In 2002, I completed my diploma in Chemical Engineering and secured a research fellowship to collaborate with Prof. Miguel Teixeira and Dr. Manuela Pereira at the Metalloproteins and Bioenergetics Unit, ITQB, Portugal, focusing on membrane metalloproteins. This opportunity led to an additional fellowship in 2006 for a PhD program at the same unit, where I concentrated on the biochemical, thermodynamic, and phylogenetic characterization of various complexes from non-model organisms, particularly members of the heme-copper oxygen reductases family (HCO, complex IV). This phase broadened my expertise from Chemical Engineering to encompass biological training in bioenergetics, membrane protein purification and chemistry, protein structure, and evolution. During my time at ITQB, I enhanced my skills through two one-month research visits at the Max-Planck-Institut für Biophysik, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, to learn membrane protein crystallization techniques. Additionally, I completed a six-month research training program at the Computational Genomics Laboratory of the Gulbenkian Institute, Oeiras, Portugal, under Dr. José Pereira-Leal's guidance. There, I acquired programming skills and developed a sequence-based automatic classification web-tool for heme-copper oxygen reductases, contributing to understanding the evolution of this protein family. In 2011, after completing my PhD, I pursued further training in Bioinformatics by securing a highly competitive 6-year (3+3) postdoctoral fellowship from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT). I conducted research at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK, under Dr. Sarah Teichmann's supervision, focusing on the structure and evolution of the LacI/GalR family of transcription factors. Despite initially planning to return to Portugal, my interest in evolutionary genome comparisons led me to accept a postdoctoral position at the Institute of Molecular Evolution, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, with Prof. William Martin in 2012. Over four years, I conducted bioinformatics research on various aspects of microbial evolution, resulting in significant publications, including contributions to prestigious journals. In 2015, I successfully obtained the WWTF Vienna Research Group for Young Researchers Program, relocating to the University of Vienna. There, I established the Genome Evolution and Ecology group, focusing on microbial diversity, evolution, and innovations. My leadership strengths include mentoring abilities, diverse teaching experience, and a commitment to fostering teamwork and personal motivation for scientific growth. In 2019 I successfully obtained an ERC Sarting Grant that allowed me to strengthen my research in terms of the combined evolution of Life (metabolism) and Earth, from it's origins till nowadays. Currently, my research revolves around the diversity of microorganisms, their evolution, and innovations, with a focus on genomic comparisons and the development of bioinformatics tools to understand sequence-function relationships. I aim to integrate different scientific disciplines to unravel the full picture of microbial physiological evolution, aligning with my core "hearth" as a chemist. My academic contributions include over 50 research articles and one book chapter, with several publications in high-impact journals (Nature, Science, Nature Microbiology, ISMEJ etc). I have served on editorial and referee boards for several prestigious journals and delivered over 30 invited presentations at various international conferences and workshops. Awards and recognitions include the ERC Starting Grant, WWTF Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators Program and postdoctoral and PhD stipends from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia.