Sofia Serra owns a PhD and master's degree from the University of Sheffield (UK) in music psychology, a master's degree from
the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London) and a singing performative degree from the Escola Superior de Música e Artes
do Espectáculo (ESMAE) in Porto. She is a teacher and coordinator of the master’s degree in Music Education, Post-graduation
in Sacred Music and coordinates the advanced, continuous and specialized training at Escola das Artes - Universidade Católica
Portuguesa. She is a researcher at the Center for Research in Science and Technology of the Arts (CITAR) in the areas of Performance
and Music Psychology (Performance Anxiety, Teacher-Student Relationship, Adult Attachment and Music Education). She supervises
PhD thesis at University of São José in Macau and also taught at the Lisbon Superior School of Music. Sofia Serra performed
in opera, oratorio, solo recital, including BBC Proms Festival, BBC Radio 3. She won the 2nd Prize in Tracy Chadwell Competition
(London) and the 2nd Young Entrepreneurs XXI Prize in a cultural project of Opera in SM Feira, Portugal.
Sofia Serra develops research at a Project on Music Performance Anxiety (MPA):
This team of researchers has an interdisciplinary profile with a vibrant mix of professionals at various levels, namely senior
and junior researchers, with different backgrounds (Psychology, Music, and Neurosciences) and have already built a strong
track record in terms of the design and implementation of scientific activities together.
There is a consistent work underlying this group in the preceding years. Our pursuit of the joint research interests related
to Psychology of Music has led to the achievement of: 1. A significant number of national collaborations. Researchers of this
group have been working closely with public and private music conservatories, music teachers’ education, and social integration
through music initiatives. 2. A broad international collaboration network. We have strong bonds with international experts
with renowned international merit, which represents an added bonus. For instance, Gary McPherson, a multi-faceted music professional,
and a distinguished researcher, who has published over 200 publications and books, and Dianna Kenny, an international authority
in Music Performance Anxiety and has authored and co-authored over 350 publications in the field of music and music psychology.
3. An expressive number of academic supervisions on MPA. In terms of human resources training, we are very satisfied with
the results so far. One ongoing Ph.D. study; six completed masters’ dissertations; dissemination and publication. 4. The development
of specialized training workshops and seminars for professionals in this field. There is also a remarkable record of training
initiatives related to this field within the group. The research team has already planned and delivered recurrent training
sessions targeting professionals such as teachers of music and musicians. The target public of these events are music teachers,
musicians, conservatoire directors, researchers, political entities. The group’s diverse expertise, knowledge accumulation,
complementarity of the researchers, and previous excellent experience working together is a golden opportunity to implement
a more substantial research agenda with a very high relevance both on a scientific and societal significance.