Biography
Maria Rute de Amorim e Sá Ferreira André is a Full Professor at the Department of Physics of the University of Aveiro and Vice-Director of CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials, one of Portugal’s leading research centers in materials science. She joins the UT Austin Portugal Program as National Director in (Portugal), serving alongside Prof. Rui Oliveira.
Prof. André earned her Ph.D. in Physics (2002) and Agregação in Physics (2012) from the University of Aveiro. Since 2019, she has also served as Director of the Doctoral Program in Physics Engineering and as a member of the University’s General Board.
Her scientific work spans nanotechnologies, photonics, and optoelectronic materials, with over 380 SCI-indexed publications and more than 12,000 citations (h-index 57). Her research focuses on sol-gel-derived hybrid materials, lanthanide-doped nanostructures, and semiconductor nanoparticles for applications in photonics, optoelectronics, and sustainable energy systems.
Prof. André has supervised dozens of Ph.D. and postdoctoral researchers and has led numerous collaborative projects at the interface of materials science and applied physics. Within the Program’s Phase IV, she will contribute to strengthening Portuguese leadership in nanotechnologies and semiconductors and fostering deeper scientific collaboration between Portugal and The University of Texas at Austin.
