Vítor Cardoso, a full professor and a researcher at Instituto Superior Técnico, now joins personalities such as António Guterres, Gonçalo Tavares, and Maria de Sousa, who have also been honoured with the Universidade de Lisboa Award in the past.
‘This award is especially important to me’, shares Vítor Cardoso. ‘Because of the list of previous winners, whose contributions are extraordinary’ and “because it’s the highest honour conferred by Universidade de Lisboa”, he adds. However, he highlights the most important point – “this award carries an extraordinary message: let’s use our effort, talent and energy to build something distinguished, calmly and with dedication”. ‘I feel extremely happy because it’s a recognition of my School, and sometimes it feels good to see that our work is appreciated or has an impact because maybe it means that you’re changing lives or doing something well’, he concludes.
According to Universidade de Lisboa, the selection criteria for this award are ‘outstanding contribution to the progress of science and the country’s international projection, taking into account the quality of the publications, the rigour and originality of the work, the awards and distinctions received and the positions held’ by the candidates.
Vítor Cardoso is also a researcher at the Center for Astrophysics and Gravitation (CENTRA) and the Danish Niels Bohr Institute. He will run the Center of Gravity, a new Center of Excellence in Denmark, with associated funding of eight million euros that will combine cutting-edge research into black holes and quantum aspects of gravity, based on recent observations of gravitational waves.
In 2022, he received a two million euro grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to study black holes, about a year after he obtained another grant from the Danish Villum Fondon Foundation, worth 5.3 million euros, to create and lead the research group he is currently part of at the Niels Bohr Institute. In the current year, he published an ‘instruction manual’ for entering black holes, which was presented at Técnico.
