Secondary School Student wins António Amorim Award Following i3S Internship
David Ramos, a year 12 student from Odivelas, was one of the winders of the 10th edition of the António Amorim prize, which was awarded by Ciência Viva - National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture, following his participation in the 2025 Youth Scientific Holidays programme which included a week of scientific research activities at the i3S.
This week was from the 30th of June to the 4th of July in 2025, in which David took part in the project “Antibacterial and cardiovascular biomaterials and medical devices” in the Advanced Graphene Biomaterials group led by Inês Gonçalves. The project’s goal was to prepare and characterize the physical and biological properties of biomaterials and medical devices designed to prevent and treat cardiovascular infections and diseases.
During this week, David Ramos had contact with the daily dynamics of research and participated in diverse experimental activities focused on the use of biomaterials in the development of vascular prostheses. The work included the manipulation and histology of human blood vessels with Ana Mendes, the 3D printing of vascular prostheses with Helena Ferreira, running assays to determine the physical properties of materials with Ana Catarina Almeida and Sofia Rocha, as well as understanding the application of these studies in developing cardiac medical devices with Inês Gonçalves and Daniela Sousa.
The researchers who supervised him said that he demonstrated “a high level of interest, scientific curiosity, and engagement, standing out with the relevance of his questions and how easily he assimilated new concepts.”
As a result of the week’s work, the young man prepared a detailed report of the activities and applied for the António Amorim Award on his own initiative, reaching 3rd place.
The 10th edition of the António Amorim Award was once again organised by the ATG association, alumni of the U.Porto Doctoral Programme in Basic and Applied Biology (GABBA), and Ciência Viva.
