CIUHCT researcher wins Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant to investigate three pioneers of plant pathology in Portugal

João P.R. Joaquim was in the middle of his PhD on the history of plant virology when he came across a new clue in the archives of the University of Cambridge, at the United Kingdom. In front of him there was correspondence exchanged between British researchers and Maria de Lourdes d'Oliveira and Maria de Lourdes Borges. A few years earlier, I had already found references to the two researchers who combined scientific competence with the fact that they work in a world dominated by men. The theme was set – but the work plan of the researcher from the Interuniversity Centre for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT) was only defined with the inclusion of Mathilde Bensaúde in the subject of study. The historian's intuition paid off: in early March, João P.R. Joaquim received the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Felloship to investigate the history of the three scientists, after submitting an application with the support of the association FCiências.ID.

“This research focuses on scientific work, but we must not lose sight of the social and political context in which these three Portuguese female researchers lived,” tells João Joaquim. “During the first half of the twentieth century, it was uncommon to find women leading scientific research into plant diseases, just as it was uncommon to find such female leadership in other fields of study. In the United Kingdom, there were a few, but nowhere near half of the teams. In Portugal, these three women, besides standing out from the male majority, were among the main scientific references in this field over three generations,” adds the young historian.

With the award of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship, which is funded by the European Commission, João Joaquim will now have two years to produce the historiography associated with the three pioneering scientists. The project is now known as INTERLEAVING. Ana Duarte Rodrigues, coordinator of the CIUHCT branch at Ciências ULisboa, does not hide her delight at working once again with a former student.

“It is rare for us to have among us PhDs in History of Science from the University of Cambridge, so this fact alone opens up countless possibilities for our working group. João applied for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship, with his doctorate completed just over a year ago, but already has all the conditions and CV to apply for an ERC-Starting grant (of the European Research Council or ERC). It is on this path that I wish to support him as his supervisor for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant,” says the CIUHCT coordinator.“

Speaking remotely from the University of Cambridge, the Portuguese researcher states that he expects to begin the work that earned him the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant between the end of 2026 and the beginning of 2027. “

By following the careers of these three scientists, we are able to study almost the entire history of scientific research in the field of plant pathology in the twentieth-century in Portugal,” João Joaquim emphasises.

With the awarding of the grant, there also arises the expectation of filling some gaps in national historiography. Ana Duarte Rodrigues notes that “the topic of women in science in Portugal remains little explored,” despite having “an impact on the social history of science by addressing gender issues during the Estado Novo dictatorship.”

“This research by João Joaquim has the potential to have a huge impact on historiography because it will internationalise the issue by investigating these women who went abroad to study or intern and what they learned there, who they learned from, which colleagues they had, what they brought back and what they managed to do when they returned to Portugal,” recalls the coordinator of the CIUHCT at Ciências ULisboa.

“On the other hand, this research aims to advance with an in-depth understanding of the experiences that the three female researchers had with viruses through close contact with colleagues from the biology department at Ciências ULisboa, with whom João has already established contact,” adds Ana Duarte Rodrigues.
Mathilde Bensaúde lived between 1890 and 1969 and had an academic career that included periods in Switzerland, France and the United States of America. She was the daughter of Alfredo Bensaúde, founder and first director of the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST). And her pioneering work gained international recognition.

Maria de Lourdes d’Oliveira was born in 1904 and died in 1980. She abandoned her medical career to dedicate herself to phytopathological research and to pursue a career at the National Agronomic Station. Her research would also lead her to spend some time in the United Kingdom.
Maria de Lourdes Borges was born in 1916 and studied biology at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, where she would later teach alongside the Instituto Superior de Agronomia (Higher Institute of Agronomy). She spent time in Germany and the United Kingdom and worked with Maria de Lourdes d’Oliveira at the Estação Agronómica Nacional - EAN (National Agricultural Station).

João Joaquim foresees that the study of the careers of the three scientists may create the necessary conditions for the publication of scientific articles, exhibitions, and other outreach initiatives. “As a historian, I may have expectations about how this work will end, but only when the research is completed will I be able to reveal all the details of the path that was taken!” concludes the CIUCHT researcher.