Sonia Pedro

Sonia N. Pedro is a former student of the University of Aveiro. She completed her doctoral research at CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials. Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.

Studies at CICECO

I began my research activities at CICECO at a very early stage. Both my BSc and MSc projects in Biochemistry were conducted at CICECO, within the PATH Research Group, under the main supervision of Dr. Mara G. Freire and the co-supervision of Dr. Matheus M. Pereira (during my BSc) and Prof. João A. P. Coutinho (during my MSc). These projects focused on the development of novel platforms for the extraction and purification of cancer biomarkers. Although I have always had a strong interest in health-related research, I became increasingly attracted to the pharmaceutical field and to the challenge of improving its sustainability, which ultimately led me to change my research direction entirely. I began my PhD within the Doctoral Programme in Biochemistry at CICECO, aiming to investigate how deep eutectic solvent formulations could be applied to develop more effective drug delivery systems and enhance drug efficacy.

My PhD was supervised by Dr. Carmen S. R. Freire and co-supervised by Dr. Mara G. Freire and Prof. Armando J. D. Silvestre. During this period, I had the opportunity to work in both the Biopol4Fun and PATH research groups, which greatly contributed to my scientific development and remain environments I am very fond of.

Experience at CICECO

I have always appreciated the dynamic environment at CICECO, particularly the wide range of learning opportunities it offers. I feel that the quality and breadth of training provided at CICECO are not always fully acknowledged, especially considering how strongly it prepares researchers to work across different disciplines. For someone like me, who truly enjoys learning and exploring new areas, it was an excellent place to grow as researcher.

Life in Aveiro

I have only good memories of the time I spent there. Both the University of Aveiro and CICECO, gave me a second family, my friends, which provided fundamental support for successful PhD journey I had.

I think this was possible not only because of the academic environment cultivated at the University and the Institute, but also due to the unique warmth of the city of Aveiro and its people, it is very easy to feel welcome there. To this day, I still consider it a wonderful place to live, to learn, and to build lasting friendships.

Career path after CICECO

Given the work I conducted in the pharmaceutical field during my thesis, after completing my PhD I was invited to join the School of Pharmacy at the University of Nottingham as a postdoctoral researcher. The School is one of the leading institutions in the field, with research closely linked to the pharmaceutical industry.

Nottingham itself has a strong legacy in the development of drugs we use today, such as ibuprofen. In this new chapter, I have been involved in developing novel formulations that reduce the need for invasive treatments, enhance therapeutic efficacy in a non-invasive way, and improve patient compliance—formulations that are also intended for adoption by industrial partners.

It has been a challenging and exciting new perspective of research. I am currently responsible for this development, but I am also an independent co-PI on other research projects, and I will be among the first to participate in the Teaching Framework for Researchers at the School of Pharmacy, where I will begin lecturing this semester.

In addition, I am also task supervisor of several undergraduate and PhD students. Notably, last year I was nominated for an OPERA award and reached the final eight, recognized for my contributions to the pharmaceutical field, not only in my current research but particularly for the work I developed during my PhD at CICECO. My sustainable approach to pharmaceutical formulations was widely praised for its innovation and relevance, underscoring its potential impact on the field.

Skills and knowledge gained at CICECO

I believe that my time at CICECO was essential for developing my critical thinking, scientific reasoning, and problem-solving skills. Being at CICECO and part of the research groups in which I was involved gave me a unique perspective on science; it made me feel prepared to face any challenge and to solve complex research problems.

This is what makes CICECO unique—the thoroughness and high quality of its research, training, and teaching. It also strengthened my ability to translate research findings into practical applications—skills that have had a lasting impact on my current research position.

In particular, the guidance of my supervisors was invaluable: they encouraged me to question assumptions, provided the tools to troubleshoot any challenge, and consistently pushed me to work independently and step outside my comfort zone—an approach I greatly appreciated as I like a good challenge. I believe all these things made me a better researcher.

Advice to current and future CICECO researchers

Don’t be afraid to question everything—understanding why is sometimes more important than simply getting a good result. More importantly, my best advice is: don’t be afraid of being wrong. We humans often struggle with failure; we constantly feel judged, whether during a review, when an experiment fails multiple times, or when we think we’re not good enough.

That’s not always true—in fact, I think that is exactly our superpower. Having the resilience to keep moving forward, even when told we are wrong, is crucial. We must use these moments as learning opportunities and strive to improve every day.

This applies to everything, from thesis writing to leading research. We all make mistakes, we all learn, and we all have the potential to become better scientists and CICECO is a great place for that.