Carlos M. Costa received the Ph.D. in Physics from the Science School of the University of Minho in 2014. Currently, he is Assistant Researcher at the Center of Physics of same University. His work is mainly focused on the development of functional and smart materials, often in the form of thin films and/or coatings, for advanced applications, i.e, sensor and actuator, thermoelectric, energy storage (battery systems, supercapacitors) applications. The latter include lithium-ion batteries, Na-batteries, micro-batteries and printed batteries, among others. In the specific area of advanced smart materials for sensor and actuator applications, work is being focused on the scope of the digital and sustainability transitions, as well as on the in-depth understanding of the electrical and electroactive response of materials, among others. In the case of thin films and coatings, materials by combining different thin films (Py/Pt, Co2FeAl) and coated polymers and hybrid materials have been developed mainly on flexible substrates for a variety of applications. He has strong international collaborations with Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), South Korea; CIC Energigune and BCMaterials, Spain; Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur (IITJ); University of Aveiro, among several other leading institutions worldwide. Further, Carlos Costa has international experience by research stays in “La Sapienza” University of Rome, UNIST, IITJ and BCMaterials. During the scientific path, he has published over 246 papers in high ranked leading journals (124 in the last 5 years), including Progress in Polymer Science, Chemical Reviews, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Advanced Energy Materials, Nature Protocols, Energy Storage Materials and ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, with a h-index of 53 and 10177 citations. Further, one patent and more than 36 oral presentation and 30 posters were presented in international and national conferences showing the excellence and relevance of his works. It is to highlight that over 7 papers have more than 50 citations and 3 papers have more than 100 citations. He is Reviewer in several journals such as ACS Applied Energy Materials, Advanced Materials, ACS Applied Nano Materials, ACS Applied Polymer Materials, Applied Physics Letters, Applied Physics, Journal of Materials Research and Technology, Journal of Materials Science, Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, among others. He is Young Advisory Board Members of EcoMat, Early Career Researcher Committee of Energy & Environmental Materials and Editorial Board Member of Nanomaterials, Energies, International Journal of Molecular Sciences and Discover Nano. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, he has been in the list of the 2% more cited scientists in the University of Stanford ranking and in 2022, he received the Award of “Reconhecimento pelo Impacto da Investigação Científica” from the School of Sciences of the University of Minho. He is co-editor of three books, one on printed batteries, one on multifunctional materials and one on sustainable energy systems and has published more than 19 book chapters. He is the principal researcher of several scientific projects obtained in competitive funding: PTDC/FIS-MAC/28157/2017, related to printed batteries; 2022.03931.PTDC, related to 3D printed batteries; and MIT-EXPL/TDI/0033/2021 about interface engineering for batteries. Also, he is the researcher on a scientific project, 2022.03781.PTDC about the piezoelectric materials. Finally, he is also the main researcher at the University of Minho of a European Mobility project H2020-MSCA-RISE-2017. Further, he is also one of the leading researchers in the recently approved Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência project NGS – New Generation Storage, N.º 02/C05-i01/2022. All those projects represent an overall budget for the University of Minho above € 2 millions.