Elvira Maria Correia Fortunato (born 22 July 1964) is a Portuguese scientist and minister of science and technology. She is a professor in the Department of Materials Science at the NOVA School of Science and Technology and vice-rector of the NOVA University Lisbon. Fortunato is an innovator in the field of paper

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

, including

transistor upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch ...

s, memories, sensors, batteries,

displays A display device is an output device for presentation of information in visual or tactile form (the latter used for example in tactile electronic displays for blind people). When the input information that is supplied has an electrical signal the ...

, antennas, and

solar cell A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

s. In 2022, Fortunato was appointed Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education in the

XXIII Constitutional Government of Portugal The XXIII Constitutional Government of Portugal ( pt, XXIII Governo Constitucional de Portugal) is the current cabinet of the Portuguese government, the 23rd since the establishment of the current constitution. It was established on 30 Marc ...

as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, succeeding Manuel Heitor.

Early life

Fortunato was born in

Almada Almada () is a city and a municipality in Portugal, located on the southern margin of the Tagus River, on the opposite side of the river from Lisbon. The two cities are connected by the 25 de Abril Bridge. The population in 2011 was 174,030, in a ...

, and received her degree in Materials Science and

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

in 1987 from the NOVA School of Science and Technology and continued her graduate studies at the same university. In 1991 Fortunato received her master's degree in Semiconductor Materials and in 1995 her Ph.D. in

Microelectronics Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests, microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture (or microfabrication) of very small electronic designs and components. Usually, but not always, this means micrometre-s ...

and

Optoelectronics Optoelectronics (or optronics) is the study and application of electronic devices and systems that find, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, ''light'' often includes invisible forms of radiat ...

. In 2005 she obtained her habilitation in the same field.

Career

Fortunato joined the faculty at the NOVA School of Science and Technology in 1995, and became director of the Institute of Nanostructures, Nanomodeling, and Nanofabrication in 1998. She led a research team achieved acclaim for inventing the paper transistor in 2008. Fortunato is an elected member of Academy of Engineering, European Academy of Sciences,

Lisbon Academy of Sciences The Lisbon Academy of Sciences ( pt, Academia das Ciências de Lisboa) is Portugal's national academy dedicated to the advancement of sciences and learning, with the goal of promoting academic progress and prosperity in Portugal. It is one of Po ...

, and

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...

. She is Associate Editor of ''Rapid Research Letters Physica Status Solidi'', Co-Editor of ''

Europhysics Letters ''EPL'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by EDP Sciences, IOP Publishing and the Italian Physical Society on behalf of the European Physical Society and 17 other European physical societies. Prior to 1 January 2007 it was known a ...

'', and an Editorial Advisory Board Member of '' ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces''. She has been the vice-rector of NOVA University Lisbon since 2017, and is in charge of coordinating the university's research. In 2022, she was part of the group of 27 inspiring women from Europe, elected by the current French Presidency of the European Union. In March 2022 she joined the Government of the Portuguese Republic as Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education.

Research

Fortunato's research focuses on exploring new electronic active materials that are environmentally friendly and compatible with

flexible electronics Flexible electronics, also known as ''flex circuits'', is a technology for assembling electronic circuits by mounting electronic devices on flexible plastic substrates, such as polyimide, PEEK or transparent conductive polyester film. Additi ...

. This led to the invention of the first paper transistor in 2008, which used paper, a low-cost and flexible biopolymer, as the insulator layer (gate dielectric) of a thin-film transistor, replacing the commonly used silicon. She pioneered European research on transparent electronics, namely

thin-film transistor A thin-film transistor (TFT) is a special type of field-effect transistor (FET) where the transistor is thin relative to the plane of the device. TFTs are grown on a supporting (but non-conducting) substrate. A common substrate is glass, becaus ...

s based on oxide

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way. ...

s, demonstrating that oxide materials can be used as true semiconductors. Fortunato's paper electronics technology has applications that include

biosensor A biosensor is an analytical device, used for the detection of a chemical substance, that combines a biological component with a physicochemical detector. The ''sensitive biological element'', e.g. tissue, microorganisms, organelles, cell rece ...

s, radiofrequency identification ( RFID) tags in shipping, and product inventory management

Honors and awards

Fortunato has received national and international awards for her work. In 2005 she received the prize for Scientific Excellence from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. In 2009, she was cited by the Portuguese Parliament for her research. In 2010, she was awarded membership in the Order of Prince Henry by then-Portuguese President Aníbal Cavaco Silva. In 2015, she was President of

Portugal Day ) , type = National holiday , longtype = National Day , image = EstatuaCamoesLisboa.JPG , caption = Monument to Luís de Camões in Lisbon, Portugal (May 2005) , official_name = ''Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comu ...

. In 2016 she was awarded the Blaise Pascal Medal in materials science by the European Academy of Sciences and in 2017, the Czochralski award in recognition of her research work in the area of Advanced Materials Science. In 2018, she received a European Research Council grant worth €3.5 million, the largest grant ever awarded to a Portuguese researcher at the time of the award. She was the recipient of the 2020 Pessoa Prize, recognized as the most important award of the Portuguese culture.

National orders

PRT Order of Prince Henry - Grand Officer BAR

Grand Officer of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator (8 June 2010)

References

External links

Elvira Fortunato profile at FCT-UNL

Elvira's Fortunato group

Advanced Science News: Elvira Fortunato and Rodrigo Martins named European Inventor Award 2016 finalists

Paper electronics: a sustainable multifunctional platform
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortunato, Elvira 1964 births Living people Members of Academia Europaea People from Almada Portuguese physicists Members of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences Portuguese women scientists NOVA University Lisbon alumni Academic staff of NOVA University Lisbon Materials scientists and engineers Portuguese inventors Grand Officers of the Order of Prince Henry Women government ministers of Portugal