Introduce yourself in three words or phrases.
Passionate, professional, and crazy.
What do you like most about your job?
The excitement of doing new things every day, learning new things, and getting to know new people.
Best/Worst work trip?
My best work trip was going to Uzbekistan, which was a kind of study trip where we went to four different cities, meeting partners from high educational institutions, but also a lot of students and their parents. That was an extremely discovering place for me.
If you could learn a language instantly, which would you pick and why?
Portuguese. Everybody asks why, and the only reason is because I find it very beautiful, I like the sounds of Portuguese, but unfortunately it’s not that widely spoken, so my choice was to go for Spanish rather than Portuguese.
What makes you get up in the morning?
My training plan. I get up at five every morning and I either run or do some exercise to start my day pumped up with all the adrenaline and endorphins.
Champion/cheerleader which we should all follow and why?
I don’t think I have one person to follow, one leader all the time. Depending on the period in my life in which I am, there are different priorities that seem to me important, and right now I am listening to a podcast, Lives Well Lived, by Peter Singer and Kasia de Lazari Radek, which is about ethical issues, but also about how to live and be happy. I love it, I really recommend following it.
Best international ed conference and why
It’s obvious that I would say that it’s EAIE, but not only because I am on the board, but because I truly believe it. My first conference was in Porto in 2001, and I kept coming every year, and I think it’s a really well-organised conference, and a one-stop-shop for meeting people from all over the world, not just Europe.
Worst conference food/beverage experience
I was in Kazakhstan for a conference and they were mainly serving meat. From what I found out after one day it was horse meat in a lot of cases, so it was very heavy. I normally don’t eat meat, so for me it was quite a big shock!
Book or podcast recommendation for others in the sector?
The EAIE podcast is also something I like listening to, for example, when I go by bike to work, and there are many nice guests and really different topics from various areas in our sector, so I really recommend the podcast.
Describe a project or initiative you are currently working on that excites you.
I am now an institutional coordinator at my university for a European University alliance, Bauhaus4EU. This is a new alliance. We started in January this year, so it’s a very exciting journey, very demanding, but also rewarding because yes we are finally part of the alliance. So I’m very excited to learn about this new initiative.
