Get to know... José Moutinho Pereira

José Moutinho Pereira is a Full Professor at the School of Life and Environmental Science of the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD). Throughout his academic career (since 1987), he has taught Plant Physiology, Plant Anatomy, Plant Morphogenesis, and related subjects across a wide range of undergraduate, postgraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs. 

Soon after his PhD in 2000, his research was primarily dedicated to investigating the effects of summer stress on Mediterranean crops, with a particular focus on vineyards. His main motivation was to gain a deeper understanding of the physiological and biochemical responses of grapevines to these stressful conditions, some of which have been significantly exacerbated by climate change. This topic has been complemented by studies of new adaptation measures, in which the fundamental concern has been the research of environmentally friendly and easy-to-implement strategies to adapt this crop to climate change. Following a multidisciplinary approach, some measures have already been studied. The obtained results have been highly valued by his peers and by stakeholders linked to the winemaking sector. 

To date, he has authored or co-authored 128 SCOPUS-indexed papers (h-index = 48; 7,089 citations), 13 book chapters, and more than 300 abstracts or proceedings presented at scientific meetings, and he has delivered invited lectures at approximately 20 events. This scientific activity has been institutionally anchored at CITAB, where he has been an integrated member since its establishment in 2007. 

Other relevant functions in his recent career include: Panel Coordinator of the FCT Individual Doctoral Fellowships Evaluation Panel for Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (2023 edition); from 2019 to 2023, he coordinated the Scientific-Pedagogical Committee of the AgriChains PhD program; between 2021 and 2025, he was a member of the Scientific Council of the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at UTAD; In recent years, he has also contributed as a peer reviewer for over 280 scientific reviews and has served as an associate or guest editor for several Scopus-indexed scientific journals.  

Currently, he coordinates the project “Scientific and technological synergies for sustainable development of the wine chain in the North region” (NORTE2030-FEDER-01786100). This project brings together researchers from UTAD/CITAB, the University of Minho, and the University of Porto, with the main objective of developing technologically sustainable and long-lasting strategies for the wine industry that address the major societal and environmental challenges of the 21st century.