BACKGROUND
Here is my academic background and previous work experiences.
PhD thesis defense
Oct'2014
My PhD thesis defense in Environmental and Analytical Chemistry was scheduled for the last week of October, in Anglet (France) and it went pretty well! I finished the presentation in 43:04 minutes and had 1h30 of discussion. Result: "mention très honorable"!
The thesis is available online at http://www.theses.fr/2014PAUU3019
During my PhD in Pau in 2014, I took english classes at the University and got my Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) from Cambridge, with a B grade - C1 level.
Certificate in
Advanced English (CAE), Cambridge
Apr'2014
Masters Degree at
Faculty of Sciences of the University of Oporto (FCUP)
Jul'09
Chemical characterization of a Natural Mineral Water rich in naturally occurring CO2 and analysis of the influence of the industrial bottling process.
(awarded: A-grade in ECTS grading system)
Supervisors:
Maria Clara Basto (FCUP)
Maria José do Canto (LNEG)
Principal subjects:
Separation and Detection Methods, Spectroscopic Methods and Quality of Experimental Results.
Post-Graduation (Chemistry Specialization) at Faculty of Sciences of the University of Oporto (FCUP)
Feb'07
Principal subjects:
Atomic and Molecular Structure, Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Industrial Chemistry, Instrumental Analysis Methods.
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES
Where I worked before the PhD
April'2005 - Sep'2011
Research Grant with Technical Management responsibilities
@ LNEG (S. Mamede de Infesta, Portugal)
For 6 years I worked at LNEG (the Portuguese Geological Survey) - Mineral Science and Technology Research Unit, under the supervision of Dra. Maria José do Canto and Prof. Dr. Machado Leite.
I started by learning how to perform chemical analysis of major compounds present in the Portuguese mineral waters and according to the ISO 17025, which allowed me to reset my laboratory practices. I became proficient in wet chemistry and instrumental chemistry methods and techniques like Ion Chromatography, Potenciometry, Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy, UV/Vis Spectrophotometry, ICP-AES.
In 2008 I was named Hidrochemistry Section Technical Responsible. I was also part of the organizational team responsible for planning and preparing the National Proficiency Test (EAA), an inter-laboratory testing scheme distributed to almost 100 national laboratories.
Progressively I started to learn the differences between the several mineral waters studied at LNEG and by the end of the 6 years I was capable to identify a mineral spring just by looking at its overall composition. This evolution also brought up some fundamental questions about aquatic chemistry and particularly about speciation and complexation phenomenons that occur in these matrices.
The next step had to be the PhD.
March'2004 - July'2004
Trainee / Probation period (Erasmus mobility programme)
@ LPTC (Bordeaux, France)
Hélène Budzinski was my supervisor at the LPTC UMR CNRS 5805 EPOC, University of Bordeaux.
I studied Polycyclic Aromatics Hydrocarbons in waters and began an analytical method development. I was a trainee on extraction techniques like LLE, SPE and SPME, and quantification by GC-MS.
