{"id":4331,"date":"2019-01-30T16:25:09","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T16:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fe.up.pt\/dcc\/2026\/en\/?page_id=4331"},"modified":"2026-03-24T16:25:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T16:25:56","slug":"career-award","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/fe.up.pt\/dcc\/2026\/en\/career-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Career Award"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

On 16 April, another FEUP Career Award will be presented at the 2026 Conferment Ceremony to Jorge Vasconcelos*, Executive Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.<\/p>\n

The seven previous recipients of this award were Jos\u00e9 Manuel Fernandes (2024), Jo\u00e3o Oliveira Cortez (2023), Ant\u00f3nio Mota (2022), Carlos Moreira da Silva (2021), Jo\u00e3o Serrenho (2020), Ant\u00f3nio Segad\u00e3es Madeira Tavares (2019) and Lu\u00eds Valente de Oliveira (2018).<\/p>\n

* He was born in Porto in 1959, where he lived and studied until 1982. In that year, he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto, with a grade of 17, having received the \u201cEng. Cristiano Spratley\u201d and \u201cSiemens Portuguesa\u201d awards.<\/p>\n

Thanks to a scholarship from the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), he obtained his PhD from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in 1985, with a thesis on the application of multiprocessors to the simulation of transient phenomena in electrical power systems.<\/p>\n

This was followed by a period in industry between 1986 and 1989, during which he was responsible for the development of dynamic simulation of electrical systems at AEG in Frankfurt am Main.<\/p>\n

Drawn to the process of European integration, he then moved to Brussels, where he worked, between 1989 and 1996, as Deputy Secretary-General of the newly established European electricity industry association (Eurelectric). In this role, he closely followed the start of energy liberalisation in Europe and the United States, as well as the interconnection of Central and Eastern European countries with the Western grid.<\/p>\n

In 1996, he was invited by the Portuguese Government to chair the Installation Committee of the Electricity Sector Regulatory Authority, and he chaired this body from its creation in February 1997 until December 2006. In 2002, ERSE\u2019s remit was extended to the Autonomous Regions and the natural gas sector. As president of ERSE, he promoted national and international cooperation between regulators, having served as the first president of the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) between 2000 and 2005, co-founder and co-chair of the EU-US Energy Regulators\u2019 Roundtable, and co-founder of the Ibero-American Association of Energy Regulatory Entities (ARIAE). He also promoted cooperation between regulators and academia, notably as co-founder of the Centre for Public Law and Regulation Studies (CEDIPRE), with the University of Coimbra, and founder of the Florence School of Regulation, with the European University Institute.<\/p>\n

In January 2007, he founded NEWES, New Energy Solutions, Lda., a company he chairs, which is active in renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy digitalisation projects across several European countries, including in partnership with other companies. In addition to serving as an investment vehicle in these areas, NEWES has also provided strategic consultancy to numerous governments, regulators, companies and international organisations, notably the World Bank and the European Commission. On a personal basis, he has served as a special adviser to two Presidents of the European Commission and one Commissioner; he has participated in several public hearings organised by the European Parliament; he was a member of the Management Board of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), appointed by the European Parliament, between 2010 and 2018; has served and continues to serve on numerous advisory boards and supervisory boards of companies, research institutes (such as the Harvard Environmental Economics Program, the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, and INESCTEC) and international associations (e.g. EDSO \u2013 European Distribution System Operators and ENTSO-E \u2013 European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity); has promoted the creation of several scientific associations, such as the Portuguese Association of Energy Economics (APEEN), of which he was the first president between 2015 and 2018, and the Portuguese Association of Energy Law (APDEN), whose General Assembly he has chaired since its foundation, in 2017, and the European Federation of Energy Law Associations (EFELA), of which he is honorary president. Between 2012 and 2016, he chaired the Portuguese Electric Vehicle Association. He chaired the Commission for Green Tax Reform, established by the Government in 2014, and currently chairs the Commission for Strengthening the Independence of Regulatory Bodies, established by the Government in 2025.
\nIn 2022, he was co-opted by the board of directors of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation as a non-executive member, having assumed executive duties in December 2025. In this capacity, he sits on the board of directors of the Gulbenkian Institute of Molecular Medicine.
\nHis academic career began as a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto during his final year of undergraduate studies, and has spanned multiple universities, both in Portugal and abroad; he is currently a visiting professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and at the European University Institute. He has collaborated as a supervisor on various European research projects.
\nHe is the author of numerous scientific, technical and civic engagement publications, written in Portuguese, English, German, Italian and French. His latest book was published by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation in 2019, entitled \u201cEnergy in Portugal\u201d. The 2022 report \u201cEU Electricity Reform\u201d contributed substantially to the launch of the reform of the internal electricity market, which is still ongoing.<\/p>\n

He is married and has three children.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>