Filipe Alexandre Almeida Paz

Researcher ID = F-3430-2010
ORCID = 0000-0003-2051-5645

 Filipe Almeida Paz, born in Oiã (Portugal) in 1978, holds a first University degree in Chemistry (Analytical) from the University of Aveiro (in 2000). In January 2001, after being awarded a merit scholarship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), he headed to the United Kingdom to study towards his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge (Peterhouse College) under the supervision of Professor Jacek Klinowski (Physical Chemistry, University Chemical Laboratories). In 2001 he obtained his Certificate of Post-Graduate Studies in Natural Sciences, and in February 2004 he had his Ph.D. viva, both in Natural Sciences working on Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and zeolites. During this period he taught at the University of Cambridge for a continuous period of 2 years (part IB demonstrations at the Physical Chemistry sector) and was responsible for installing a Physical Chemistry Laboratory. Filipe returned to Portugal in the first half of 2004 to take the position of full-time Auxiliary Researcher in the Associated Laboratory CICECO, and constitute a research group working on novel crystalline MOF structures and in the use X-ray crystallography to solve complex chemical problems.

The research interests of Filipe are currently focused on the sustainable design and development of new functional MOFs assembled from rare-earth cations and polyphosphonate organic linkers. He keeps neutering his great interest in the use of the X-ray diffraction to unveil the crystal feature of complex crystalline functional compounds or materials (e.g., bio-active and pharmaceutical molecules, heterogeneous catalysts and inorganic zeo-type functional materials). X-ray diffraction techniques (single-crystal and powder, synchrotron or laboratory) are usually combined in his group with other advanced studies such as solid-state NMR and, sometimes, theoretical calculations to solve in tandem the structure of interesting functional materials. His current research group comprises 3 Ph.D. students and 5 post-doctoral research fellows, all working on various aspects of MOF chemistry spanning from the design and synthesis of novel organic linkers to the preparation of networks using a myriad of synthetic techniques (microwave and convection heating, static and dynamic synthesis, ultra-sound and one-pot reactions). In the past he has successfully supervised 2 Ph.D., 2 Master, 3 undergraduate students and various post-doctoral fellows and research students (from R&D projects).

Over the years, his scientific and University activity was widely recognised through a number of attributed prizes, which include the Vicente de Seabra Medal (in 2015 from the Portuguese Chemical Society), recognising scientific quality and independence of a young researcher in Portugal, the Muir Wood Award in Science from Peterhouse (University of Cambridge, July 2004), the Dow Portugal Award as the valedictorian (best student) in the Chemistry course (University of Aveiro, 2000), and a couple of best poster prizes in conferences from the International Union of Crystallography.

Besides his research activities, Filipe involves himself at the University of Aveiro in a number of parallel activities which include being a full-time executive member of the Safety Commission of the Department of Chemistry, participating actively in both the Scientific Councils of the Doctoral School of the University of Aveiro and of FCT-approved Doctoral Programme in Sustainable Chemistry, and in the Council of the Department of Chemistry. He presided to the selection Jury for the purchase of three new diffractometers for CICECO and participated in the purchase on the new electron microscopy for the laboratory.

Filipe has nearly 300 papers published (or accepted for publication) and submitted to international journals cited in the Science Citation Index (senior corresponding author in around 100), many of which of high impact factor, five book chapters, dozens of invited oral presentations, over 250 poster communications and was involved in the organisation of 4 international events/conferences. Currently he has more than 4800 citations with an h-index of 35 (source: ISI Web of Science). Over the years Filipe was the Principal Investigator of several R&D projects funded by both FCT and synchrotron sources, and he is also a regular reviewer of large research projects for the National Science Centre in Poland (since 2013). Filipe maintains active scientific editorial duties working as co-Editor of the prestigious international journal Acta Crystallographica - Section C from the International Union of Crystallography.

National:
- João Tomé, QOPNA, Universidade de Aveiro
- Artur Silva, QOPNA, Universidade de Aveiro
- Graça Neves, QOPNA, Universidade de Aveiro
- José Cavaleiro, QOPNA, Universidade de Aveiro
- João Rocha, CICECO, Universidade de Aveiro
- Isabel Gonçalves, CICECO, Universidade de Aveiro
- Luís D. Carlos, CICECO, Universidade de Aveiro
- Duarte Ananias, CICECO, Universidade de Aveiro
- Anabela Valente, CICECO, Universidade de Aveiro
- Luís Cunha Silva, REQUIMTE / Dep. de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências - Universidade do Porto
- Cláudia Pereira, Instituto Nuclear e Tecnológico, Instituto Superior Técnico

International:
- Jorge Navarro, Universidad de Granada, España
- Jacek Klinowski, University of Cambridge, UK
- Joulia Larionova, University of Montpellier, France
- Andrew Fitch, ESRF, France
- Regina Frem, UNESP, Brazil

Industry:
- Holger Ott, BRUKER AXS, Karlsrhue, Germany

Principal Investigator (PI) - Total funding: € 257 516

- EXPL/CTM-NAN/0013/2013  (€ 49 896)
RENASCEr - “Robust Nanometric Metal-Organic Frameworks for Gas Separation and Light Emission”
From March 2014 onwards

- PTDC/QUI-QUI/098098/2008  (€ 148 620)
“Nano-sized Functional Metal-Organic Frameworks Based on Lanthanide Polyphosphonates”
February 2010 - December 2013
Final evaluation: proposed objectives reached.
Panel report: “The scientific goal of the project has been clearly achieved as shown in the final report by the PI of the project. The large research team involved in this project has expertise on the field and a large amount of results could be obtained. The importance of the results are confirmed by the quality of the international journals where they were published. Moreover, a significant contribution has been given for training of young scientists (2PhD and 1MSc thesis)."

- POCI/QUI/58377/2004  (€ 35 300)
“Novel Multidimensional Lanthanide-Organic Frameworks: Hydrothermal Synthesis, Structural Characterisation and Applications”
October 2005 – April 2008
Final evaluation: proposed objectives reached.

- PPCDT/QUI/58377/2004  (€ 23 700)
“Novel Multidimensional Lanthanide-Organic Frameworks: Hydrothermal Synthesis, Structural Characterisation and Applications”
January 2007 – March 2009
Final evaluation: proposed objectives reached.

Collaborator (Member of the Research Team) - Total funding: € 590 316

- EXPL/QEQ-QIN/0199/2013  (€ 31 589)
“Metalloligands and Coordinatively Unsaturated Metal Centres for the Design of Novel Metal-Organic Frameworks”

- PTDC/CTM/100357/2008  (€ 110 000)
“Design of Metal-Organic Framework materials from the micro- to nano-scale: optimization of gas adsorption 
and catalytic properties”

- PTDC/CTM/100357/2008  (€ 180 000)
“Optical Sensors and Nanomaterials for Anion Recognition”

- PTDC/CTM/73643/2006  (€ 78 000)
“Developing Novel Microporous Powders and Membranes”

- PTDC/QUI/65805/2006  (€ 61 000)
“Water Nanodrops in Microporous and Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Materials”

- PTDC/QUI/69302/2006  (€ 32 956)
“Inclusion of Organometallic Polymers in Cyclodextrins”

- POCI/CTM/58863/2004  (€ 39 271)
“Luminescent Lanthanide Silicate Synthesis Using Lanthanide Complexes as Structure Directing Agents”
Final evaluation: proposed objectives reached.

- POCI/QUI/58887/2004  (€ 57 500)
“Polyoxometalates: from discrete clusters to networks and materials”
Final evaluation: proposed objectives reached

European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF, Grenoble, France)

New:
CH-4439 (PI), “Metal-Organic Frameworks as Proton Conductors for Processing into Fuel Cells”, ID22 + BM25b
CH-4325 (PI), “Robust Photoluminescent Metal-Organic Frameworks for Sensors: Large Pores Induced by Rigid Polyphosphonate Linkers”, ID22

