I am a Principal Researcher (permanent) and Vice-Coordinator of the Theoretical and Computational Physics group at the I3N Associated Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Aveiro. I am responsible for a research line ("Ab-Initio Materials Modeling"), the core of my work involves training and supervision, project design and coordination, research consulting, management and other institutional roles, and of course doing research. I was awarded a PhD in Physics by the University of Exeter (UK) in January 2002. Since then, I have been working at the I3N and Department of Physics of the University of Aveiro. I started as a Postdoc, by joining the Theoretical and Computational Physics group to investigate the electronics of defects in group-IV semiconductors. I visited several groups in Europe, initiating what would become a far-reaching network of collaborations, from several backgrounds and generations. By 2004, I was hired as Professor Auxiliar (30% dedication). From that experience I could further develop my teaching and communication skills. I was involved mainly on first-year disciplines like Classical Mechanics and Computational Methods in Science and Engineering. In 2008, I was awarded a 'Ciência-2007' FCT grant, being hired by the I3N (University of Aveiro) as full-time 'Assistant Researcher'. At that time, I was already a fully independent scientist, with a decisive contribution to the maintenance of a shared computational facility, as well as freedom to establish an independent research agenda. Other major contracts awarded include an 'Investigador-FCT' (IF) in 2014 and a 'Scientific Employment Stimulus' grant (CEEC) in 2019 to investigate several problems in silicon optoelectronics by means of first-principles calculations. The last few years have been particularly rewarding in terms of opportunities and output. Besides consolidating my research independence, now as a permanent Principal Researcher at the University of Aveiro, I have been able to build on scientific leadership as well. I am (co-)author of nearly 200 publications (h-index=29), 52% of which are published in the best 25% journals of my specialty (Scopus). Among the most important achievements, I would single out the respect and esteem of my peers for my work. This is demonstrated, for instance, by citations (more than 3000) or by the many invited talks on the most prestigious conferences on the field. I also would like to highlight the privilege that has been to supervise many talented young researchers, including postdocs from respected Universities and groups world-wide. My work has also been recognized locally. I was elected Vice-Coordinator of the Theoretical and Computational Group (I3N). Previous management roles include: Elected member of the Advising Restricted Committee of the Department of Physics at the University of Aveiro, or elected member of the Scientific Council of the University of Aveiro, and in that body I was appointed a Commissioner for Research and Development. I have been investigating bulk solids, surfaces and nanostructures by means of first-principles atomistic modeling techniques, classical molecular dynamics and many-body perturbation methods. I have a long and established experience on high-performance computing, which dates back from the years of my PhD studies (late 1990s), when the Crays T3D and T3E were among the world's most powerful machines. I also participated in the team responsible for the design and maintenance of local HPC facilities (fast-interconnected Xeon Clusters) at the University of Aveiro. I have been establishing links with many experimental and theoretical groups (ex. from Oslo, Lund, Lulea, Manchester, London, Paris, Aarhus, ...). Many of these still result in joint publications and activities with help of national and international funds.