The story of Cátia Feliciano and the Champalimaud Foundation (CF) began when she was still finishing her PhD in Neurobiology at Duke University in Durham, in the United States (USA). With a broad smile, she states that her great passion has always been neuroscience, and that when she heard of the plans to build a large research centre in Lisbon dedicated to this field, returning to Portugal became a possibility.

When Gonçalo Lopes first walked into the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência in 2010 – when it was still hosting Champalimaud Foundation (CF) staff before their new building opened – he felt as though he’d crossed into another world. “There was this sense of adventure”, he recalls. “Everyone was completely absorbed in their experiments, standing on the edge of what was known. They weren’t just studying the brain – they were building the tools to study it”.

João Santinha graduated in Biomedical Engineering from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa during one of the longest economic crises Portugal has ever experienced and it was during this time that he heard about the Champalimaud Foundation (CF) for the first time. In a period when there were few opportunities in his field of study, a position opened up on the Scientific Software team that interested him. “I wasn’t selected,” he says smiling, but he adds proudly, “I was invited to another position a few years later.”

For Leonor Beleza, Rui Costa’s arrival represents an invaluable contribution to the development of the Foundation’s scientific and clinical mission in the fields of cancer and neuroscience. She highlights: “The strategic vision and remarkable career of Professor Rui Costa strengthen our ability to generate knowledge and transform it into real benefits for patients and for society. It is also an investment in the future and in the continuity of our ambition and vision.”

Vânia Conde still remembers her first time at the Champalimaud Foundation (CF): a mix of curiosity, excitement, and a hint of nerves.

A seasoned nurse for over a decade at Instituto Português de Oncologia (IPO), she had grown accustomed to the rhythms of oncology and intensive care, confident in her expertise. Yet, CF, with its impressive architecture and state-of-the-art technology, felt like stepping into a world that was somehow “too polished” for someone who considered herself a straight-talking, no-nonsense girl from Caldas da Rainha.

When Nuno Loureiro was 22, he wrote a letter to his future self – a snapshot of who he hoped to become by 35. How closely would his path, from spacecraft engineering to neuroscience and artificial intelligence (AI), follow the trajectory he had imagined?

Before there was a building by the river, before there were retreats and bustling labs, there was only an idea and a handful of conversations sparked across Lisbon, Boston, and New York.

When Tiago Santos first walked through the glass corridors of the Champalimaud Foundation (CF) in 2014, he already had two years of nursing experience, but none in urology or oncology. “Deep down, one could say I started a new chapter of my career here,” he admits with a wry smile. Indeed, stepping into a nearly empty unit with no reference guides, protocols, or precedents might have made most people run for the hills. But not Tiago. For him, the emptiness was an invitation: a white canvas on which to paint the future of urology nursing at CF.

When I interviewed Albino J. Oliveira-Maia, we spoke about the challenges and lessons that shaped his career. What struck me most was his ability to pursue different things at once and to create the space to keep doing so. By writing this, I hope to share that feeling of courage with others who are now wondering which path to follow.

When Marta Moita first heard whispers of a neuroscience programme taking shape in Lisbon, disbelief was her first reaction. “It just didn’t seem possible,” she recalls. She was a young Principal Investigator (PI) who had returned to Portugal after years abroad, because behavioural neuroscience (her passion) simply didn’t exist here. “So the prospect of not just having a lab, but a whole programme doing circuits and behavioral neuroscience in Lisbon, with people I knew and admired… it was just difficult to assimilate. Was this really happening?”