I completed my PhD (Biology) in December 2017, at the University of Aveiro (UA), with Magna Cum Laude honours, and continued performing research as a Post-doc at UA until 2019. In March 2019 I obtained an assistant researcher position at Univ. of Coimbra (UC), returning as Pos-Doc @UA later in 2022. In the past 5 years, I had the opportunity to perform two internships abroad in Brazil (Federal University of Tocantins and State University of Goiás, both in Brazil), which were propellers for career internationalization, teaching opportunities, and strengthen the network of external collaborations. I have a very good publishing track record, with 54 articles to date, 48% as 1st author, 63% as corresponding author, and 7% as a senior researcher (SCOPUS). It is to point out, that 61% of my publications are on Top 1% and 3% of expertise areas and/or citation percentiles, with a 20% publication share with foreign researchers. My research impact has been acknowledged by the boost in citation number in the last 5 years (939 citations, h-index=15 SCOPUS). I participated in international meetings with 22 oral presentations and >30 poster presentations, that allowed the solidification of existing collaborations and the establishment of new ones, at national (Univ. of Aveiro, Coimbra, Porto and Évora, and the Agricultural School of Coimbra); and at international level (Southern Connecticut State University-USA, University of Castilla La Mancha-Spain, Adam Mickiewicz University-Poland, Research Institute for Limnology-Austria, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University-Romania, KU Leuven-Belgium, and Autonomous University of Madrid-Spain). For my career stage, I have also been able to secure funding from very competitive calls: FCT PhD grant for Ana Santos of whom I am main supervisor (64,550€), FCT Exploratory Calls (PhUEL project, 2024 call, of which I am co-PI, funded with €49,648.61), the CLEAR and CHOICES project (OHM Estarreja, total of €14,000), and I am also team member (Work package 3) of the international project BIOUPTAKE (Horizon Europe Hop-On facility, funded with €483562,50). The results of the CLEAR project served as the basis for this proposal and were the driving force behind the topic proposals of the students I am currently guiding in this line of research. Therefore, this funding would be central to achieving both goals of concluding my students’ graduation and CEEC final objectives. I am part also of the research team of the international project Epiboost (Horizon Europe - Twinning €658,066) and 2 national projects (Bioplasmar and Nanoplanet, FCT call of 2022, total funding of €452,202.45). I am actively involved in other academic activities, acted as main examiner in 15 academic jurors (5 BSc, 9 MSc and 1 PhD), scientific meetings (Workshop entitled “Effects of salinization on freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems” and World Water and Soil Day, March and December 2019, UA), and lectured in several advanced courses of Bachelor and PhD programmes at the UA and UC (total of 26 hours). I am currently supervising 1 PhD student, 3 Master students, and 4 Bachelor students, and have previously successfully supervised 6 Master students (co- or supervisor), and 4 final degree students. I have also been involved with target publics, like the National Association of Maize and Sorghum Producers (conducted field campaigns focused on rot fungi-based inoculants at the Estação Experinental António Teixeira, Portugal) and industries linked to the development of products for bio-based agriculture (fungi and bacteria; TECNIFERTI, four-month technician position), which will be useful connections for the proposal concretization. These skills reinforced in the industrial area have served to consolidate skills for the implementation of the project I propose here. My consistent involvement in research, lecturing, outreach, student supervision, and connection with industry shows my effort and motivation to strengthen my position as a research assistant.