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ABOUT ME

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, an opportunity presented itself to return to Portugal, which led me to join IA — currently as Assistant Researcher — and 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 13 PhD students.

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My research experience and scholarship in the fields of stellar astrophysics and exoplanetary science are extensive. I am an expert on analyzing asteroseismic data and over the years have developed a considerable interest in the use of asteroseismology not only to characterize exoplanet systems, but also to elucidate the dynamics and evolution of those systems. I was awarded, in 2018, a Marie SkÅ‚odowska-Curie Individual Fellowship to study giant planets transiting oscillating evolved stars. This was followed, in 2020 and 2025, by the award of two highly competitive FCT CEEC Individual contracts, having respectively ranked 1st and 4th nationwide in the Physics panel (Assistant Researcher level). I have since begun applying the added temporal dimension brought by seismic ages of distant red giants to studies of the assembly of the Galaxy, or Galactic archaeology.

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I have been an active contributor to the asteroseismic program of the NASA Kepler mission (later rebranded as K2) since its launch in 2009, having also contributed to the analysis of asteroseismic targets observed by the CoRoT space mission as well as during ground-based, radial-velocity campaigns. 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 detectability of solar-like oscillations with TESS, work that helped shape the performance requirements for the instrumentation. I was also a member of the TESS Target Selection Working Group, which was responsible for overseeing construction of the mission input catalog, as well as prioritization and construction of the core-mission exoplanet target list. With regard to PLATO, I led (until 2017) a work package devoted to solar-type stars with planets within the framework of the PLATO Science Management (PSM), overseeing the specification of procedures to be adopted in the preparation of asteroseismic-analysis-ready light curves. Since 2018, I lead a work package dealing with the acquisition of grids of stellar evolution models within the framework of the PLATO Data Center (PDC). Concerning Ariel, I lead a work package responsible for determining the fundamental parameters of the mission's target stars.

ACADEMIC/RESEARCH POSITIONS

ACADEMIC DEGREES

2017 – present

Investigador Integrado

Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Portugal

2012

PhD in Astronomy

Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Portugal

Thesis

2007

BSc in Physics/Applied Mathematics (Major in Astronomy)

Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Portugal

2017

Research Scientist

Institute for Astrophysics, University of Göttingen, Germany

2012 – 2017

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

FELLOWSHIPS, GRANTS, AND

AWARDS (SELECTED)

2018 – 2020

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship

Horizon 2020 - European Commission (~ EUR 160,000)

2015

College Best Paper Award

College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom (GBP 750)

2012

Research Grant

Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto, Portugal

(~ EUR 3,600)

2009 – 2012

ISSI Young Scientist

International Space Science Institute (~ EUR 1,500)

2007 – 2011

Individual Doctoral Grant

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal

(~ EUR 30,000 p.a.)

2018

Research Fellowship

Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto, Portugal

(~ EUR 9,000)

FUNDED PROJECTS (SELECTED)

2023 – 2024

(Co-I) Star-exoplanet compositional link: Towards realistic characterization of terrestrial planets (EXO-TERRA)

R&D Project - PeX, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal (~ EUR 50,000)

2017 – 2018

Invited Assistant Professor

Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Portugal

VISITING SCIENTIST/SCHOLAR

2018 â€“ 2020

Marie Curie Fellow

Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Portugal

2020 – 2025

(PI) A synergetic approach to the study of the Milky Way, its stars and planets using ultra-precise, space-based photometry

CEEC Individual 2nd Edition - Assistant Researcher, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal (~ EUR 353,000)

2019 â€“ present

Invited Assistant Professor

Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Portugal

2020 â€“ present

Assistant Researcher

Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Portugal

2019

Visiting Scientist

Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP), University of California, Santa Barbara, United States of America; Program entitled Better Stars, Better Planets: Exploiting the Stellar-Exoplanetary Synergy

2018 – 2025

(Co-I) PLATO

PRODEX Experiment Arrangement, ESA - PRODEX (EUR 404,000)

2021 – 2022

(Co-I) Planetary Archeology: Exploring the planet population around evolved stars with TESS

TESS Cycle 4 Guest Investigator Program, NASA, USA

(USD 70,000)

2021 â€“ present

Group Leader — Stellar Astrophysics

Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Portugal

2025 – 2031

(PI) Shedding light on planetary system and Galactic assembly with ultra-precise space-based photometry

CEEC Individual 6th Edition - Assistant Researcher, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal (~ EUR 384,000)

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