Research Fellow

Originally a Physics Engineer (FCUL-Portugal), I have turned my attention to the field of Spectroscopy of Organic Materials, and the use of light as a mean to unravel materials properties with interest for applications in Organic Electronics and Biophysics.

After taking my PhD in Chemistry (Photophysics) at the ITQB-UNL in 2002, I moved from Portugal to the United Kingdom to work with Professor Monkman at Durham University, where I am currently a Research Fellow in the Physics Department, working in the Organic Electroactive Materials Research Group (OEM), and lecturing Organic Electronics for Physics undergraduate students.

I am a former member of the award-winning TOPLESS project between Thorn Lighting/Zumtobel, Sumation/Cambridge Display Technology and the University of Durham, and currently, I am responsible for carrying out individual and collaborative research work/projects in the area of Polymer Light Emitting Diodes and Organic Solar Cells, in collaboration with academia and companies.

I am a Project Leader funded by EPSRC (UK), for the investigation of mechanisms for photoinduced charge generation in Organic Solar Cells.

My aim is to use spectroscopic tools to unravel the photophysics of organic polymers and small molecules with application in OLED, OPV and solid state lighting. This often requires the development of new methods, with particular focus on using time resolved transient absorption and fluorescence techniques to gain even deeper insight into OLED and OPV systems.

I am also interested on using fluorescence spectroscopy to unravel the conformational dynamics of biomolecules.

Out of work I spend most of my time with my family Fernanda, Rita and Inês, and when possible we enjoy travel, going to cinema, theatre and music shows or simply going out for a nice meal.