Claudi Teixeira Azevedo

Meet...Claudia Teixeira Azevedo

Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics
Condensed Matter Physics

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Name: Cláudia Teixeira Azevedo
Job title: Project Portfolio Manager

What are you currently working on?
Currently I am managing several research grants, mainly within the Condensed Matter Physics sub-department, but also AOPP. The research projects vary from EPSRC, ERC, Royal Society, Moore Foundation, UKSA to AOPP CG.

I see a project manager as someone who is spinning several different plates, without letting any fall – that’s why I find this job so exciting! The work I do varies a lot, and it includes managing the day-to-day running of the project, supporting the PIs in the recruitment process, giving financial advice, monitoring all expenditure on the grant, and giving support to the PIs with their management and reporting requirements.

I am also a gerontologist with a broad interest in ageing throughout life-course as well as intergenerational relationships. My main research interest focuses on fostering intergenerational strategies to promote community design planning, and architecture.

Describe a typical day
My day always starts very early with a walk or mindfulness meditation time. I normally have various meetings with the PIs and then I dive into all the administrative tasks that are needed to make for a smooth-running project.

If you had an entire day at your disposal (not at work), what would be your ideal way to spend it?
I would be at the beach – any beach in Portugal – on a sunny day. There would be plenty of swimming and I would have a good book by my side.

What is your favourite place in Oxford?
Oxford is full of marvellous places, and it is difficult to select one but the Ashmolean Museum is one of my favourites. Although I have been there dozens of times, every time I go back, I can always discover something new or learn something for the first time.

What discovery would you like to see in your lifetime?
As a social gerontologist I aim to explore new and creative opportunities to civically engage and socially connect people across generations and across community settings. When it comes to thinking about how successfully we might manage the future of an ageing society, it quickly becomes apparent that fostering intergenerational relationships is a key factor. Likewise, there is now unprecedented interest about the places and spaces where those relationships take place. Developing, and creating intergenerational cities would be a dream come true. Designers and architects, supported by social gerontologists, have a key role to play in reshaping the products, services, communications and environments that different generations encounter everyday. The major challenge is how to design solutions that encourage intergenerational human contact.