João received his Masters in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Minho, Portugal. He has a specialization in Translational Medicine and is a former PhD Candidate in Medical Sciences. Prior to joining Global Development Network (GDN), João was an interim Scientific Officer at the European Research Council [ERC] (Executive Agency) at the European Commission where he managed, supported the evaluation and did the scientific and financial monitoring/assessment of million euro grants on projects related to the field of Life Sciences (in particular on Diagnostics, Therapies, Applied Medical Technology, and Public Health). João was the President of the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) Portugal and later the Liaison Officer (LO) of ESN International towards the European Students Union and the Lifelong Learning Platform, as well as a member of the Expert Group of the European Youth Forum on Erasmus+ and funding of youth organizations, on a volunteering basis. Furthermore, he has acted as Evaluator for the European Commission on calls related to Higher Education, youth, and non-formal education topics. João joined GDN in October 2018 as a Program Associate, increased his responsibilities in April 2019 by joining the Global Development Awards Competition team and now is a Senior Program Manager. João's main responsibility is to manage the entire Global Development Awards Competition - initiative administered by GDN, funded under the Policy and Human Resources Development Fund (PHRD) trust fund which is managed by the World Bank, and generously supported by the Ministry of Finance, Government of Japan, while also providing support on the planning, implementation, and documentation of the Doing Research initiative. -------- My goal is to pursue a career in managing, developing or consulting, ideally health-related and on the international level, but I refused to go to the degree that would give me the skills to do it at once, in managing and/or marketing, because I believe that a good manager should have transverse skills acquired from multiple experiences, not only be academically qualified to literally control it. I love to travel and to work under an international environment with a work philosophy that aims for quality and not quantity. I love to speak in public and debate while being very comfortable in IT and managing teams and projects. The ideal work is not on a tight schedule but goal-oriented so that one can adapt and be as productive as possible