Completed:
CH-2155, “New Microporous Transition-Metal Polyhedra”, ID31
CH-2253, “New Rare-Earth Heteropolyhedra Luminescent Materials”, BM01b
CH-2414, “Cyclodextrin Inclusion Compounds with Europium(III) Beta-diketonates”, ID31
CH-2489 (PI), “Functional Microcrystalline Layered Lanthanide-Organic Frameworks”, ID31
CH-2533, “Cyclodextrin Encapsulation of Biomimetic Organometallic Cancer Drug Candidates”, ID31 + BM01a
CH-2832, “Lanthanide Silicates Exhibiting Unusual Photoluminescent Properties”, ID11
CH-2915, “Cyclodextrin Inclusion of Biomimetic Cytotoxic Ruthenium Complexes”, ID11
CH-3692 (PI), “Novel Functional Metal-Organic Frameworks with Phosphonate Linkers”, ID31 + ID11
CH-3702, “Novel Lanthanide-Based Photoluminescent, Catalytic and Magnetic Metal-Organic Frameworks”, ID31
CH-3613, “Large Polynuclear Metal-Based Materials”, BM01a
CH-3718 (PI), “Bifunctional Lanthanide-Organic Frameworks with Polyphosphonate Organic Linkers”, ID11
CH-3837, “Anion Binding Agents with Adequate Structural Features, for Biomedical, Environmental and Sensing Applications”, ID11
CH-3849, “Nanocluster based metal materials: cyclic Mn70 complexes”, BM01a
CH-3876, “Structural characterization of dapsone, nalidixic acid and azelaic acid based BioMOFs towards controlled drug release”, ID31
CH-3994 (PI), “Anion exchange studies in photoluminescent clay-inspired Metal-Organic Frameworks”, BM01b
CH-3995, “Bioinorganic and flavone ruthenium complexes designed for targeted antitumoral action”, BM01a
CH-4254 (PI), “Functional Large-Pore Lanthanide-Polyphosphonate MOF Materials”, ID22

Diamond Light Source (Oxford, UK)

Completed:
EE8234 (PI), “Metal-Organic Frameworks with Phosphonate Linkers”, I11

Filipe A. Almeida Paz has published nearly 250 papers in international peer-reviewed journals in the general scientific areas spanning from materials science, to crystallography, chemistry and physics. He has been regularly publishing in high-impact factor journals such as: Chemical Communications, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Chemistry of Materials, Journal of Materials Chemistry, Crystal Growth & Design and Inorganic Chemistry. Several of his key reports were highlighted in the journals reaching the cover of the corresponding issues.

ISI statistics: 
As of 18-July-2015:
Sum of the times cited = 4923
Average citations per Item = 17.33
h-index = 35

Selected research publications on Metal-Organic Frameworks:

1. Lanthanide-polyphosphonate coordination polymers combining catalytic and photoluminescence properties
Sérgio M. F. Vilela, Ana D. G. Firmino, Ricardo F. Mendes, José A. Fernandes, Duarte Ananias, Anabela A. Valente, Holger Ott, Luís D. Carlos, João Rocha, João P. C. Tomé, Filipe A. Almeida Paz
Chemical Communications, 2013, Volume 49, Pages 6400-6402

2. Metal-Organic Frameworks Assembled From Erbium Tetramers and 2,5-Pyridinedicarboxylic Acid
Patrícia Silva, Luís Cunha-Silva, Nuno J. O. Silva, João Rocha, Filipe A. Almeida Paz
Crystal Growth & Design, 2013, Volume 13, Pages 2607-2617

 3. Hydrothermal Synthesis, Crystal Structure, and Catalytic Potential of a One-Dimensional Molybdenum Oxide/Bipyridinedicarboxylate Hybrid
Tatiana R. Amarante, Patrícia Neves, Anabela A. Valente, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, Andrew N. Fitch, Martyn Pillinger, Isabel Gonçalves
Inorganic Chemistry, 2013, Volume 52, Pages 4618-4628

4. Lanthanide-Organic Frameworks Based on 1,4-Phenylenebis(methylene)diphosphonic Acid: Structural Diversity According to the Synthetic Method
Sérgio, M. F. Vilela, Ricardo F. Mendes, Patrícia Silva, José A. Fernandes, João P. C. Tomé, Filipe A. Almeida Paz
Crystal Growth & Design, 2013, Volume 13, Pages 543-560

