Elvira Fortunato, Vice-Chancellor of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and a full Professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology, was distinguished with the Pessoa Prize, the highest award in Portugal to the personality of the areas of Science, Arts or Culture whose work has stood out most in 2020.

A few months earlier, Elvira Fortunato had already been granted the prestigious EU Horizon Impact Award 2020 for her groundbreaking research in the fields of transparent electronics and paper electronics.

Elvira’s work on paper electronics led to the discovery that, when soaked in metal oxides, paper becomes an electrical conductor and can be used in solar panels, batteries and transistors, with endless applications in daily life such as electronic sensors embedded in simple packaging that accurately monitor the state of conservation of the products to updatable images and copy on a printed page.

In the field transparent electronics, she developed the first fully transparent screen and participated in the creation of portable, light and flexible photovoltaic panels in thin films, which can be applied to any electronic device, such as a mobile phone, tablet or laptop, and also on the roof of a car, sun hat, backpack or clothing.