Isabel Vasconcelos graduated in Chemical Engineering at the University of Porto, Portugal and got her M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Biotechnology, option Microbiology, from the Institut National des Sciences Apliquées de Toulouse, France.
She is Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, Global Education and Pedagogical Innovation at Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP). Previously, she was the Dean of the Faculty of Biotechnology (2009-2011 and 2013-2020) at UCP. Currently she holds an appointment as Associate Professor at the Faculty of Biotechnology – UCP and belongs to the research team of the Associate Laboratory - CBQF. She was the Director of the BSc Degree on Microbiology (1997-1998) and member of the Board of the Faculty of Biotechnology since 1998.
She teaches subjects in the areas of bioprocesses and industrial microbiology. Her research interests include microbial physiology and development of biological processes. She coordinated and participated in several externally funded national and European research projects in the field of industrial biotechnology and supervised several externally funded research fellowships, including successfully concluded PhD theses and MSc theses.