://www.meliaria.com  

 

Hotel Aveiro Palace **** 

Address: Rua de Viana do Castelo 4, 3800-275, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 421 885 

Email: geral@hotelaveiropalace.com  

Website: https://www.hotelaveiropalace.com/  

 

Hotel As Américas **** 

Address: Rua Eng. Von Haff 20, 3800-176, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 346 010 

Email: info@hotelasamericas.com  

Website: https://www.hotelasamericas.com/  

 

Hotel Moliceiro **** 

Address: Rua Dr. Barbosa de Magalhães 15/17, 3800-154, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 377 400 

Email: hotelmoliceiro@hotelmoliceiro.pt  

Website: https://www.hotelmoliceiro.pt/   

Prof. Dr. Tanja Weil has been Director at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP) since 2017 and Managing Director since 2022. She studied chemistry (1993-1998) at the TU Braunschweig (Germany) and the University of Bordeaux I (France) and received her PhD from MPIP in 2002 under Prof. Klaus Müllen. From 2002 to 2008, she held various leading positions at Merz Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany. In 2008, she accepted a position as Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore. Since 2010, Tanja Weil has been Director of the Institute of Organic Chemistry III at the University of Ulm. She has received competitive grants and awards at the national and international level, including the Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society, an ERC Synergy Grant, the Science Award of the City of Ulm, the Netherlands Supramolecular Chemistry Scholar Award and the Laureate Dr. Manfred Jäger Symposium, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. She is a member of the Senate of the German Research Foundation as well as of the Leibniz Association and serves as Associate Editor for JACS. Her scientific interests are in the field of (bio)materials research and material-cell interactions.

Prof. Olli Ikkala is a distinguished professor of Aalto University/ Department of Applied Physics. His research interest is to develop functional materials based on hierarchical self-assemblies, biomimetics, and materials originating from nature. Originally educated in quantum physics, he was first affiliated 10 years in chemical industry to develop electrically conducting polymers. Professor Olli Ikkala has + 300 articles cited ca. 25,000 times, many in the most prestigious journals. He has been awarded twice both the Advanced Grant of ERC and the Academy Professorship of Academy of Finland. The awards include Alexander von Humboldt Research Award and Finnish Science Award. His recent interest is related to life-inspired dynamic materials, for example chemical programming for learning-inpired functions and homeostasis. He works in several advisory and evaluation duties nationally and internationally and has collaborated over the years with polymer, paint, and forest product industry.

Maartje Bastings is a biomaterials engineer, who studied biomedical engineering and supramolecular chemistry with Bert (E.W.) Meijer at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, The Netherlands. During her training she undertook research internships in polymer synthesis and self-assembly with Craig J. Hawker at the Materials Research Laboratory of the University of California, Santa Barbara and structural protein engineering with David A. Tirrell at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Following a 4-year postdoc position in DNA Nanotechnology with William M. Shih at Harvard University / Wyss Institute in Boston, she started as Tenure Track Assistant Professor at EPFL, leading the Programmable Biomaterials Laboratory (PBL) in 2017. Her lab aims to engineer (super-) selective biomaterials and explores how the relation of form and function at the nanoscale interplays toward exceptional control over interactions between synthetic materials and biology.

João Borges is a Senior Researcher at the Department of Chemistry and CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. He graduated and received his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Porto in 2008 and 2013, respectively, and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Minho between 2013 and 2016. His research focuses on the molecular design, synthesis and development of supramolecular biofunctional materials to interface with living systems. In particular, he has been developing soft multicomponent self-assembling biomaterials by combining polysaccharides, self-assembling peptides and nucleic acids, to be used as bioinstructive matrices to control cell functions and as platforms for controlled drug/therapeutics delivery. He is author of original research articles, review papers, editorial, essay, comment, and viewpoint articles published in high impact journals including Advanced Functional Materials, Advanced Materials, Nanoscale, Chemical Reviews, Nature Chemistry, Angewandte Chemie, Chemical Science, and Journal of the American Chemical Society and has edited one book on soft matter for biomedical applications. In 2019, he was distinguished by IUPAC as an outstanding early-career chemist, being featured in the Periodic Table of Younger Chemists.

Tuomas Knowles is Professor of Physical Chemistry and Biophysics at the Department of Chemistry and at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK), co-director of the Cambridge Centre for Misfolding Diseases and Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. His group research focuses on the physicochemical properties and behaviour of biological molecules and soft materials, with a particular focus on understanding the molecular principles that govern protein behavior in health and disease, as well as in generating functional materials by controlling protein self-assembly. Tuomas received his PhD degree (2008) in Biophysics from the University of Cambridge (UK), respectively. He was a visiting scholar at Harvard University and Weston Visiting Professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Prof. Knowles has received a number of distinguished honours and awards, including an ERC Consolidator Grant (2020), Rita and John Cornforth Award from the RSC (2019), Corday-Morgan Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC, 2017), Raymond and Beverly Sackler International Prize in Biophysics (2017), Young Investigator Award and Medal from the British Biophysical Society (2014), Young Scientist Prize in Biophysics from the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (2014), and the Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize from the RSC (2012).

