Rui Sousa

As a Senior Consultant, Rui has developed national (Portugal, Denmark, Norway) and European projects in diverse fields such as drug development, biotechnology, quantum software and hardware, and artificial intelligence. Since joining Innovayt, he has contributed on proposals across various funding schemes, including Horizon Europe (RIA, IA, CSA, MSCA Doctoral Networks, MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, ERC, EIC Pathfinder, EIC Accelerator), Norwegian programmes (Innovasjonsprosjekt i næringslivet, Forskerprosjekt for tidlig karriere, Sentre for forskningsdrevet innovasjon, Forskningssentre for miljøvennlig energi), Danish programmes (Innobooster, Grand Solutions), and Eureka Eurostars. Rui also provides training for companies on proposal development and EIC Accelerator interview preparation and participates in project ideation and strategic discussions across multiple fields.

Rui holds a PhD in Computational Biochemistry from Université de Nantes (France), and both an MSc and BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Porto (Portugal). During his academic and professional career, he specialized in computational drug discovery, with a focus on QM/MM and molecular dynamics methodologies applied to enzyme studies and innovative drug targeting. Rui has co-authored scientific publications, developed data analysis tools, and collaborated with multidisciplinary teams in biology and chemistry. Prior to joining Innovayt, he played a pivotal role in R&D grant writing and project development, helping several companies and universities in Portugal secure funding.