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18 September 2025

CICECO Research Excellence Recognized with the FEMS Master Thesis Award 2025

CICECO Research Excellence Recognized with the FEMS Master Thesis Award 2025

João Lopes Miranda, member of the Portuguese Materials Society (SPM) and currently a PhD student at CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials and Materials and Ceramic Engineering Department - DEMaC (University of Aveiro), has achieved 2nd place in the FEMS Master Thesis Award 2025, a prestigious European competition recognising outstanding master’s theses in materials science and engineering. The award ceremony took place during the FEMS EUROMAT 2025 in Granada, Spain.

In his master thesis, supervised by Dr. Paula Vilarinho, Dr. Oleksandr Tkachthe and Dr. Ana Senos, the researcher developed an innovative ultra-fast high-temperature sintering (UHS) system for the production of electroceramics, offering new perspectives for the sustainable processing of ceramics.

Reflecting on his achievement, João Miranda shared that:

“The level of work from my peers was extremely high, so I felt this recognition was a huge compliment, acknowledging not only my work but also the guidance of my supervisors and the efforts of the research group. I believe any distinction is an advantage for a scientific career and hope it will open new doors and opportunities. At the same time, I am motivated to achieve the same level of recognition in my current PhD research."

The 2025 FEMS Master Thesis Award results were:

  • Winner: Marta Zarzuela Amor, SOCIEMAT – Sociedad Española de Materiales | Spain
  • 2nd Place: João Lopes Miranda, Sociedade Portuguesa de Materiais | Portugal
  • 3rd Place: Antonios Sarikas, Hellenic Society for the Science and Technology of Condensed Matter | Greece

Other finalists included: Oskar Wikner (SFMT, Sweden), Sabrine Medjouel (Société Française de Métallurgie et de Matériaux – SF2M, France), and Stefania Skorda (Hellenic Metallurgical Society, Greece).

CICECO warmly congratulates João Miranda for this outstanding achievement, which underscores both his exceptional work and the growing presence of Portuguese researchers in the European materials science community.

The high quality of research presented by all finalists highlights the talent, dedication, and innovation of the next generation of materials scientists across Europe.

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