5. Tb3+->Eu3+ Energy Transfer in Mixed-Lanthanide-Organic Frameworks
Marcelo O. Rodrigues, José Diogo Lisboa Dultra, Luiz Antônio O. Nunes, Gilberto F. de Sá, Walter M. de Azevedo, Patrícia Silva, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, Ricardo Oliveira Freire, Severino A. Júnior
Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2012, Volume 116, Pages 19951-19957

6. Multi-Functional Metal-Organic Frameworks Assembled from a Tripodal Organic Linker
Sérgio M. F. Vilela, Duarte Ananias, Ana C. Gomes, Anabela A. Valente, Luís D. Carlos, José A. S. Cavaleiro, João Rocha, João P. C. Tomé, Filipe A. Almeida Paz
Journal of Materials Chemistry, 2012, Volume 22, Pages 18354-18371

7. Highly Emissive Zn-Ln Metal Organic Frameworks with an Unusual 3D Inorganic Subnetwork
B. Liu, Rute A. S. Ferreira, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, Amandine Cadiau, Luis D. Carlos, Lianche Fu, João Rocha, Fa-Nian Shi
Chemical Communications, 2012, Volume 48, Pages 7964-7966

 8. Up-Conversion Properties of Lanthanide-Organic Frameworks and How to Track Ammunitions Using These Materials
Ingrid T. Weber, Idelma A. A. Terra, Adenaule J. G. Melo, Marcella A. M. Lucena, Kaline A. Wanderley, Carlos O. Paiva-Santos, Selma A. Gutierrez, Luiz A. O. Nunes, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, Gilberto F. de Sá, Severino A. Júnior, Marcelo O. Rodrigues
RSC Advances, 2012, Volume 2, Pages 3083-3087

9. Ligand Design for Functional Metal–Organic Frameworks
Filipe A. Almeida Paz, Jacek Klinowski, Sérgio M. F. Vilela, João P. C. Tomé, José A. S. Cavaleiro and João Rocha
Chemical Society Reviews, 2012, Volume 41, Pages 1088-1110
Front COVER of the journal issue
Top 10 Most Downloaded Paper in ChemSocRev in October and November 2011

10. Near-Infrared Luminescent and Magnetic Cyano-Bridged Coordination Polymers Nd(phen)n(DMF)m[M(CN)8] (M = Mo, W)
Jérôme Long, Elena Chelebaeva, Joulia Laionova, Yannick Guari, Rute A. S. Ferreira, Luis D. Carlos, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, Alexander Trifonov, Christian Guérin
Inorganic Chemistry, 2011, Volume 50, Pages 9924-9926

11. Thermal Transformation of a Layered Multifunctional Network into a Metal-Organic Framework Based on a Polymeric Organic Linker
Patrícia Silva, Fabiana Vieira, Ana C. Gomes, Duarte Ananias, José A. Fernandes, Sofia M. Bruno, Rosário Soares, Anabela A. Valente, João Rocha, Filipe A. Almeida Paz
Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2011, Volume 133, Pages 15120-15138

 12. Mixed-Metal d-f Phosphonate Frameworks: Photoluminescence and Magnetic Properties
João Rocha, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, Fa-Nian Shi, Duarte Ananias, Nuno J. O. Silva, Luís D. Carlos and Tito Trindade
European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2011, Pages 2035-2044
Cover of the Issue 13

13. Luminescent Multifunctional Lanthanides-based Metal–Organic Frameworks
João Rocha, Luís D. Carlos, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, and Duarte Ananias
Chemical Society Reviews, 2011, Volume 40, Pages 926-940
Top ten most accessed article in December 2010

14. Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Metal-Organic Frameworks 
Jacek Klinowski, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, Patrícia Silva, João Rocha
Perspective Article
Dalton Transactions, 2011, Volume 40, Pages 321-330

15. Fast Microwave Synthesis of a Porous Lanthanide-Organic Framework
Patrícia Silva, Anabela A. Valente, João Rocha, Filipe A. Almeida Paz
Crystal Growth & Design, 2010, Volume 10, Pages 2025-2028

