I am an evolutionary biologist fascinated by understanding adaptation and speciation, and in particular, the role played by chromosomal rearrangements (CRs) in these evolutionary processes. Since my PhD (completed in 2007), I have been studying this topic in multiple systems at various institutions (CIBIO, Portugal; Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Spain; and School of Biosciences of U. Sheffield, UK). Particularly, the work I developed within the framework of a Marie Curie fellowship (2016-2018) about the role of inversions in adaptation and speciation in Littorina opened many new avenues of research with significant findings for the field of evolutionary biology. After my return to CIBIO-BIOPOLIS in 2019, I have been working independently as Associate Researcher (CEEC-FCT) in EVOLGEN studying these evolutionary processes across different study systems with emphasis in marine organisms and in particular snail's species of the genus Littorina. The last 5 years have been the most prolific of my career in terms of publication and impact. Until today, I published a total of 68 scientific works, most in the scope of this proposal: 5 book chapters, 2 special issues (as guest editor) and 61 manuscripts in international peer-reviewed journals, including Mol Ecol (6), Trends Genet (3), Trends Ecol Evol (3), Mol Biol Evol (1), Evol Lett (3), Evolution (1), Science Advances (1) and Nature (1); and I have 6 additional manuscripts currently submitted. This resulted in a h-index of 23 and ~3180 citations, with an increasing trend in number of publications and citations. I am first or last author in nearly half of these publications, highlighting my scientific independence. I have been successful in granting my own research funding, including three fellowships (1 PhD and 2 postdocs by FCT), a Marie Curie IF fellowship, as well as a CEEC contract (Auxiliary Researcher) also funded FCT (total of ~600k euros). I was awarded 3 main research grants as PI (2 in Portugal and 1 in Germany; ~500k euros) and 3 as co-PI (in Portugal, Germany and UK; ~300k euros), besides other smaller projects (1 by EEA grants, 4 by ASSEMBLE and 1 by DAAD-FCT), as well as funding for the organization of conferences and courses (>66k euros). Moreover, I am a key partner in six other research projects that are currently ongoing at CIBIO, Spain (U. Vigo) and in France (U. Montpellier and Roscoff- U. Sorbonne). I acquired experience teaching Biology undergraduate students and in a MSc program at the U. of Porto, in an international course in Bioinformatics (U. Leipzig and Free U. Berlin), and in an international PhD program at the U. of Cabo Verde. I am currently Invited Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the U. of Porto. I serve as Associate editor in Heredity since 2019 and I have been reviewing manuscripts for many scientific journals (including PNAS, Nat Com, Nat Ecol Evol, Trends Ecol Evol, etc.); and research projects for several research funding agencies including EU-ERC starting grants. I have a vast experience in supervision, currently leading a team composed by 2 postdocs, 2 PhD students and 2 technicians. I presented my work in many relevant conferences, courses and seminars in the field (>50 posters and in >30 communications, several as invited speaker). I organized several international and national conferences, and created and co-organized an internationally successful summer course on programming for evolutionary. I was one of the main organizers of regular weekly seminars at CIBIO and at the U. Sheffield; I organized one of the biannual Littorina meetings and I manage a google groups of "Littorina" researchers, I serve as vice-president of the Portuguese Association for Evolutionary Biology and I participated in different outreach initiatives. Altogether, I reached a career stage where I am prepared to lead a research group, which will help me to attain a tenured research position.