João Costa

João joined GDN in October 2018 as a Programme Associate in the Doing Research Global Initiative. Later, he moved on to lead the management of the Global Development Awards Competition (GDAC) as a Senior Programme Manager and the Global Development Conference (GDC), as Conference Director in 2023 and 2024. He currently leads the Programme and Partnerships for the 2025 Global Development Conference on 'Inclusive Digital Transformation'. 

João has a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Minho, Portugal, and a post-degree in Translational Medicine from Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and a certificate in Health Crises Resilience in LMICs from European University Institute (EUI). After years as a researcher in biotechnology, he progressively transitioned to a research management role working at the European Research Council (ERC) and the European Commission. He has also held leadership roles in the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) and evaluated European Commission projects on education and youth. He is currently pursuing a Global Executive Master’s on a merit scholarship at the European University Institute.