16. Evaluation of [Ln(H2cmp)(H2O)] Metal Organic Framework Materials for Potential Application as Magnetic Resonance Imaging Constrast Agents
Giovannia A. Pereira, Joop A. Peters, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, João Rocha, Carlos F. G. C. Geraldes
Inorganic Chemistry, 2010, Volume 49, Pages 2969-2974

17. Photoluminescent Lanthanide-Organic Bilayer Networks with 2,3-Pyrazinedicarboxylate and Oxalate
Paula C. R. Soares-Santos, Luís Cunha-Silva, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, Rute A. Sá Ferreira, João Rocha, Luís D. Carlos, Helena I. S. Nogueira
Inorganic Chemistry, 2010, Volume 49, Pages 3428-3440

18. Photoluminescent Porous Modular Lanthanide-Vanadium-Organic Frameworks
João Rocha, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, Fa-Nian Shi, Rute A. S. Ferreira, Tito Trindade, Luís D. Carlos
European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2009, Pages 4931-4945
Cover of the 3rd November Issue of European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry

19. Modeling, Structural and Spectroscopic Studies of Lanthanide-Organic Frameworks
Marcelo O. Rodrigues, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, Ricardo O. Freire, Gilberto F. de Sá, André Galembeck, Maria C. B. S. M. Montenegro, Alberto N. Araújo, Severino Alves Jr.
Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2009, Volume 113, Pages 12181-12188

20. Luminescent and Magnetic Cyano-bridged Coordination Polymers Containing 4d-4f Ions: Toward Multifunctional Materials
Elena Chelebaeva, Joulia Larionova, Yanick Guari, Rute A. Sá Ferreira, Luís D. Carlos, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, Alexander Trifonov, and Christian Guérin
Inorganic Chemistry, 2009, Volume 48, Issue 13, Pages 5983-5995

21. Adsorption Equilibrium of Propane, Propylene and Isobutane on CuBTC: Experiments and Molecular Simulation
Nabil Lamia, Miguel Jorge, Miguel A. Granato, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, Hubert Chevreau, and Alírio E. Rodrigues
Chemical Engineering Science, 2009, Volume 64, Pages 3246-3259

22. Three-Dimensional Lanthanide-Organic Frameworks Based on Di-, Tetra- and Hexameric Clusters
Fa-Nian Shi, Luís Cunha-Silva, Tito Trindade, Filipe A. Almeida Paz and João Rocha
Crystal Growth & Design, 2009, Volume 9, Issue 5, Pages 2098-2109

23. Synchrotron Powder Structure of a New Layered Lanthanide-Organic Network
Luís Cunha-Silva, Duarte Ananias, Luís D. Carlos, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, and João Rocha
Zeitschrift für Kristallographie, 2009, Volume 224, Issue 05-06, Pages 261-272

24. Multi-Functional Rare-Earth Hybrid Layered Networks: Photoluminescence and Catalysis Studies
Luís Cunha-Silva, Sérgio Lima, Duarte Ananias, Patrícia Silva, Luís Mafra, Luís D. Carlos, Martyn Pillinger, Anabela A. Valente, Filipe A. Almeida Paz, and João Rocha
Journal of Materials Chemistry, 2009, Volume 19, Pages 2618-2632

Ph.D. Students

• Marcelo Oliveira Rodrigues
  Thesis: “Estudos Espectroscópicos de Materiais Metal-Orgânicos Baseados em Íons Lantanídeos”
  Supervisors: Severino Alves Junior; Gilberto F. de Sá
  Co-supervisor: Filipe A. Almeida Paz (“Ph.D. sandwich” in the University of Aveiro)
  2007 - 2010

Master Students

• Carla Patrícia Fernandes Pereira
  Co-supervision with Dr. João Paulo Costa Tomé (QOPNA, University of Aveiro)
  September 2011 - November 2012
• Sérgio Manuel Felipe Vilela
  Co-supervision with Professor Verónica de Zea Bermudez (University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro)
  Thesis: “Síntese e Caracterização de Polímeros de Coordenação com Lantanídeos”
  Exam on the 18 December 2009
  Final evaluation: 18 (out of 20)

