Rui Galhano dos Santos

Rui Galhano dos Santos
Centre for Natural Resources and Environment (CERENA)
IST - Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal

Biography

Dr. Rui Galhano dos Santos finished his studies in Chemistry Degree at the University of Lisbon – Faculty of Sciences (Lisbon, Portugal) in 2006. In his two last years as a student of the Chemistry Degree, he was allowed to initiate his training as a researcher in the Carbohydrate research group of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Center at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Lisbon – Faculty of Sciences. Afterward, he got a grant from the Science and Technology Foundation to carry out his Ph.D. project entitled “The first synthesis of glycosylflavanones catalyzed by praseodymium triflate: a straightforward approach to potential antidiabetic agents” in the same research group. During this period, he was also awarded three grants for his research in Bioadhesives and Biomass Liquefaction in the Instituto Superior Técnico at Technical University of Lisbon (Lisbon, Portugal). Finally, he obtained the doctorate on January 2013, with the maximum qualification: Excellent “Magna Cum Laude”. He has published many articles in scientifically reputable journals and presented around 20 oral/invited communications in international scientific recognized symposia around the world, as well as more than 30 communication as a poster. He is also co-inventor in 4 patents. Presently, his studies are mainly focused and involve the studies and development of new strategies to up-cycle biomass for the production of added-valuable chemicals and/or goods as well as for the productions fo bio-fuels. Besides his exceptional knowledge of biomass liquefaction, organic synthesis, and carbohydrate chemistry, he has a scientific background in polymer chemistry, extraction, and separation of natural compounds, chemical structure elucidation, 1D and 2D – NMR, green chemistry, scale-up of chemical processes, biorefineries. In early 2016, Dr. Galhno dos Santos become a permanent member of CERENA-Centre for Natural Resources and the Environment where he is working in the Organic Synthesis and Raw Materials Processing Group.