Maria Barbosa

Dr. Maria Barbosa serves as Professor in Bioprocess Engineering and Director of AlgaePARC at Wageningen University & Research, where she leads groundbreaking research in microalgal biotechnology. After completing her MSc in Food Engineering at the Catholic University of Porto and PhD in Bioprocess Engineering at Wageningen University in 2003, she has built an impressive career spanning positions at ETH Zurich and EMBO Germany. As Director of AlgaePARC and Research Manager of microalgae biotechnology, she oversees research programs bridging fundamental science with commercial applications. Her work has garnered significant attention, with her publications receiving over 13,000 citations, including highly influential papers in Science and other prestigious journals. She has successfully coordinated large European projects on microalgae applications, with total budgets exceeding 18M€. Her research focuses on microalgae cultivation, biorefinery, and the translation of fundamental research to applied settings. As former president of the Dutch Biotechnology Association (NBV) and a leading figure in the field, she continues to advance microalgal biotechnology through strain improvement, process development, and scale-up strategies. Her vision of developing sustainable production chains for food, feed, chemistry, and energy from microalgae has positioned her as a key innovator in the transition toward a sustainable bioeconomy.