Colin Bonduelle is a CNRS researcher working at the Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques (LCPO) at the University of Bordeaux. He is a biochemist by training and did his PhD thesis in polymer chemistry to become an expert in ring-opening polymerization. He currently works on the synthesis, characterization and application of protein-like polymers towards macromolecular therapeutics, nanomaterials/nanocomposites and bioactive scaffolds. His in-depth expertise in N-carboxyanhydride chemistry as well as the new tools he developed recently in their specific polymerization are an excellent platform to conceive the polymers for tomorrow’s application following bioinspired and biomimectic design. This recently included ring-expansion methodologies to mimick antimicrobial peptides or aqueous ring-opening polymerization induced self-assembly processes (ROPISA).

Silvia Marchesan leads the Superstructures Labs (www.marchesanlab.com) at the University of Trieste (Italy) that she opened thanks to a starting grant in late 2015. Her research lies at the interface between nanotechnology and supramolecular chemistry to develop innovative bioinspired biomaterials. She is member of many Advisory Boards of international journals, such as Chem, J. Mater. Chem. B, ChemComm, Chem. Eur. J., Soft Matter, ACS Appl. Bio Mater., and RSC Mater. Adv. She is Fellow member of RSC (UK), member of ACS and MRS (USA) and SCI (Italy). She is member of several scientific committees, such as the Italian Peptide Society and the RSC Chemical Biology & Biological Chemistry Group (UK). She received various awards, such as the RSC Soft Matter Lectureship (2021) and the Erspamer Award (2017), and delivered international named lectures. She was selected by Nature as Rising Star in the natural sciences (2018) and by Nature Chemistry amongst those PIs shaping the future of the discipline (2019). Her multidisciplinary expertise is the result of research training in UK (PhD at The University of Edinburgh and research at UCL and University of Cambridge), Finland (University of Helsinki), Australia (CSIRO and Monash University), and Italy (University of Trieste and INSTM).

Arri Priimägi is a professor of chemistry in the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences at Tampere University, and the leader of Smart Photonic Materials research group. The group’s focal areas of research revolve around different aspects of photocontrollable functional systems, ranging from synthesis of molecular photoswitches to applications of light-responsive materials in photonics, biomaterials sciences, and soft robotics. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2009 from Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University), followed by postdoctoral fellowships at Tokyo Institute of Technology and Politecnico di Milano. He presently holds an ERC Consolidator Grant “Multifunctional, Sensory-Motorized Material Systems”, with the aim of learning from living systems to develop remotely driven shape-changing soft materials.

Nathalie Katsonis is Professor of Chemistry at the Stratingh Institute of Chemistry of the University of Groningen (the Netherlands), leading a research group dedicated to the design and creation of active molecular systems and materials that are inspired by the supramolecular, functional and stimuli-responsive systems found in nature, with a special focus on chirality, liquid crystals and artificial molecular machines. Nathalie received her MSc (2001) and PhD (2004) degrees from the University Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris, France), and did postdoctoral research in the group of Ben Feringa to investigate chirality and order in supramolecular assemblies. Her independent career started in 2007 as Associate Researcher for the CNRS, and in 2011 she took up a tenure-track position at the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology at the University of Twente (the Netherlands), where she was promoted to Professor in 'Bio-inspired and Smart Materials' in 2017. She is the recipient of several honours and awards, including an ERC Starting Grant (2012), an ERC Consolidator Grant (2017), Athena Award of the Dutch Science Foundation (2016), Gold Medal of the Royal Dutch Society of Chemistry (2017), Board of the van’t Hoff Foundation (2018), Chair of the Board of the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry (2022), and Professor Werdelmann Lectureship of the University of Duisburg-Essen (2022).

Cecília Roque is an Associate Professor with Habilitation in Bioengineering and head of the Biomolecular Engineering Lab at the School of Science and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon. She is UCIBIO Director since February 2023. Cecilia holds a degree in Chemical Engineering (Major in Biotechnology) and a PhD in Biotechnology from Instituto Superior Técnico. Cecília has been a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge and at the Catholic University of America, a Post-doctoral researcher at the Institute of Biotechnology (University of Cambridge) and at INESC-MN (Lisbon, Portugal), and a Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge, University of Nantes, University of São Paulo, City University of New York and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Her research focus on biomimetics merging chemistry, biotechnology and engineering, and her work has been merited with several national and international distinctions. She has been awarded Starting and Proof-of-concept grants from the European Research Council (2014, 2022)..

