Francisco Sampaio, a researcher at RISE-Health and lecturer at the University of Porto’s School of Nursing, received an award for the research he has been conducting in the fields of mental health and psychiatric nursing.

The recognition, in the form of the Sigma European Award for Nursing Excellence in Research 2026, took place at the 8th Sigma European Regional Conference in Kuopio (Finland), an event that brought together researchers, lecturers, students and nursing professionals from various European countries.

It should be noted that Francisco Sampaio, a specialist at the country’s largest research unit and at the RISE Associated Laboratory, focuses on the development and evaluation of psychotherapeutic nursing interventions, research into mental health literacy, anxiety, nursing taxonomies and the psychometric evaluation of instruments.

The Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (Sigma) is an honour society founded in 1922 which currently has over 100,000 active members and 600 chapters at higher education institutions and healthcare partners in various countries; it is organised into six global regions with the mission of developing leaders in nursing to improve global healthcare.