Mario received his Ph.D. in Physics from the Technical Institute of Lisbon, University of Lisbon, in close cooperation with the University of Orsay Paris-XI. But before that, he obtained the DEUG (Licence) from the University Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand. The Master degree was obtained at the Université de Paris VII-Jussieu and the "Diplome d´Etudes Approfondies" (DEA) from the University of Orsay Paris-XI. He is interested in the fundamentals of physics, plasma, and electromagnetic propulsion, and the use of physics in many applied and trans-disciplinary fields.