Nanotechnology
About Elvira
Elvira Fortunato is a full professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology of NOVA University. She is Vice-Rector at NOVA and Director of the Materials Research Center (CENIMAT) of the Associated Laboratory i3N, the Institute of Nanostructures, Nanomodeling, and Nanofabrication.
She has received her Bachelor degree in Physics and Materials Engineering in 1987, obtaining, in 1995, the Ph.D. in Microelectronics and Optoelectronics. Since 1998, alongside with her husband Rodrigo Martins, she leads the research team of the Materials Research Center (CENIMAT) which has been distinguished for the important discovery of the paper transistor.
In 2008, the European Research Council awarded her with the 1st Prize of 2.25 million euros with the highest score in the league table. In 2018, she has received the second Advanced Grant of the European Research Council with a maximum amount of 3.5 million euros, being the highest prize ever awarded to a researcher in Portugal. She has also received the Czochralski Medal (Science of Materials) assigned by the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Blaise Pascal Medal conferred by the European Academy of Sciences. She has been distinguished with several National and International Prizes, among those it is worth mentioning the title of Doctor Honoris Causa, in 2009, by University of Galați, and the denomination of Grand Officer of Order of Prince Henry the Navigator, acknowledged by the President of the Republic of Portugal in 2010.
Since 2016, she is part of the European Commission’s Scientific Advisory Board and, since 2018, she is a member of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences.