Project Staff

Dr James Lees
Research Advisor, KAU
James’s professional background is in research grant management and researcher development, together with the broad policy environment surrounding both these areas. He joined Karlstad University in March 2016, having previously worked as the Portfolio Manager for Research Careers and Training at the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council. Prior to this he worked for several years as a research funding administrator and researcher developer at the University of London’s Institute of Historical Research. James received a PhD in History from King’s College London in 2011, and has taught at universities in the UK and Asia. At Karlstad University, in addition to providing support to academic staff in research funding applications, James also contributes to the GIO’s competence development offering for staff and students.

Dr Lucrezia Gorini
Senior Advisor for internationalization, INN
Lucrezia Gorini`s background is in research, holding a PhD in Animal Biology from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” (Italy) and as post-doc at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (Norway). During her time at INN she has taught undergraduate students, supervised undergraduate and master’s students and has been the leader of a project funded by the Norwegian Regional Research Fund (RFF). She has held the position of Scientific Secretary for the International Research School in Applied Ecology, a research school funded by the Norwegian Research Council and coordinated by INN`s Faculty of Applied Ecology, in the period 2013-2015. Since 2010 she has been working within INN`s international relations administration and since 2015 in the Research, Internationalization and Library section in INN`s central administration as head of the international office. She has experience with coordinating a Nordplus funded international network for higher education (Nordnatur).

Melanie S. Jones
Researcher Developer Lead, LJMU
Melanie has over 20 years’ experience as a communication and facilitation specialist. Melanie joined LJMU in 2008, first as RIS’s Communications Manager and then Engagement Lead, designing and delivering individual and group development interventions to LJMU teams and to external organisations. Melanie became Researcher Developer Lead in 2016. She co-ordinates the university-wide researcher development offer and has been instrumental in the creation, design and delivery of ACTivator, LJMU’s researcher development programme. Melanie co-chairs LJMU’s Concordat Forum and is a member of the University’s Ethics Committee. Before joining LJMU, Melanie was Training Manager at a Further Education College and worked in the charitable sector for over ten years, supporting charities with visioning, strategic planning, team development, impact generation/reporting and funding. With a background in psychology and individual and group development, she is a qualified Personal Coach with extensive experience in the private, public and third sectors.

Dr Madalena Martins
Research Manager, ITQB NOVA
Madalena is a pre-award research manager at the ITQB NOVA Science Funding office and has headed the GREEN-IT Research Unit Management since 2015. Her expertise includes the successful preparation of funding proposals through strategic planning, advice and support on preparation and submission of competitive grant applications. She also lectures on grant training and career development courses for researchers. As Head of the GREEN-IT Research Unit Management she coordinates all aspects of the management of this research consortium with approximately 150 researchers, from public relations and grant applications to the monitoring of outcomes and career support. These funding advisor/ management coordination activities, together with her enthusiasm professional development and science at large, are grounded on a research career of almost 20 years (Diploma Biology, PhD in Biology/Biotechnology) with a strong scientific track record that include several awards; training of MSc and PhD students; lecturing in postgraduate courses; and participation in initiatives directed to the general public. She is currently a member of EARMA’s Professional Development & Recognition Committee and a member of the Management Committee & Training School Programme Coordinator of the COST Action TN1302 BESTPRAC, a targeted network aiming to share and develop best practices in the support of researchers applying for EU funding.

Pedro Matos
Invited Lecturer, School of Higher Education, IPS
Pedro Matos has a master’s degree in Education, Communication and Multimedia. He is an invited Lecturer at School of Higher Education, teaching in the areas of publicity, marketing, graphic design and entrepreneurship. Pedro has also worked with the Projects and Internationalization Office since 2015, in project applications and management.

Professor Margarida Correia de Oliveira
Associate Professor, School of Agriculture, IPS
Margarida has a PhD in Environmental Engineering (2013) and is a professor of Chemistry, Food Analysis and Environmental Technologies. She is a researcher in the Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food Centre (LEAF), Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon. Margarida specialises in water and wastewater treatment technologies, environmental management in agro-industrial industries, and physic-chemical analysis and coordinates several projects in these areas. She is currently the Head of the Food Technology, Biotechnology and Nutrition Department.