Rafal Klajn completed his undergraduate education and an MSc in Chemistry at the University of Warsaw in 2004. In 2009, he obtained a PhD degree at Northwestern University, where he worked with Profs. Bartosz Gzybowski and Sir Fraser Stoddart. After a roadtrip through the Rocky Mountains, he joined the Weizmann Institute of Science as a tenure-track assistant professor later that year. He was promoted to associate and full professor in 2016 and 2021, respectively. In August 2023, he moved his research group to Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). Klajn has served on the boards of several journals, including Chem, ACS Nano, and ChemSystemsChem, and received several awards, including the Netherlands Scholar Award for Supramolecular Chemistry, the Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize in Supramolecular Chemistry, and the Sigma-Aldrich lectureship in Materials Science.

Jan van Hest obtained his PhD from Eindhoven University of Technology in 1996 in macro-organic chemistry with prof E.W. Meijer. He worked as a postdoc with prof D.A. Tirrell on protein engineering. In 1997 he joined the chemical company DSM in the Netherlands. In 2000 he was appointed full professor in Bio-organic chemistry at Radboud University Nijmegen. As of September 2016, he holds the chair of Bio-organic Chemistry at Eindhoven University of Technology. Since May 2017 he is the scientific director of the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems (ICMS). The group’s focus is to develop well-defined compartments for nanomedicine and artificial cell research. Using a combination of techniques from polymer science to protein engineering, well-defined carriers are developed for application in e.g. cancer treatment and immunology.

Van Hest is one of the main applicants of two 10-year gravitation programs on Functional Molecular Systems (2012) and Interactive Polymer Materials (Eindhoven, 2022). In 2016 he was awarded an ERC Advanced grant. Van Hest is associate editor of Bioconjugate Chemistry. He has been elected member of the Academy of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (2019), and was awarded the Spinoza premium (2020), the highest scientific distinction in the Netherlands.

Brigitte Städler is Professor at the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center at Aarhus University, Denmark. Prior to this, she obtained her PhD from ETH Zurich, Switzerland followed by post doc time at the University of Melbourne, Australia and an Assistant and Associate Professor positions at Aarhus University. Currently, she is the head of the ‘Laboratory for Cell Mimicry’, an interdisciplinary group working in the area of bottom-up synthetic biology focusing on nature inspired solutions to address medical challenges. Her research efforts combine organic and polymer chemistry with colloidal science and cell biology to assemble life-like units that can interact and support mammalian cells and tissues. Highlights include the reports on i) intracellularly active nanoreactors, ii) the integration of microreactors/artificial cells with mammalian cells and cell aggregates, and iii) directional self-propelled nanobots. Brigitte has over 110 peer-reviewed publications (google scholar h-index 43) and 5 book chapters. She obtained multiple fellowships including the L’Oreal/UNESCO - For Women in Science Fellowship, Denmark, the Carlsberg Foundation – Distinguished Associate Professor Fellowship, and an ERC Consolidator Grant.

Jeroen Leijten is an Associate Professor at the University of Twente, the Netherlands. He earned his MSc in Biomedical Sciences at Leiden University in 2007, and his PhD in Tissue Engineering with Prof. Blitterswijk at the University of Twente in 2012, where he continued to work as a postdoc for an additional year with Prof. Karperien. Then, he conducted postdoctoral research work in KU Leuven (Belgium) and Harvard-MIT (USA), before accepting a tenure track position at the University of Twente. His lab focuses on developing novel microtechnologies with a particular interest in microfluidics, micromaterials, and on-demand tunable biomaterials, which he leverages to create 3D spatiotemporal microenvironments to control (stem) cell behavior. Prof. Leijten is author of numerous papers in high-ranked journals including Cell Stem Cell, Nature Communications, Small, Advanced Functional Materials, and PNAS. He received numerous recognitions, including an ERC Starting Grant, and the Veni and Vidi awards from the Dutch Research Council, as well as multiple early-career and presentation awards/honors. Those include the Jean Leray Award by the European Society for Biomaterials (2020), the Robert Brown Early Career Principal Investigator Award by TERMIS-EU (2020), the ‘Best engineering idea of 2018’ by the Dutch Academy of Engineers and was twice selected as a ‘top 10 North European Young Scientific Talent’ (2017, 2018) by the popular science magazine New Scientist.

Olya was born in Moscow, Russia. She studied medicine specializing in medical biophysics in Moscow and worked on her MD thesis devoted to traumatic brain injury and mass spectrometry at the University of Pittsburgh, USA. She further did her PhD in Berlin, Germany working on a multi-omics approach to research of liver cancer and pre-cancerous conditions. She continued her work in translational medicine and mass spectrometry in Dresden, working as a postdoc in MPI-CBG. Currently, she works as a Scientific communications officer in a German biotech company. Additionally, to her main job, Olga devotes her to academic mental health advocacy and scientific community building. She is a co-founder of Dragonfly Mental Health and Sci.STEPS mentoring program.

Rui Quinta (Managing Partner & Executive Creative Director at With Company Portugal) Co-founded the space experience design studio, Toyno and With Company, a Lisbon based transformative design company, from where he tries to help others better everything.

He’s an invited lecturer of Futures, Strategic Design, Creativity and Innovation at ISEG and also teaches Design Management and Entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon. Since 2012, he's been coaching teams on Design Thinking and Innovation with the Hasso PIattner Institute Academy from Berlin and Porto Business School.

With a taste for big audiences he loves to develop content about the things he's most curious, passionate or knowledgeable about. As a result of that, he's been frequently assigned as a speaker.

Some stages where he had the most fun:

- From Branding a startup to a startup ecosystem - BCreative Tracks - Seoul

- Designing the ways out of boredom - StartupGuide - Berlin

- The age of ageing - Bayer/ImpactHub - Lisbon

- Anxiety. Living a Hypertiny life - Creative Mornings - Lisbon

- Cross-Disciplinary innovation - BCreative Representative - Shanghai

- Designing the conditions to design everything - TEDx - Lisbon

- How can we use our past to design a better future - IDW - University of Zaragoza

- One can be diverse - Designing Tomorrow's Organisational Cultures - Lisbon

- Digital participatory design - Ouishare Fest - Paris

Beatrice received her PhD in 2019 from Eindhoven University of Technology (NL) with a thesis on supramolecular materials for optoelectronic applications under the supervision of E.W. (Bert) Meijer.

During her studies, she had the occasion to participate to multiple international collaborations (Weizmann Institute, Nagoya University, University of Manchester) which resulted in 10 peer-reviewed publications including 1 Nature and 5 JACS. Beatrice then join the group of Ludovic Julien at École Normale Supérieure (FR) as postdoctoral fellow after winning the Dutch NWO grant Rubicon and the European MSCA individual fellowship for her studies on photoswitchable non-covalent proteins for photoacoustic imaging.

In 2021, Beatrice joined the advanced research group of DNA Script as surface chemist. Since June 2022, she leads the inkjet synthesis team focused on inkjet enzymatic DNA synthesis, inks formulations, and surface chemistry of 2D solid supports.

Helena Vieira is Coordinator Researcher and ERA CHAIR Holder in Environmental Economics and Natural Resources Management at University of Aveiro, Portugal.

Responsible for launching and coordinating a new team at CESAM R&D unit, joining natural and socio-economics sciences to develop sustainable solutions. Also Chair of the Scientific Committee of Circular BioBased Europe (CBE-JU), an EU based public private partnership to promote bioeconomy and circularity models and a Board Member of EU Mission Restore our Oceans and Waters. Previously acted as Director General of Maritime Policy under the Minister of the Sea, XXII Government of Portugal. PhD in Biomedicine from Imperial College of London, and Executive Post-graduated from Harvard Business School, speaks 5 languages and loves to dive in the ocean.

I was born in the city of Groningen in 1955 and moved even more North in 1961 to Delfzijl – a small seaport town, where I followed by elementary school. After attending secondary school in Appingedam – a 5-kilometer bike route from Delfzijl - where I graduated in 1972, I started studying chemistry at the University of Groningen and become fascinated by molecules due to my encounter with Professor Hans Wynberg. As a result I continued my education in Organic Chemistry in Groningen. I obtained my master's degree in 1978 and subsequently earned my PhD degree under supervision of Professor Hans Wynberg in 1982. I graduated with his thesis on 'Chemiluminescence in action: syntheses, properties, and applications of 1,2-dioxetanes'. Next to molecules, I was fully taken by everything that is chiral and stereochemistry is my favorite part of chemistry. Due to the oil crisis, the number of jobs were very limited and the growth of universities was stopped and I was very lucky to get an offer of the Philips Research Laboratories in Eindhoven as a research scientist in Molecular Materials. In 1989 I moved to DSM Research in Geleen to become head of the department for New Materials. In 1991, I was offered a full professorship of Organic Chemistry at the department for Chemistry & Chemical Engineering of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and in 1999 at the department for Biomedical Engineering at the same university. Since 2004, I became a distinguished university professor of Molecular Sciences at TU/e and initiated the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems in 2008. Next to Eindhoven, I have connections with the Radboud University in Nijmegen, University of California Santa Barbara, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz and the University of new South Wales in Sydney.

In the lecture, I will share my thoughts and continuous doubts on what to decide in my career, but I will also show which people have been essential in my career and life and how they influenced the choices made, while some of the important turns in my life where totally incidental. However, above all I have the privileged to be surrounded by great mentors, friends and family.

E.W. “Bert” Meijer is Distinguished University Professor in the Molecular Sciences, Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Eindhoven University of Technology. After receiving his PhD degree at the University of Groningen with Hans Wynberg, he worked for 10 years in industry (Philips and DSM). In 1991 he was appointed in Eindhoven, while in the meantime he has part-time positions in Nijmegen, MPI-Mainz, Santa Barbara, CA and Sydney. Bert Meijer is a member of many editorial advisory boards, including Advanced Materials and is associate editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Bert Meijer has received several awards, including the Spinoza Award (2001), the ACS Award for Polymer Chemistry (2006), the AkzoNobel Science Award (2010), Cope Scholar Award of the ACS (2012), the Prelog Medal (2014), the Nagoya Gold Medal (2017), the Chirality Medal (2018) and the Van ‘t Hoff and Staudinger Medal (2022). In 2020 he is knighted by the king to be Commander in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. He is an honorable member of several academies and societies, including the US National Academy of Sciences and Royal Netherlands Academy of Science, where he is appointed to Academy Professor in 2014.

Ole John Nielsen (OJ) is a professor of atmospheric chemistry at the University of Copenhagen. Besides being an expert on air pollution and climate change he is interested in leadership, coaching, training (basketball), networking, sustainability, gender equality. He has more than 40 years of experience in natural science research and education. OJ has previously been employed at Risø National Laboratory and Ford Motor Company. He has experience as a board member of foundations and as a member of numerous evaluation committees, advisory boards and funding panels.

Antónia Correia (Scientific Information Management, Repositories and Open Science Office at the University of Minho, Portugal) is an information specialist for European projects such as PATHOS, PATTERN, EOSC-Future, On-MERRIT, FIT4RRI, and FOSTERPlus at the Scientific Information Management, Repositories and Open Science Office at the University of Minho. Working for the FOSTER Plus project, she coordinated the Portuguese translation of the Open Science Training Handbook and collaborated in the Open Science Training Toolkit . She has extensive experience working in academic libraries and supporting researchers in scientific publishing, visibility and evaluation. Currently a PhD candidate in Education, she integrates the OpenAIRE and Portuguese Communities of Practice for training coordinators and participates as a trainer in the OpenAIRE Open Science Train the Trainer Bootcamps.

Diana Silva (Library, Information and Museology Services of the University of Aveiro, Portugal) is an academic librarian with extensive experience for about 22 years working with scientific information and repositories, promoting information and digital literacy skills and supporting research community in scientific publishing and Open Science. Works as a trainer in higher education institutions on ethical use of scientific information, scientific publishing and Open Science practices. Member of the Higher Education Libraries Working Group of the Portuguese Association of Librarians, Archivists and Documentalists, and is co-author of the Recommendations for Higher Education Libraries in Portugal 2020-2022.

Bart Jansen Studied Chemical Engineering in Utrecht and he is working at TNO for about 15 years. Started as researcher on emission estimates and inventories. Later been working on sustainability assessments (life cycle assessments). Since almost 5 years doing increasingly more and more project management. Since the end of 2021 full time project manager. At the moment a project portfolio of about 10 projects. Some examples are the (internal) PM for EU project with about 1.2 M€ turn-over in 4 years and an internal project of about 1M€ for 1 year. Also the TNO project manager for the FONDA project (FONDA (ua.pt)), in which also assisting the consortium lead is expected.

Alejandra Palermo (Head of Global Inclusion Royal Society of Chemistry) is a chemical engineer with a PhD in materials science and a former researcher and academic.
She is currently responsible for global inclusion at the RSC leading a team working in leading, developing and implementing our overall strategy for inclusion and diversity in the chemical sciences. She also leads international priority areas that include large international programmes in Africa and the Commonwealth and their international engagement with key organisations and chemical societies and federations across the world. The common objective is to drive change towards an inclusive global chemistry culture.

She is an FRSC, a life fellow of the Chemical Research Society of India, and an honorary Fellow of the Chemical Society of Ethiopia. Since 2023, she is a member of the Executive Board of Commonwealth Chemistry and more recently, she has been elected member of the Science Board of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry within the recently established IUPAC governance structure. She is also a member of the EuChemS task group on I&D since 2022.

During the talk, as a case study, it will be presented data and evidence behind the inequalities observed in chemistry and it will be shared some of the interventions initiated by the Royal Society of Chemistry, that can make the chemical sciences fairer and more inclusive for everyone. Hoping to stimulate discussion between everyone on a broad range of topics including creating an inclusive research culture and challenging the traditional measures of success.

After working in a crime lab, Dr. Burks returned to academia, teaching, and forensic science research. Dr. Burks is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at American University in Washington, D.C., USA, and her research team is focused on the development of field portable colorimetric and luminescent sensor arrays for the detection of analytes of mainly forensic interest such as explosives, chemical weapons, controlled substances, and latent prints. She writes a science-meets-true crime column called “Trace Analysis” for Chemistry World, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Beyond forensics, Dr. Burks collaborates with colleagues in a variety of fields on projects where low cost and reliable rapid screening methods are needed. An in-demand science communicator, Dr. Burks regularly appears on TV, in podcasts, at large genre cons such as DragonCon and GeekGirlCon, and other venues to converse on chemistry, forensic science, and STEM meets pop culture. She is the 2020 recipient of American Chemical Society's Grady-Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public. She is a member of several local, national, and international committees, task forces, and projects focused on equity, diversity, inclusion, social justice, and STEM. In 2021, Dr. Burks was listed as one of the “6 women who are changing chemistry as we know it” by BBC Science Focus Magazine.

Sébastien Lecommandoux received his Ph.D. (1996) in Physical Chemistry from the University of Bordeaux. After a postdoctoral experience at the University of Illinois (UIUC, USA) in the group of Prof. Samuel I. Stupp, he started his academic career at the Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques as Associate Professor in 1998 and was promoted to Full Professor at Bordeaux INP in 2005. He is currently Director of the Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques (LCPO-CNRS) and is leading the group “Polymers Self-Assembly and Life Sciences”. His research interests include the design of bio-inspired polymers for biomaterials design and tissue engineering, especially based on polypeptide, proteins and polysaccharide-based block copolymers self-assembly, the design of polymersomes for drug-delivery and theranostic, as well as biomimetic approaches toward design of synthetic viruses and artificial cells. He published over 200 publications in international journal, 6 book chapters and 12 patents (2 being licensed), with over 16000 citations (h-factor 63, Google Scholar). He is also co-director of the joint laboratory LCPO-L'OREAL and co-founder of Emissary Cosmetics. Sébastien Lecommandoux is recipient of the CNRS bronze medal (2004), Institut Universitaire de France Junior Chair (IUF 2007), Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry RSC (2017), Seqens Award of the French Academy of Science (2019), Member of the Academia Europaea (2020). He has been Editor-in-Chief of Biomacromolecules (ACS) since 2020 after serving as Associate Editor since 2013. He is also in the Editorial Advisory Board of several international journals, including Bioconjugate Chemistry (ACS), Polymer Chemistry (RSC) and Biomaterials Science (RSC).

Luísa Sal (Research support office (GAI)) holds a Master's degree in Economics and a postgraduate degree in Human Resources Management. Between 2002 and 2010, she was part of the Project Support Office Team at the Financial Services of the Universidade de Aveiro. In 2010, she was appointed as advisor of the Vice-Rector for Research, and, in 2011, she joined the new Research Support Office, of which she is the current Coordinator. She has extensive experience in the management of national and European-funded research projects, and in supporting the preparation and submission of applications within the scope of the different funding programs. She represents the Universidade de Aveiro at the ECIU R&I Group, as part of its participation in the European Consortium of Innovative Universities, she is/was a team member of several projects, such as EPIVIRAL (TWINNING-H2020), SUPRALIFE and ENGINEER (TWINNING - HE), SMART- ER (SWAFS-H2020), ECIU University (ERASMUS+), among others.

Dr. Julian Dederke works as a consultant for Research Data Management and Knowledge Management at the library of ETH Zurich, the largest technical university in Switzerland. He offers trainings and consulting on aspects of research data management and currently leads a project on implementing data stewardship at ETH Zurich. Julian Dederke has a background in Social Sciences and EU law and has worked in research, teaching and consulting in Germany, Sweden and Switzerland.

Alexandra Rosa holds a degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the Faculty of Pharmacy of University of Lisbon, a PhD in Health Sciences from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra and a Masters in Pharmaceutical and Parapharmaceutical Industry from CESIF. After working over 10 years in Academia, she has turned to Regulatory Affairs. Current responsibilities include management and preparation of niche submissions (PIP, EU/US ODD, PRIME, IP), SA briefing documents (EMA, MHRA/NICE, FDA) and non-clinical modules for regulatory submissions.

Paula López Pérez has an original background in Chemistry from University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain); a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Minho (Portugal) and 7 years of postdoctoral experience with her core fields of research spanning from biomaterials development and tissue engineering to fundamental molecular biology and anti-microbial peptides. Since she started the PhD, she worked in five academic labs and one company across five different countries, experiencing very different working practices and mingled with people of extremely diverse cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds.
This experience together with her natural drive of building and nurturing human relationships at the work place and beyond woke up her interest in professional development and now she acts as Career Development Unit Coordinator at Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde – i3S (Universidade do Porto).

Sufficient and thriving communities encourage and facilitate for the participants to engage, collaborate, network, share information about funding and resources. Peer support and mentoring, community support, outreach, communication and response to external calls or hardships are additional potential benefits of the strong community. This workshop aims to provide the tools for science-oriented communities, and for the communities that would improve the well-being of researchers, such as mental health peer networks or well being committees. Target audience of the workshop includes scientists, community, consortium project and grant managers, and support staff members. As a result of this workshop the participants will have a detailed overview of the community they would like to build and next steps to take. While the overview is not intended to be a full step-by-step guide, it will help the participants to define the main goals, targeted groups, and the actions they may need to take in order to create a scientific community.

There are many misconceptions about psychiatric disease, what causes it, who is at risk, and how it manifests. Increasingly we are understanding how immense a problem this is within academia. During this talk, we will cover the information about the prevalence of mental health illness in general and academic populations, an overview of signs and symptoms highlighting those seen in academic settings, and the science underlying the causes and treatments of mental illnesses. We will also discuss the imposter phenomenon, or the feeling that you don’t truly belong, that is very common among academics. The presence of the imposter phenomenon is not at all linked to one’s academic achievement record or the amount of effort put into science. A positive assessment of one’s achievements is only a temporary fix to relieve the anxiety imposter phenomenon can cause. Imposter phenomenon robs us of the joys life has to offer, in both everyday life and in the pursuit of knowledge. We will cover the definition of impostor phenomenon and its prevalence in the academic population. We provide an overview of symptoms highlighting those seen in academic settings, and we facilitate community discussion on how to overcome impostor phenomenon in our individual lives.

It is generally recognised that to get the very best scientific outputs we need a diversity of inputs and talents. However, progress is still slow and yet not well understood or actioned on how to truly achieve diversity and how to ensure that those diverse inputs and talents are included, accepted, valued and empowered. Current evidence shows that there is a continuous struggle for equality in science, particularly in attracting, retaining and developing talented people from underrepresented groups into positions of leadership.

Given the global nature of science and the scale of the issues identified, there is no doubt that it is imperative to work collaboratively across the scientific community.

Talk: Designing future-proof innovations

We will explore how to shape a unique company innovation culture through brand, product and service creation.

How being different just for the sake of being different will never be enough in a planet craving for conscious decision-making. We will find that the truth about brands lies beyond the “self” and lives in the relationship with everything around the product of business. We will reflect on how the future is influencing the ways we manifest ourselves through stories.

Workshop: Principles in Practice - Innovate through Empathy, Collaboration, and Experimentation Empathy (beyond human)

Explore the depths of empathy, transcending boundaries to understand the unspoken needs of users, communities, and even ecosystems. Discover how empathy can be a catalyst for groundbreaking innovations that resonate deeply with the world.
Collaboration (with DEI at its core): Delve into the transformative impact of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in collaborative settings. Witness how diverse perspectives fuel innovation, fostering a culture where every voice contributes to groundbreaking ideas.
Experimentation (like a 5-year-old): Experience the power of hands-on experimentation using LEGO bricks. Dive into a world of playful yet strategic experimentation, where prototyping and iteration pave the way for innovative breakthroughs. This workshop isn't just about theory—it's about engaging in exercises that embody these principles and sharing inspiring real-world examples. Join us to harness the potential of empathy, collaboration, and experimentation, and unlock new dimensions of innovation.

Join us for an insightful exploration of personal career journeys in both industry and academia at our upcoming talks on "Career Routes". Our speakers, experienced professionals and scholars, will share the highs, lows, and important moments that have shaped their paths. From navigating critical career decisions to overcoming sector-specific challenges, attendees will gain valuable insights for charting their own course to success. Don't miss this enriching opportunity to hear personal experiences, learn important lessons, and connect with peers facing similar professional challenges.

Antónia Correia:

Open Science as a pillar of Responsible Research

Over the last years, Open Science, the movement to make scientific research more transparent, collaborative and accessible to society, and Responsible Research and Innovation - RRI, which alongside Open Science incorporates concepts such as Governance, Science Education, Public Engagement, Gender, and Ethics – have been gaining importance in the European Commission’s research agenda. Following an initial Open Access (OA) pilot in FP7, mandates for OA to publications and data were applied in all thematic areas of Horizon 2020, and reinforced in Horizon Europe.

This session will highlight the key concepts and benefits of Open Science, the pillars and dimensions of RRI, as well as the main the policies and requirements of Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe regarding open access to publications and how to apply them in the context of funded projects.

Diana Silva:

UA Open Science tools & services: FCT transformative agreements, Institutional Repository & Data Repository

Open Science is an approach to the scientific process that focuses on spreading scientific knowledge as soon as it is available using digital and collaborative technology and a set of practices in which the process, content, and outcomes of research are openly accessible by default. When scientific and technological activities are funded by public resources, the adoption of Open Science practices becomes even more crucial. Open Access (OA) and Research Data Management are some of the mandatory practices of funders, as European Commission and FCT, that have been reinforced by the Plan S. In this session we will briefly present the University of Aveiro (UA) platforms and services that enable and facilitate researchers to apply Open Science practices: OA institutional repository RIA, trusted and interoperable, DUnAs, the institutional research data repository and the related research support services, provided by UA Library Services. The FCT/B-on transformative agreements for OA publishing also will be presented, focusing on the conditions for UA authors to publish articles.

Bart Jansen:

Within this presentation the following topics will be discussed:

What is project management in general? Let’s talk about the project triangle, planning, creating a team, managing stakeholders and risks. What makes magaging a research project different? Outcome of research is not certain, while the project outcome is determined. How does this influence the work of a project manager? How do you manage the content if the content is complexer than your own knowledge?

It is April 1879 when a group of 35 chemists of the American Chemical Society in New York City decided to start publishing their novel chemistry in a new journal. It is called the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS)and since then it is the flagship journal of the ACS. According to Charles F. Chandler, one of the co-founders, the new society would “prove a powerful and healthy stimulus to original research …, would awaken and develop much talent now wasting in isolation …, [bring] members of the association into closer union, and ensure a better appreciation of our science and its students on the part of the general public.”

