About

From curiosity and broken objects to the brain and music.

Alexandre Sayal collage
Born in 1993 in Coimbra, Portugal — one of 115,000 babies that year.

My name is Alexandre and I am from Coimbra, a city known for hosting one of the oldest universities in Europe.

I was born with a strong curiosity that mostly showed itself by taking things apart and putting them back together again.

As a violinist, I have performed with national and international orchestras and in beautiful venues around the world. Music has always been one of the central threads of my life — see the Music section.

I completed my Master’s in Biomedical Engineering in 2016 at the University of Coimbra. After several years working with fMRI at the lab, I joined the Doctoral Program in Biomedical Engineering (partnership with Siemens Healthineers Portugal).

I completed my PhD in January 2026 at the Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT). The work combined neuroimaging, neurofeedback, and music, examining how musical interfaces can support brain self-regulation.

Education & Path

PhD in Biomedical Engineering
University of Coimbra • Completed January 2026

“Listen to your brain” — exploring music as an interface for real-time fMRI neurofeedback experiments. Funded by Siemens Healthineers Portugal and FCT. Includes systematic review of music-based BCIs, advanced fMRI methods, MVPA decoding of musical emotions, and validation of a novel music neurofeedback interface. Read the thesis

MSc in Biomedical Engineering
University of Coimbra • 2011 – 2016 (Specialization: Clinical Informatics & Bioinformatics)

Thesis: Brain connectivity analysis for real-time fMRI neurofeedback experiments. One semester at Aalto University, Helsinki. Read thesis

Full academic record available at CiênciaVitae.