The researchers from GreenUPorto – Research Center in Sustainable Agrifood Production and from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP), Célia Rocha and Luís Baião, won the awards for Best PhD Thesis 2020 and 2021, respectively, awarded by the Spanish Association of Sensory Analysis Professionals (AEPAS).

Célia Rocha, who is also a professor at FCUP, holds a PhD in Consumption and Nutrition Sciences, a joint course between FCUP and the Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences of the U.Porto. The researcher developed her thesis focused on the evaluation of sensory and emotional profiles and extrinsic characteristics of infusions of premium organic herbs. The study was supervised by the professor of the Department of Geosciences, Environment and Spatial Planning at FCUP, Luís Cunha, also a researcher at GreenUPorto and by researcher Ana Pinto de Moura, from GreenUPorto and Universidade Aberta.

The work of Luís Baião, PhD in Animal Science, by the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), under the SANFEED Program, focused on the sensory analysis and nutrition of the sea urchin, with the objective of understanding the perception and to improve a diet that increases the size and quality of the sea urchin’s gonads. The researcher was also supervised by Luís Cunha and Luísa Valente, professor at ICBAS and researcher at the Interdisciplinary Center for Marine and Environmental Research.

Both theses were supported through individual Doctoral Scholarships in Companies, financed by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia and the company Sense Test, and the experimental works were supported by the projects Infusion Premium (project in co-promotion, 38921) and Caviar (project Fundo Azul, FA_05_2017_015), respectively.

AEPAS is the Spanish scientific society that, since 2011, brings together efforts to disseminate and promote knowledge around Consumer Sciences and Sensory Analysis, being an integral member of the European Sensory Science Society (E3S). Resuming its activities, with the holding of the IV AEPAS Congress, which took place from June 6 to 8, 2022, in Logroño, Spain, this institution marks the passage of more than 10 years of existence, having created the I Prize for Doctoral Thesis , having retroactively awarded the prizes for the best theses defended in the years 2017 to 2021.

A diploma was awarded to the winners during the IV AEPAS Congress and a cash prize of 1,000 Euros was awarded.