(Chemical) Bonding is what makes life possible

Vanessa Otero is a Junior Researcher at LAQV-REQUIMTE R&D unit and the Department of Conservation and Restoration of the NOVA School of Science and Technology (DCR NOVA FCT), with a PhD in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage (specialisation in Conservation Science) obtained in 2018. She has secured funding for her research through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, raising >500k by winning a contract in the 2020 Call to Scientific Employment Stimulus (3rd place) and projects as principal investigator and co-coordinator. She is also the PI responsible for the research collaboration between the DCR NOVA FCT and the international company Winsor & Newton COLART Ltd.
Her research crosses the disciplinary boundaries of technical art history and conservation science, aiming to increase knowledge on artists' materials by combining the study of their historical production, colour stability and analytical characterisation, and ultimately adding to better conservation and authentication procedures. As an output of her research, she is a specialist in the authentication of artworks by the Portuguese painter Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso.
The impact of her research is reflected in an h-index of 18 with 29 papers in peer-reviewed journals and >2000 citations, and worldwide dissemination at scientific conferences with 76 communications.