Profile

Paulo Ferrão is a Full Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), having been awarded the title of Distinguished Professor of IST in 2021. He is President of IN+, Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research, and Director of LARSyS. He served as President of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) (2016–2019) and was Director of the MIT Portugal Program (1996–2016). At the international level, he was President of COST – European Cooperation in Science and Technology (2019–2021) and a board member of the EUREKA network (2021–2023). He was also a member of the Environmental Advisory Board of Rolls-Royce (2015–2022). He currently serves as a member of the European Commission’s Mission Board for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities (since 2019). He was a member of the U.S. National Academies Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability, under the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, where he also served on the committees Sustainability Linkages in the Federal Government and Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities for the United States. In the field of urban sustainability, he led the urban development component of two projects for the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which resulted in the publication Urban Metabolism of Six Asian Cities. He is also co-author of the book “Sustainable Urban Metabolism”, published by MIT Press. His scientific career has spanned fields such as Laser Diagnostics in Turbulent Combustion, Energy Systems, and Industrial Ecology. He has made significant contributions to waste management, having coordinated both Portugal’s National Waste Management Strategy and the Strategic Municipal Waste Management Plan (PERSU 2020).