Joana Peixoto has been working at INL since June 2025 as a Business and Strategic Relations Officer, focusing on creating and maintaining strategic relationships with public and private organisations, business development, and funding acquisition.

She has over a decade of experience in PMO roles, supporting R&D projects in collaborative settings involving universities, R&D institutions, and industry. She has in-depth knowledge of project management stages, with a strong focus on funding programs—from consortium creation and proposal preparation to execution and closure. Her experience includes roles at the University of Minho, where she was part of the team managing the Bosch-UMinho partnership (2014–2021), and at DTx – Digital Transformation CoLAB (2021–2025), where she founded and led the PMO team.

She holds an MSc in Industrial Engineering, with a specialisation in Evaluation and Management of Innovation Projects, and a Bachelor's in Renewable Energy Systems Engineering. She is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), accredited by the Project Management Institute (PMI).