Dr Ana Petronilho
Principal Researcher, ITQB NOVA
Ana Petronilho is a principal Researcher at ITQB NOVA, Lisbon, working in Synthetic Chemistry and Chemical Biology. She holds a PhD in Organometallic Chemistry from the University of Seville, Spain and developed her postdoctoral research in artificial photosynthesis in the University College of Dublin, Ireland. In 2014-2015 she joined Science Foundation Ireland, the Irish funding agency for STEM, working in the science management and pre-award teams. In July 2015, she joined ITQB as an FCT Starting Investigator to initiate her independent research career in the field of Bioorganometallic Chemistry. Throughout her career, Ana Petronilho has been involved with several researcher organizations, advocating for changes in scientific regulations of science policies. She was member of the Board of Young Researcher Federation (Andalusian delegation), Spain (2008-2010) and a member of the Board of ABIC (Portuguese Grant-holders association, during 2009-2013).

Professor Paula Pinto
Coordinator Professor, School of Agriculture, IPS
Paula developed her PhD research work at ITQB and obtained her PhD in Biochemistry in 1995. She has considerable experience in lecturing in the areas of Biochemistry and Nutrition and supervising research work. She was responsible for the curricula design of the Human Nutrition and Food Quality first cycle course and is responsible for the course coordination. Paula also has significant experience in personal development. She has been a European Coaching Association-certified Life Coach since 2008, with experience in facilitating the full development of human potential and life management. She is an International School of Professional Coaching -certified Coaching Trainer with significant experience in delivering personal development courses since 2009, as well as short courses and workshops on soft skills for undergraduate students, for master’s and PhD students, and for team leaders.

Dr Victoria Sheppard
Researcher Development Co-ordinator, LJMU
Victoria has been working as a Researcher Developer since 2009, designing and delivering training programmes for doctoral researchers across all faculties. She joined LJMU’s Doctoral Academy in 2016, having previously worked within Research and Innovation at the University of Salford. She currently manages the Researcher Development Programme for LJMU’s community of over 800 doctoral researchers, and delivers core elements of the programme. With Mel Jones (RIS), she co-chairs the University’s Forum for the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers. In 2013 she obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice and is now a fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Before moving into researcher development, she worked at the University of Southampton as a digital repositories project manager, and as a Lecturer and Research Assistant in the English Department where she also gained a PhD in contemporary literature in 2006.

Professor Maria Potes Barbas
Full Professor, School of Higher Education, IPS
Maria has 25 years of experience in Educational Multimedia Communication in Higher Education at the national and international levels. She coordinates the Department of Educational Technology, the Office of Projects and Internationalization (PI), and the “Educational Technology: communication, digital literacies and social inclusion ” research area. The transnational research she has carried out addresses the concept of communication, media, digital and virtual environments, and she has collaborated at the Centro di Ricerca della Sapienza per la tutela della Persona del Minore (University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy) and at the Research Group Images, Words and Ideas (GIPI) at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Alcalá, Spain. In Portugal she is a member of the CIDTFF Research Centre at Aveiro University. Maria collaborates with the Department of Information Society at the Fundação da Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT). She has also been proactive in recent years in connecting companies through the programme “Grand Coalition for Jobs”.

Dr Stian S. Torjussen
Senior Advisor for Research and Development, INN
Stian Torjussen has worked within Norwegian Higher Education since 2004, and has experience as a researcher and as a research and development advisor. He holds a PhD in Comparative Literature and Culture from UiT (The Arctic University of Norway). At UiT Stian developed and taught courses at the undergraduate and master’s level. He has been working as an R&D adviser in the central administration at INN (formerly Hedmark University of Applied Sciences) since 2011. Here he has worked closely with the rectorate on matters concerning research strategy. He is also the secretary for the central PhD Committee and the PhD programme in Applied Ecology, and works closely with researchers in the faculties with applications to Horizon 2020.

Dr Margarida Trindade
Head of Science Funding Office, ITQB NOVA
Margarida Trindade has approximately ten years of experience in supporting researchers, faculty, and institutions on the assembling of funding proposals, including strategic planning, finding opportunities, support throughout the application process, contract negotiation and grant writing. Margarida has led the ITQB NOVA Science Funding Office since March 2016. Previously, she worked as grant coordinator at the ISCTE-IUL in Lisbon, for the areas of Economics, Finance, and Management research and, from 2008-2013, she was the Pre-award Funding Coordinator at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular working closely with biomedical researchers. She is also an experienced trainer on grant applications and career development, mainly at the level of MsC and Doctoral training, nationally and internationally; an evaluator (H2020, FP7, FCT); an assessor (EARMA Certification on Research Management); a former advisor for the Horizon 2020 Marie S. Curie Actions, and a founding member of the network Plataforma de Interface à Ciência, a national platform of professionals working at the interface of science. Margarida obtained her PhD in Developmental Biology at University College London in 2000.