40 years · 40 stories: Conceição Abreu
"In “LIP in the South”, Conceição Abreu recalls the former Algarve Pole and a chapter in LIP’s history shaped from southern Portugal."
LIP in the South
“LIP–Algarve opened up many futures across the world!”
From left to right: Pedro Rato, Conceição Abreu, Patrick de Sousa, Sónia Rodrigues and Bruno Carriço
In 1996, LIP and CENTRA launched the International Workshops in New Worlds in Astroparticle Physics — IWNWAP — at the Gambelas Campus of the University of Algarve. The first workshop took place in September 1996 and the last in 2007. The Department of Physics at the University of Algarve contributed through the involvement of its academic staff and students. The proceedings were published by World Scientific, Singapore.
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Poster for the 4th edition of IWNWAP, 2002
LIP’s presence in the Algarve was further strengthened with the creation, in 2000, of the Algarve Unit, recorded in a memorandum dated May 2000 and ratified in 2005 through a protocol between LIP and the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Algarve. The protocol was signed by the President of LIP, José Mariano Gago, the President of the Faculty, Conceição Abreu, and the President of the Department of Physics, Robertus Potting. The signing was witnessed by the Rector, Adriano Pimpão.
At LIP–Algarve, research initially continued through its members’ participation in the NA50 Collaboration — Quark Gluon Plasma. At the same time, work began immediately on applying Monte Carlo methods, detectors and other technologies from high-energy physics to the development of detectors for medical imaging.
Using EGS4 simulations, the group studied the treatment of coronary arteriosclerosis with the beta emitter ¹⁴⁴Ce. In detector development, key projects included international collaborations such as the Imaging Silicon Pixel Array - ISPA - and the study of Avalanche Photodiodes - APDs - for positron emission tomography, or PET. Within the framework of the Large Hadron Collider - LHC - the Unit joined CERN’s RD39 Collaboration, Cryogenic Tracking Detector, which studied the recovery of highly irradiated silicon in cryogenic conditions, known as the Lazarus effect.
LIP–Algarve developed its activity through national collaborations, including with LIP–Lisbon, IPO Francisco Gentil and the CLEARPEM Consortium, as well as international collaborations with CERN, Hôpital Cantonal de Genève, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute, Crystal Clear and Sapienza University of Rome.
In 2001, the Unit organised Physics in Medicine - 4th Southern European School of EPS, in collaboration with the European Physical Society and the Portuguese Physical Society, from 1 to 11 September. LIP also contributed to teaching and thesis supervision in the Master’s programme in Medical Imaging in its 2003 and 2005 editions.
In 2006, the recently awarded PhD Patrick de Sousa created GyRad -Quality Control and Radiological Protection - as a spin-off company. In April 2026, GyRad celebrates its 20th anniversary, with more than twenty technologists, most of them physicists.
Patrick de Sousa working on the Lazarus system
Over its ten years of activity, the Algarve Unit hosted one PhD thesis, five master’s dissertations and six undergraduate dissertations. The group, led by Conceição Abreu, included Pedro Rato, who held a PhD, one PhD student, master’s students, undergraduate students and a secretary.
The Unit closed in 2008. All its members immediately went on to successfully join other service or research institutions, in Portugal and abroad.
LIP–Algarve opened up many futures across the world.
Reader’s notes
CENTRA: Multidisciplinary Centre for Astrophysics.
IWNWAP: International Workshops in New Worlds in Astroparticle Physics.
Proceedings: the published records of the workshop.
NA50 / Quark–Gluon Plasma: a collaboration/topic in high-energy physics linked to matter under extreme conditions.
Monte Carlo method: a numerical simulation method based on random sampling.
EGS4: a simulation code for the transport of electrons and photons (radiation).
APD: avalanche photodiodes, sensors used to detect light or signals.
PET: positron emission tomography (a medical imaging technique).
LHC: Large Hadron Collider, at CERN.
Lazarus effect: the recovery of the performance of irradiated silicon at cryogenic temperatures.