Maria da Graça Carvalho
Maria da Graça Carvalho (born April 9, 1955) is a Portuguese academic, engineer and politician who has served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2014 and again since the 2019 elections. Career. Early career. Earlier in her career, Carvalho worked as a professor at the University of Lisbon. Career in national politics. From 2003 to 2005, Carvalho was a member of Portugal's government, first as Minister of Science and Higher Education and later as the Minister of Science, Innovation and Higher Education in the cabinets of successive prime ministers José Manuel  Barroso (2003-2004) and Pedro Santana Lopes (2004-2005). Career in European politics. Carvalho acted as adviser to Barroso in his capacity as President of the European Commission from 2006 to 2009. Carvalho first served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2014 as a representative of Portugal's Social Democratic Party (PSD). She was a member of the Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE). In this capacity, she was also the Parliament's rapporteur on the Horizon 2020 research framework programme (2014-2020). In addition to her committee assignments, she was a member  of the Parliament's delegation to the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. From 2014 until 2015, Carvalho served as an adviser to European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Carlos Moedas. She later moved as a staff member to the Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. Carvalho again joined the European Parliament in the 2019 elections. She has been serving on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (since 2020), Committee on Fisheries (since 2021) and the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age (since 2021). In addition to her committee assignments, Carvalho is a member  of the delegation for relations with the United States. She is also a member of the European Internet Forum and the MEPs Against Cancer group. Recognition. Carvalho is the recipient of a number of awards and honors: