Thematic Seminars: Converging Parallels: Internationalisation as a Catalyst for Research in Design and Art

Paula Tavares has been Vice-Rector for Internationalisation, Communication and Culture at the Polytechnic University of Cávado and Ave (UPCA, formerly IPCA) since January 2022, where she coordinates the European University Alliance Regional University Network (RUN-EU). Since 2017, she has been Director of the Research Centre for Design, Media and Culture (ID+), at the UPCA campus. She served as Director of the School of Design from 2015 to 2022 and as Director of the Master’s Programme in Illustration and Animation for ten years. She has been a Professor at UPCA since 2007 and previously taught at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto between 1999 and 2004.
She graduated in Drawing and Fine Arts, specialising in Painting, from ESAP (1994) and FBAUP (1999), respectively. She received her PhD in Fine Arts in 2006 from the Faculty of Fine Arts of Pontevedra, University of Vigo.
Her research, project coordination and supervision focus on Art and Design, particularly Drawing, Illustration and Animation, as well as strategic Design management, with special attention to societal issues, gender and otherness. She currently coordinates the Horizon WIDERA project TIDER (Interoperable Design Framework for Territorial Regeneration), which focuses on knowledge transfer and value creation through Design. Among her other academic activities, including editorial work, she has organised and coordinated the International Conference on Illustration and Animation (CONFIA) since 2012.
As an artist, she has exhibited her work since 1999 and is represented in contemporary art collections.