Short Personal Interview

 

Tomás Alves was born in 1994, in Lisbon Portugal. He is an  INESC-ID Researcher and PhD Student since 2017, integrating the Scientific Area Graphics and Interaction (GI).

 

How did you get to INESC-ID?

I applied and was selected to be part of the GameCourse project (PTDC/CCI-CIF/30754/2017).

 

INESC-ID is…

one of the strongest research institutions in Portugal.

 

Research project(s) under development

My PhD topic focuses on developing personality-aware information visualization systems to improve user interaction and decision making.

How would you explain in the most accessible and least technical language possible, what is the application / expected results of this (these) project (s)?

The technology will help you make the best decisions based on your personality.

 

Tell us about your favorite project so far (or one of them)?

The PhD. I have had a lot of opportunities to collaborate with fellow colleagues in interesting topics both in and outside my research area.

 

What are the biggest challenges of working in research in this area?

Our research studies are utterly dependent of participants to provide data for our analysis. This COVID phase just exacerbated this need and put a lot of studies on hold.

What book are you currently reading?

Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer

How would you explain to your child (or your parents or grandparents) what your job is? How do you explain what means to be a researcher in this area?

I am working towards building technology more helpful and reliable by making it adapt itself to your own personality. Being a researcher in Human-Computer Interaction means that the user and their individual characteristics must always come first while developing technology.

 

How do you see the mission of INESC-ID “to produce added value to people and society, supporting the response of public policies to scientific, health, environmental, cultural, social, economic and political challenges, in the fields of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering”?

A cornerstone in the digital structure of Portugal.

…

Email

tomas.alves@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

 

Linkedin Profile Link

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomas-martins-alves/

 

Academic Degree *

Bologna Master Degree in Information Systems and Computer Engineering – Alameda

 

Training / Research Area(s) *

Human-Computer Interaction, Personality Psychology, Decision Making

 

INESC-ID Scientific Area

Graphics and Interaction (GI)