Vanessa Regina Ribeiro Rodrigues

Vanessa Regina Ribeiro Rodrigues is a researcher at CICANT (Research Center for Applied Communication, Culture and New Technologies) within the Faculty of Communication, Architecture, Arts and Information Technology. She holds a PhD in Communication for Development and a Master's in Information and Journalism from the University of Minho, with specialized training in Documentary Filmmaking through AIC-São Paulo and EICTV-Cuba.

Her educational background includes:

• PhD in Communication for Development
• Master's in Information and Journalism, University of Minho
• Specialization in Documentary Filmmaking (AIC-São Paulo/EICTV-Cuba)

Her research spans communication for development, gender studies, and digital society, with particular focus on feminist movements, disinformation ecosystems, and migration narratives. As an award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist, she bridges academic research with creative practice, examining power structures in media and society through both scholarly and artistic lenses. Her recent work investigates digital citizenship among youth and transnational feminist networks.

Her 2024 publication on Portugal's disinformation landscape represents emerging scholarly focus on media integrity frameworks and societal resilience against information disorders, reflecting her dual expertise in communication theory and practical media production.

Her accolades include:

• Best Portuguese Documentary Award (Art&Tur Film Festival)
• UNESCO Journalism Award Honorable Mention (2015)
• OFF FLIP Literary Prize (2014)
• Special Mention at Avanca Film Festival
• Best Original Soundtrack at Terres Film Festival

She currently leads research activities in two major FCT-funded projects: FEMglocal (analyzing glocal feminist movements) and YouNDigital (studying youth news consumption and digital citizenship), while supervising two research works. Her collaborative approach integrates media practice with academic inquiry across Portuguese and international contexts.

As part of CICANT's research ecosystem, she contributes to interdisciplinary teams examining communication technologies' societal impacts, with particular emphasis on gendered dimensions of digital culture and migration narratives.