A specialized course on LC-MS techniques, organized under the scope of projects STAR and ERA|ARE and lectured by Prof. Félix Hernández Hernández and Dr. Ana María Botero Coy from Universitat Jaume I, was successfully conducted in July 2025 at FEUP.

The intensive program was designed to equip participants with theoretical knowledge in LC-MS techniques as well as broaden horizons in the MS applications in the environmental field and set the ground for future collaborations. Over 40 researchers and students from various institutions attended the course.

The STAR and ERA|ARE teams extend their heartfelt thanks to Prof. Félix Hernández Hernández and Dr. Ana María Botero Coy from Universitat Jaume I, as well as all the attendees for their interest in the course.

Dr. Ana Rita Lado Ribeiro, Principal Researcher at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto and ERA|ARE P.I., was distinguished with the 2024 Vicente de Seabra Medal. This prize distinguishes, each 2 years, a Portuguese researcher under 45 years old, in the field of chemistry.

Dr. Rita Lado was also invited to deliver a keynote session in the XXIX SPQ National Meeting entitled "Unraveling Enantioselectivity: The Hidden Impact of Chirality in Environmental Processes". The medal was awarded at the XXIX SPQ National Meeting, held in Coimbra from July 20-23, and is a recognition of Dr. Rita Lado's inspiring and prestigious work in recent years. 

Congratulations Rita!

Under the scope of STAR and ERA-ARE projects, a specialized course on LC-MS techniques is being organized, entitled: “Comprehensive investigation of organic micro-pollutants and their transformation products in the aquatic environment: from (limited) target quantitative analysis to wide-scope screening.”

This course, with a total duration of approximately 18 hours, will be delivered by Professor Félix Hernández Hernández and Dr Ana María Botero Coy, both renowned researchers in the field of liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, affiliated with the Research Institute for Pesticides and Water (IUPA) at Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain.

Participation in the course is free of charge but limited to 50 participants. Therefore, registration is mandatory via the following form and is subject to confirmation by the organizers (via email).

Participants who attend at least 70% of the sessions will receive a certificate of attendance.

We look forward to seeing you there!

The second meeting of project ERA-ARE was held in the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto last week, on April 10th and 11th, 2025. 

Highlights include:

• a presentation of the FEUP's team advances by ERA|ARE P.I. Dr. Rita Lado;

• a presentation by Arne Krause, ERA|ARE PhD student working at BfG;

• a seminar by Prof. Thomas Ternes, from BfG.

A huge thank you to the BfG team members for joining us for a very fruitful discussion! A lot of exciting work was planned during this ERA|ARE meeting.

An Open Afternoon was held at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto with the aim of promoting the ERA|ARE project, and showcasing the new laboratory space.

The Open Afternoon was attended by the Dean, the Vice-Dean and a Member of the Executive Board of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, by the Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering, by the Coordinators of the Laboratories ALiCE and LSRE-LCM, by the National Members of the ERA|ARE Advisory Board and many researchers.

A special thank you to everyone who joined us on this Open Afternoon!

Last July 4th, Dr. Ana Rita Lado Ribeiro was an invited speaker on the Portuguese Science Summit, Ciência 2024. In a plenary session moderated by Alexandre Quintanilha (i3S), several researchers debated the idea of “One Health”.  Dr. Célia Manaia (School of Biotechnology - Universidade Católica Portuguesa), member of the ERA-ARE Advisory Board, was also a pannelist.  

More information can be found on the following link.

ERA-ARE team is proud to announce that Dr. Ana Gorito won the Award “Fundação Eng. António de Almeida”, which aims to reward the best dissertation of the Doctoral Program in Chemical and Biological Engineering, Environmental Engineering, or Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, completed in the calendar year 2022 in the Faculty of Engineering of University of Porto. Dr. Ana Gorito got her doctoral degree in Environmental Engineering, with a dissertation entitled “Micropollutants in aquaculture: constructed wetlands and advanced oxidation technologies as prospective treatments”. The Award was delivered during the Doctoral Conferment Ceremony that took place on 19 April 2024.

Congratulations Ana!

Project ERA|ARE now has a LinkedIn page, in which scientific articles, presentations and participations in conferences will be shared. You can now follow the project's updates here !

The first Supervisory Board meeting of project ERA-ARE was held in the faculty of engineering of university of Porto between 19th and 20th February 2024. 

A huge thank you to the Advisory Board members for joining us during two days for a very fruitful discussion! It was an amazing opportunity to share experiences and knowledge that are valuable to our team, but also for all researchers that joined the seminars organized under the framework of the project.

Prof. Thomas Ternes (10h) - Monitoring in future: Multi-method approach to identify environmental pollutions

Prof. Maria Elizabeth Tiritan (11h) - Analysis of chiral drugs in complex matrices: method development and applications

Professor Roland Kallenborn (12h) - Chemicals of emerging Arctic concern (CEACs) as indicators for human activities in a changing Arctic