Eng. António de Almeida Foundation awards i3S researcher

Researcher Rita Mota won one of two prizes from the Fundação Eng. António de Almeida recently awarded during the ceremony of the Day of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP). With a value of 1500 euros, this prize aims to distinguish the best doctoral thesis, defended between 2017-2019 in this faculty, in the scientific area of Life Sciences, Agrarian Sciences, and Landscape Architecture.

The doctoral thesis focused on the study of an extracellular polymer produced by a marine cyanobacterium - with the aim of applying it in the areas of biotechnology and biomedicine. The work developed by Rita Mota, namely the production on a larger scale and the extensive characterization of this new biopolymer, allowed the discovery of it’s potential. "The knowledge obtained will be very valuable for a future implementation of innovative systems for removing metals from wastewater based on natural polymers", explains the researcher.

Rita Mota adds that the results obtained "increase the viability of the sustainable commercial exploitation of this type of biopolymers, contributing to the growth of the Blue Economy and promoting a circular economy with social and environmental responsibility".

In addition to integrating several scientific articles and national and international presentations, the researcher’s doctoral work also contributed to the submission of two international patent applications and to the implementation of three academic / industry interface projects, one of which is international. The translational potential and the economic and social impact of these projects have already been recognized with seven different awards (national and international). In addition, "the data that is currently being added to the results obtained during my PhD may result in licensing contracts or spin-offs aimed at the commercialization of new materials and products of biological origin".

Rita Mota attended the Doctoral Program in Biology at FCUP from 2013 to 2017 and was supervised by Paula Tamagnini, professor at FCUP and leader of the Bioengineering & Synthetic Microbiology group, and as co-supervisors Roberto De Philippis (professor and group leader at the University of Florence, Italy) and Sara Pereira, also an i3S researcher.