Profile

Carlos Fiolhais, born in Lisbon (1956), received his PhD in Theoretical Physics at Goethe University, Frankfurt (1982). Since 2000, he has been a full professor of Physics at the University of Coimbra, retired in 2021. He is the author of more than 70 pedagogical and popular books, some of which have international circulation (in particular, «Física Divertida», 1991, Gradiva), and of numerous scientific articles (more than 200), pedagogical and outreach, one of which, on condensed matter, with a record number of citations from authors in Portugal (more than 20,000). He founded the Computational Center at the University of Coimbra where he helped install the first national supercomputers. In addition to Computational Physics, he is interested in teaching supported by computers and the history of science (he co-directed the «Pioneering Works of Portuguese Culture», Círculo de Leitores). He directed the «Gazeta de Physics», an organ of the Portuguese Physics Society, and chaired the Scientific Council of the «European Physical Journal». He directed the General Library of the University of Coimbra, where he created digital repositories, and directs the «Open Science» collection at Gradiva. He is one of the best-known science popularizers in Portugal. He collaborates in the press, radio and television. He has won several awards and distinctions, including in 2005 the Order of Infante D. Henrique and the Golden Globe for Merit and Excellence from SIC, and in 2018 the José Mariano Gago Award from the Portuguese Society of Authors. In 2024, the Coimbra City Council awarded him the city’s gold medal and named a new Library in Coimbra after him, where his estate will be kept.