About

Paula Nabais, won a project for a Junior Researcher contract in the 2021 highly competitive Call to Scientific Employment Stimulus promoted by FCT, at LAQV@REQUIMTE, the Portuguese Research Centre for Sustainable Chemistry (Cultural Heritage thematic line). She is a heritage scientist with expertise in the study of organic colorants and the use of analytical techniques for the characterization of artworks. Her incredibly interdisciplinary background is crucial to the project, uniting arts, history and sciences for the discovery of historical formulations to be (re)invented in modern applications.

She has been instrumental in the success of several national and international projects, proving her great team leadership and project management skills. In 2018 she became one of the co-coordinators of FCT funded project Polyphenols in Art (PTDC/QUI-OUT/29925/2017), won in a competitive call. She was the Co-PI of the task for the characterization of yellow dyes present in manuscripts, painting and textiles, using historical sources, for their identification and preservation in artworks. This task was incredibly successful leading to the publication of 4 articles and 1 PhD thesis. Other examples include FCT funded project STEMMA (PTDC/LLT-EGL/30984/2017), and international projects I.M.A.N. (HAR2016-77482-R), Vienna Genesis (FWF Austrian Science Fund), where she became a specialist in the study of organic colorants.

More recently, in 2020 she was invited to participate in a COST Action that aims to rewrite the history of Europe through textiles (EuroWeb), being selected to integrate the Portuguese management committee, managing the entire Portuguese team and funding, while also becoming the Vice-Leader for Working Group 2 “Clothing Identities”. This still on-going roll has proven highly rewarding, with the organization of 2 international conferences, gathering artists, historians, archeologists and heritage scientists, fostering new projects for the conservation of textiles.

Finally, she is the principal coordinator for project REVIVE: The threads of the past weaving the future: The colors from the Royal Textile Factory of Covilhã, 1764-1850 (2022.01243.PTDC), funded by FCT in 2022. This project intends to clarify the production and dyeing processes used in the Royal Textile Factory from Covilhã, while inspiring creations of future designs fueled by ancient artistic practices.