Bridging Physics and Engineering for Innovation
The Symposium on Engineering Physics, part of the 6th Doctoral Congress in Engineering (DCE25), will take place at FEUP, Porto, Portugal, on June 30th and 1st of July 2025.
This Symposium is organized by PhD students of the Doctoral Program in Engineering Physics (PRODEF) at FEUP.
The Symposium Organizing Committee is pleased to invite everyone interested in expanding and sharing their knowledge and expertise in the field of environmental engineering to submit their work. This invitation is open to PhD and MSc students, as well as other researchers and professionals in this field.
The Symposium on Engineering Physics stems from the Doctoral Programme in Engineering Physics, a joint programme of FEUP and FCUP.
More information on the Doctoral Programme in Engineering Physics can be found in the following website: https://fe.up.pt/prodef.
Topics for submission include (but are not limited to):
- Advanced Instrumentation
- Advanced Materials
- Space and Plasma Physics and Engineering
- Applied Biophysics
- Energy Storage and Harvest Physics
- Photonics and Optoelectronics
- Computational physics and quantum computing
Submissions
Format: Oral or poster communications
Please follow the abstract template (maximum 1 page) according to the Instruction for Authors available under the Registration page.
The submission must be done through the SCI-MEET platform.
For more information, please click HERE.
Registration & Payment
Registration is mandatory for all participants through the SCI-MEET platform.
The Doctoral Program in Engineering Physics (PRODEF) will cover the registration costs for any PRODEF student from FEUP.
A limited number of registration waivers will be granted to other students, researchers or professors from FEUP, depending on the number of attendees. For any questions, please email up201805381@up.pt.
Abstracts will be included in the Book of Abstracts only if at least one author of each accepted abstract is registered and has paid the registration fee (attended the event).
Please note that at least one author per submitted abstract (oral or poster communication) must register for the Congress as soon as possible to secure participation.
Communications
Oral communication:
- Prepare a PowerPoint presentation to support your talk.
- An editable PowerPoint template will be available soon.
- Language: Presentations and slides must be in English.
Poster communication:
- The poster exhibition will be held in FEUP’s B Corridor, where posters will be displayed on the corridor windows.
- Posters should be formatted in portrait mode, size A1 (841 mm height × 594 mm width).
- Language: Posters must be in English.
- An editable poster template will be available soon.
Publications
All accepted abstracts, with at least one author registered in the Congress with a paid fee, will be included in the event’s program and the Symposium Book of Abstracts.
Awards
Authors of accepted abstracts presented at the Congress will be eligible for the Best Oral and Best Poster Communication Awards.
Symposium Committees
Symposium Chairs:
- Joana Cassilda Rodrigues Espain de Oliveira, FEUP
- José Luís Campos de Oliveira Santos, FCUP
Symposium Organizing Committee:
- Joana Cassilda Rodrigues Espain de Oliveira, FEUP
- José Luís Campos de Oliveira Santos, FCUP
- Cristina Cunha, PhD Student, FEUP
- Patrícia Sofia Monteiro Soares, PhD Student PRODEF, FCUP
- Ricardo Moura Costa Pinto, PhD Student PRODEF, FCUP
Symposium Scientific Committee:
- Adélio Miguel Magalhães Mendes, FEUP
- Adrián Manuel Tavares da Silva, FEUP
- Adriano da Silva Carvalho, FEUP
- Ana Lúcia Mota Pires, FCUP
- André Miguel Trindade Pereira, FCUP
- António José dos Santos Silva, FEUP
- Bernardo Gonçalves Almeida, UM
- Carlos Daniel Diogo Matias Pintassilgo, FEUP
- Catarina Dias, FCUP
- Joana Cassilda Rodrigues Espain de Oliveira, FEUP
- João Cunha de Sequeira Amaral, CICECO/UA
- João Filipe Horta Belo da Silva, FCUP
- João Oliveira Ventura, FCUP
- João Pedro Esteves de Araújo, FCUP
- Joaquim Agostinho Gomes Moreira, FCUP
- José Luís Campos de Oliveira Santos, FCUP
- Manuel Fernando Ribeiro Pereira, FEUP
- Manuel Joaquim Bastos Marques, FCUP
- Maria Inês Barbosa De Carvalho, FEUP
- Maria Isabel Silva Ferreira Lopes, LIP
- Maria Isabel Simões Catarino, FCT UNL
- Orlando José dos Reis Frazão, INESC TEC
- Paulo Jorge Valente Garcia, FEUP
- Paulo Vicente da Silva Marques, FCUP
- Pedro Alberto da Silva Jorge, FCUP
- Senentxu Lanceros-Mendez , UM
- Susana Cardoso Freitas, INESC MN
Contact: up201805381@up.pt (Patrícia Soares)
Local: Room B029
Date: Monday, June 30th, 2025 | 15h40-16h30
The biophysics of computation – building living neuronal circuits
Neurons are Nature’s solution to fast and reliable information processing in biological systems. Understanding how neuronal circuits can produce specific computations is a fundamental challenge in neuroscience. In this talk I will present work from my research group where we develop strategies to design, build and analyse specific neuronal circuits with thousands of cells. By interfacing microelectrode arrays with microfluidics, it is possible to compartmentalize in vitro neuronal populations with a specified alignment of axons and microelectrodes. This setup allows extracellular recordings of spike propagation with high signal-to-noise ratio over the course of several weeks. Using a bottom-up approach, these neuroengineering strategies provide unique conditions to study how neurons transmit, store and process information.
Paulo de Castro Aguiar
Principal Investigator, Group Leader, i3S
Biography
Paulo Aguiar graduated in Physics (“Engª Física Tecnológica”, IST, U. Lisbon, PT), and completed his PhD in computational neuroscience at the Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation (U. Edinburgh, UK). Since 2016, he leads the Neuroengineering and Computational Neuroscience Lab (i3S-UPorto, PT). His group uses a bottom-up approach and focuses on understanding how neural circuits are capable of processing and storing information. The team combines expertise in neurobiology, biophysics, electrophysiology, in vitro neuronal cultures, advanced analytical methods and computational models, to reveal and repair neural function.
Local: Room B029
Date: Tuesday, July 1st, 2025 | 10h00-10h30
Round Table: Bridging academic innovation and industry
Join us for a lively roundtable discussion all about connecting academic research with real-world industry breakthroughs. We’ve pulled together a fantastic group for this session: you’ll hear from the co-founders of successful companies and a representative from an industry partner actively looking to team up with universities. We’ll dive into how PhD-level work can make the leap from the lab to practical application, sharing stories of entrepreneurial journeys and highlighting if academic expertise is important for driving innovation in business. This conversation will really shine a light on the win-win relationship between companies and academia, showing how working together fuels growth and brings cutting-edge research right to the forefront.
André Guerra
Chief Scientific Officer, Connected
Biography
André Guerra is a senior research and development manager with a strong multidisciplinary background, including an MSc in Aerospace Engineering and a PhD in Physics and microsatellite constellations. As of January 2023, André is Co‐Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Connected, a Portuguese company developing space-based IoT connectivity solutions, determined to provide easily accessible connectivity for everyone, everything, everywhere. Besides previous research collaborations and his association as an invited professor at the University of Porto, André has led the architecture, design and development of multiple space projects at a major Portuguese Engineering and Research Centre – CEiiA. These projects covered, among others, two micro-satellite missions focused on ocean monitoring, as well as Portugal’s largest development on launcher components, including the design, development and manufacturing of an orbital stage and payload fairing for RFA One, from Rocket Factory Augsburg, part of OHB Group.
Helena Aguilar
Science and Technology Lead / R&D Department, TMG Automotive
Biography
PhD in Chemical Engineering in 2006 from University of Porto, where she collaborated with international academia and industrial partners working in the field of paper physics and papermaking process engineering. Shortly later she was granted a science contract to work at LEPABE for the development of functional nanomaterials for disruptive solar energy harvesting technologies (dye-sensitized solar cells) and in 2014 she joined CeNTI – Centre for Nanotechnology and Smart Materials, as a senior researcher coordinating national and international R&D projects covering various research topics, ranging from surface engineering, advanced polymers and fibres to biotechnology and nanocoatings for food packaging, textile, energy harvesting and automotive interior applications. As a result, she co-authored over 50 communications and publications in international journals and scientific events, and patents. Since 2019 she works in the Automotive Industry sector, at TMG Automotive, where she leads the Science and Technology Group in the R&D Department to foster the development of disruptive and sustainable materials and process technologies following a science-based approach.
José Luís dos Santos
Full Professor, Physics and Astronomy Department of Faculty of Sciences of University of Porto
Biography
Graduated in Physics by University of Porto (1983). PhD (1993) and Habilitation (2008) from the same University. His main research interests are related with optical fibre sensing and optical fibre technology. He holds the position of Full Professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department of Faculty of Sciences of University of Porto; researcher of INESC-TEC – Center of Applied Photonics.
