Helena Alves obtained her PhD in 2004, from Lisbon Technical University, Portugal, on organic semiconductors, metals and superconductors. After two years as a post-doc at the Institute of Telecomunications, she moved to Delft University of Technology, in the Netherlands, for two years as a guest researcher, always working in photonic applications. She returned to Portugal, to INESC MN, as senior researcher starting a group in organic devices and wearable electrodes. In 2015, she moved to CICECO, University of Aveiro, as principal researcher with a development grant within the program Investigador FCT, where she created a new line of research, focusing in strengthen industrial collaborations. She returned to INESC MNM team since 2022 and her main current interests arise in new materials and process for carbon-based devices for health and energy applications.