Fernanda Proença completed the Licenciatura degree at the University of Coimbra (1976) and the PhD at the University of Manchester (UK, 1981). She is currently a Full Professor at the University of Minho, where she started her career in 1977 as an Assistant Professor. Her research interests include the synthesis of nitrogen- and oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds, mainly imidazole, purine and chromene derivatives with potential biological activity. The compounds prepared are submitted to in silico in vitro and in vivo screening through collaboration with national and international partners mainly as anticancer, antipsychotics or antimalarial agents. During the past decade, the skills in synthetic organic chemistry have also been applied to the chemical functionalization of carbon nanotubes, nanofibers and graphene for various applications including electrochemical sensors and the preparation of composites in collaboration with the Institute for Polymers and Composites of the University of Minho. She coordinated an Interreg project on the "Recovery of organic waste: production of humic substances" aiming to contribute to a sustainable environmental management and involving partners from the University of Minho and Santiago de Compostela and Companies from the north of Portugal and Galicia. She is the co-author of more than 120 scientific publications, four submitted patents and supervised several MSc and PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. She has been a member of national and international project and scholarship evaluation committees. She was also involved in academic management tasks, as director of the Department of Chemistry, director of the Chemistry Research Centre and vice-president of the School of Sciences for research.