João joined GDN as a Program Associate of the Doing Research initiative and in January 2021 was promoted to Senior Program Manager for the Global Development Awards Competition. He continues to provide support on the planning, implementation, and documentation of the Doing Research initiative. Based in Braga, Portugal, João is a Master in Biomedical Engineering with a specialization in Translational Medicine. Prior to joining GDN, João was a Scientific Officer at the European Research Council (European Commission) where he managed, supported the evaluation and did the scientific and financial monitoring/assessment of million euro grants. João previously worked in youth and academic mobility (within the Erasmus+ program) as President of the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) Portugal and Liaison Officer of ESN International towards ESU and the LLLP, as well as a member of the Expert Group of the European Youth Forum on ‘Erasmus+ and funding of youth organizations’ having acted as Evaluator for the EC on calls related to Higher Education, youth, and non-formal education topics.