Bárbara Lopes Amaral

Bárbara Amaral is an Associate Professor at the University of São Paulo, holding a Livre-Docência (Habilitation) in Mathematical Physics (2023). She earned her undergraduate degree in Physics from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (2007), a master's degree in Mathematics from the same university (2010), and a Ph.D. in Mathematics (2014), which included a research stay at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the International Institute of Physics at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (2018). Her academic career has been marked by a strong commitment to both teaching and research, from undergraduate through graduate levels.In teaching, she offers courses such as Physics I, Physics IV, and Mathematical Physics I at the undergraduate level, and Quantum Information and Quantum Noise at the graduate level. She is deeply concerned with the quality of education, constantly exploring new teaching methods and developing educational materials such as textbooks and video lectures. Additionally, she contributes to teacher training and leads outreach projects, including the Mentores da OBMEP program, which provides Quantum Physics courses for high school students across Brazil.Her research focuses on the foundations of quantum theory, particularly contextuality and nonlocality, and their applications in quantum information and computation. She advises undergraduate research students, as well as master's and Ph.D. students, and supervises postdoctoral researchers. She has published books and articles in high-impact scientific journals and regularly participates in national and international scientific events. She serves as a referee for major journals and is a member of the editorial board of Physical Review X Quantum.She is also active in various science communication initiatives, aiming to make complex topics accessible to the general public. She has been featured in interviews and media programs, including appearances on TV Gazeta, O Estado de São Paulo, Folha de São Paulo, Bom Dia Brasil, Jornal da Globo, Galileu, UOL, among others. She served as a consultant for the drama department at TV Globo. She frequently gives public lectures at science outreach events such as Papo de Física (ICTP-SAIFR), Astrominas, the ILP-FAPESP Science and Innovation Cycle, and others.She is the mother of Luíza and was on maternity leave from October 2022 to April 2023. She was also on medical leave at various times in 2024. (Source: Lattes Curriculum)