Since that original time, ACS Publications, a nonprofit society publisher, supports the global chemistry community through 90+ journals known for rigorous peer review and high editorial standards.

The Editor-in-Chief of JACS, Professor Erick Carreira, together with the Board of Editors and the Editorial Advisory Board, whose members are leading academic and industrial chemists representing all the chemical disciplines, are ultimately responsible for the excellence of the Journal. The Editors are aided in their task by an able, dedicated staff. JACS publishes roughly 2,500 articles each year, across all areas of chemistry. This includes 1,700 full articles, 700 Communications, and a small number of Perspectives — key insights from top researchers into where their field is headed.

Biomacromolecules is one of the “more specialized” journals from ACS Publications portfolio that is the leading forum for the dissemination of cutting-edge research at the interface of polymer science and biology. As we commemorate the 25th anniversary of Biomacromolecules this year, it is timely to recognize that our journal has provided a platform for researchers to share their innovations and shape the trajectory of the field at the broad interface between polymer science and biology. Biomacromolecules publishes about 500 articles each year, mostly as full articles with a small number of Reviews and Perspectives usually on invitation and from top researchers in the field.

In the lecture, we will share our experiences as authors of the journals, starting with our first papers in JACS and Biomacromolecules until our last submissions of the groups. Moreover, being editors of the journal provides us with some insights that we like to share.

The individual career journey is a dynamic process marked by choices, opportunities, and challenges. From the earliest stages of research to master's, PhDs, and postdocs, understanding the essence of career development is noteworthy. In this session, we will delve into the intricate interplay between individual aspirations, contextual factors, and broader trends, fostering a deeper understanding of the complexities inherent in career decision-making and progression.

Our exploration will extend to the distinctive landscapes of academia and industry, spotlighting the divergent pathways and essential competencies for each domain. We will discuss practical strategies for career exploration and planning, including crafting CVs and cover letters tailored to specific professional contexts. Ultimately, this session serves as an encouragement of guidance, offering some theoretical frameworks and practical tools to navigate the complexities of career development with some more confidence and clarity.

In today's research landscape, the volume and complexity of data generated across diverse disciplines continue to surge, underscoring the critical importance of robust data management practices. This lecture provides a comprehensive overview of strategies and best practice principles for handling research data.

Participants will learn about key aspects of the different stages of the data lifecycle, from data management planning and organisation to data preservation and sharing.

Attendees will gain an understanding of the following core topics:

• Best practices for data management according to the FAIR data principles;

• Strategies for data documentation and metadata creation;

• Open Science aspects of data handling and principles of data publishing;

• Advise on identifying suitable data repositories for publishing research data;

• Importance of data preservation for ensuring the longevity and accessibility of research outputs;

• Compliance with institutional and funder requirements for data archiving;

• Adoption of standards for long-term data preservation;

• Ethical and legal boundary conditions of research data handling and sharing.

The lecture equips students and researchers with the knowledge necessary to navigate the terrain of research data management. Embracing effective data management practices supports participants to enhance the quality and impact of their research and equips them with valuable knowledge to contribute to the advancement of Open Science and scholarly collaboration.

The main goals of this lunch gathering are to facilitate the exchange of career paths, research expertise and scientific experiences by Professors / Mentors, leading them to their current and successful roles, with students and early-career scientists in an open and informal manner. These aims will be achieved through engaging and fruitful conversations over lunch, aimed at inspiring, mentoring, and guiding the next generation of talents in the fields of chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, and biomaterials science.

 

 Ten plenary speakers have kindly accepted to join the lunch meeting:

 

- Prof. Jan van Hest – Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands;

- Prof. Maartje Bastings – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland 

- Prof. Olli Ikkala – Aalto University, Finland;

- Prof. Cecília Roque – FCT-NOVA, Portugal;

- Prof. Jeroen Leijten – University of Twente, the Netherlands;

- Prof. Brigitte Städler – Aarhus University, Denmark;

- Prof. Rafal Klajn – Institute of Science and Technology, Austria;

- Prof. Silvia Marchesan – University of Trieste, Italy;

- Prof. Arri Priimägi – Tampere University, Finland;

- Dr. Colin Bonduelle – University of Bordeaux, France.

 

Enthusiastic and forward-thinking BSc, MSc and PhD students, and early-career scientists are invited to sign up below. Each table will gather 1 Professor / Mentor and 8 young students / early-career scientists. This activity offers the opportunity to (i) participate in a lunch meeting alongside an identified Professor / Mentor, (ii) exchange and learn from accomplished scholars, (iii) engage in enriching discussions, and (iv) raise relevant questions to aid in their career development.

Please complete your registration promptly! The earliest registrations will secure the table with the Professor / Mentor of their choice.

Those registering for this activity will be informed on the table and Professor / Mentor prior to the conference.