Ph.D. Students

• Ricardo Faria Mendes, Ph.D. student (Doctoral Programme) from January 2012 onwards.
  FCT Grant No. SFRH/BD/84231/2012. 
• Ana Daniela Gonçalves Firmino, Ph.D. student (Doctoral Programme) from February 2012 onwards.
  FCT Grant No. SFRH/BD/84495/2012. Co-supervision with Dr João Tomé from QOPNA (University of Aveiro).
• Carla Patrícia Fernandes Pereira, Ph.D. student (Doctoral Programme) from February 2012 onwards.
  FCT Grant No. SFRH/BD/86303/2012. Co-supervision with Dr João Tomé from QOPNA (University of Aveiro).
• Sérgio Manuel Felipe Vilela, Ph.D. student (Doctoral Programme) from January 2010 onwards. FCT Grant No. SFRH/BD/66371/2009. Co-supervision with Dr João Tomé from QOPNA (University of Aveiro).
• Marcelo Rodrigues, Ph.D. student. Grant from CNPq (Brazil). Co-supervision with Professor Severino Alves Júnior and Gilberto F. de Sá (Univ. Federal Pernambuco)
• Patrícia Rodrigues da Silva, Ph.D. student (Doctoral Programme) from January 2009 onwards. FCT Grant No. SFRH/BD/46601/2008

Post-Doctoral Researchers

• Dr. Venkatramaiah Nutalapati, Post-doctoral researcher from May 2012 onwards. FCT Grant No. SFRH/BPD/79000/2011
• Dr. José Alberto Fernandes, Post-doctoral researcher from March 2010 onwards (Student No. 29441 at the University of Aveiro). FCT Grant No. SFRH/BPD/63736/2009
• Dr. Ana Catarina Gomes, Post-doctoral researcher from November 2010 to August 2011. Grant under the FCT Project PTDC/QUI-QUI/098098/2008
• Dr. Bing Liu, Post-doctoral researcher from July 2010 onwards. FCT Grant No. SFRH/BPD/47566/2008
• Dr. Xiao-Feng Wang, Post-doctoral researcher from May 2009 to August 2010. FCT Grant No. SFRH/BPD/44381/2008
• Dr. Luís Manuel Cunha Silva, Post-doctoral researcher from January 2008 to August 2008. FCT Grant No. SFRH/BPD/34895/2007
• Dr. Luís Manuel Cunha Silva, Post-doctoral researcher from January 2006 to January 2008. FCT Grant No. SFRH/BPD/11410/2003

Research Students (Project & Laboratory Grants)

• Ricardo Faria Mendes, Research student (BI scholarship) from October to December 2012. Associated Laboratory research grant from CICECO.
• Patrícia Rodrigues da Silva, Research student (BI scholarship) from January 2013 to Aygust 2013. FCT Grant from the I&D project PTDC/QUI-QUI/098098/2008.
• Ana Daniela Gonçalves Firmino, Research student (BI scholarship) from February 2012 to January 2013. FCT Grant from the I&D project PTDC/QUI-QUI/098098/2008. Co-supervision with Dr João Tomé.
• Ricardo Faria Mendes, Research student (BI scholarship) from September 2011 to September 2012. FCT Grant from the I&D project PTDC/QUI-QUI/098098/2008. Co-supervision with Professor Tito Trindade.
• Sérgio Manuel Felipe Vilela, Research student (BI scholarship) between February and July 2009
  CICECO Grant. Co-supervision with Dr João Tomé
• Rita Craveiro, Research student (BIC scholarship) from June 2008 onwards. FCT Grant from I&D project PTDC/CTM/73643/2006. Co-supervision with Dr Zhi Lin
• Patrícia Rodrigues da Silva, Research student (BIC scholarship) between April and September 2008. CICECO Grant

Undergraduate Students (BII Grants)

• Fabiana Neves Vieira
  November 2009 – November 2010
  Integration into Research Grant financed by FCT
  Research credited as the discipline of “Project” (3^rd year). Title of the report: Síntese por Micro-Ondas e Caracterização Estrutural de Novos Fosfonatos de Lantanídeo Lamelares (19^th July, 2010)
• Marisa Bastos
  November 2008 – November 2009
  Integration into Research Grant financed by FCT.  Research work credited as the course Project.
  Co-supervision with Professor João Rocha and Dr. Luís Mafra