Joana Sofia Rosado Martins completed in 2023 the Integrated Master's degree in Chemical Engineering with a specialization in Biosystems at the Faculty of Science and Technology of University of Coimbra. Her master's dissertation was carried out in the Biomark@UC research group from the Chemical Engineering department under the theme of photonic protein-based hydrogels for sensing microRNAs in extracellular vesicles. At the time of this work, she had the opportunity to join the MindGAP project, where she learned more about detection of microRNAs by using biomaterials such as protein hydrogels, in combination with polymerized nanoparticle-derived photonic crystals, to obtain an optical transduction biosensor. Additionally, she joined the CY-Sensors project where she contributed to the development of biosensing biomaterials that can be used for detection of cyanobacterial metabolites. Her involvement in these projects has given her the opportunity to present her research at conferences. She presented her work at the 9th Iberian Meeting on Colloids and Interfaces (RICI9) in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, under the theme photonic protein-based hydrogels for sensing applications (book of abstracts p.34). She presented a poster communication at the I International Meeting Molecules 4 Life in Vila Real, Portugal, entitled protein-based photonic hydrogels for sensing microRNAs, where she was awarded the best poster communication in Molecules4 Sensing and Diagnostic section (book of abstracts p.114). She also presented a poster communication at the SupraLife Final International Conference “SupramolecularMultifunctional Biomaterials” in Aveiro, Portugal, entitled living photonic hydrogels for detecting antimicrobial resistance (book of abstracts p.123). She had the opportunity to participate in a bilateral cooperation project Portugal-Germany (FCT funded) to develop photonic hydrogels to detect extracellular vesicles of neuronal origin. She attended and was an assistant of the organizing committee at the 35th Anniversary World Congress on Biosensors, Lisbon, Portugal. Currently, she is a PhD student in Chemical Engineering at the University of Coimbra, focusing on the development of smart hydrogels for live cell-based sensing devices. Throughout her journey, she had the opportunity to discover her interest in fields such as nanotechnology, bioengineering, biosensors, polymers, and the development of biomaterials and she hopes to continue exploring and learning more about these areas of study.