PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Marina Cortês

Also known as Marina Vinhas Cortês, Marina Cortes

Marina Cortês is a cosmologist who chairs IEEE's P3395 working group on safeguards for AI models. She earned degrees in theoretical physics at the University of Lisbon and a PhD in astronomy at the University of Sussex, then held research posts at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Royal Observatory Edinburgh and the Perimeter Institute. With Lee Smolin, she shared the 2014 Buchalter Cosmology Prize for their paper “The Universe as a Process of Unique Events”; with collaborators, she introduced biocosmology in 2022. Her AI work includes a 2024 IEEE white paper on standards issues and a 2025 first-principles risk assessment framework for IEEE P3396. As of October 2026, she is a researcher at the Institute for Astrophysics and Space Sciences.

Now at
Institute for Astrophysics and Space Sciences
Born
1974
Works
50
Citations
5,138
h-index
21
Badges

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2005–2011

    From Lisbon to Berkeley

    She earns BSc and MSc degrees in theoretical physics at the University of Lisbon's Faculty of Sciences in 2005 and a PhD in astronomy at the University of Sussex Astronomy Centre in 2008. From 2008 to 2011, she works as a postdoctoral research fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

  2. 2013–2016

    A Marie Curie fellowship

    From 2013 to 2016, she holds a Marie Curie fellowship at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh.

  3. 2014

    A Buchalter Cosmology Prize

    In 2014, she and Lee Smolin receive the Buchalter Cosmology Prize for their paper “The Universe as a Process of Unique Events.”

  4. 2018–2020

    A research fellowship at Perimeter

    From 2018 to 2020, she is an Emmy Noether Visiting Research Fellow at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.

  5. 2022

    Introducing biocosmology

    In 2022, she and Stuart A. Kauffman, Andrew R. Liddle and Lee Smolin introduce biocosmology as a new scientific field linking biological complexity and cosmology.

  6. 2024

    AI horizon scanning for IEEE

    In 2024, she coauthors the first white paper in an IEEE-SA series on AI standards, covering accountability, privacy and data rights.

  7. 2025

    A first-principles AI risk framework

    In 2025, she coauthors a first-principles risk assessment framework underlying IEEE P3396's recommended practice for AI risk, safety, trustworthiness and responsibility.

  8. As of October 2026

    Researcher and P3395 chair

    As of October 2026, she is a researcher at the Institute for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, with work in cosmology and biocosmology. In March 2026, she gives a seminar at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a University of Lisbon speaker. She chairs IEEE-SA's P3395 working group on safeguards for AI models.

Career

  1. NowInstitute for Astrophysics and Space SciencesResearcher
  2. 2018–2020Perimeter Institute for Theoretical PhysicsEmmy Noether Visiting Research Fellow
  3. 2018–2026University of Coimbra
  4. 2014–2025Perimeter Institute
  5. 2013–2016Royal Observatory, EdinburghMarie Curie Fellow
  6. 2013–2018University of Edinburgh
  7. 2013–2026University of Lisbon
  8. 2008–2011Office of SciencePostdoctoral Research Fellow

Education

  1. 2008University of SussexPhD in astronomy
  2. 2005University of LisbonBSc and MSc in theoretical physics

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. SDSS-III: MASSIVE SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEYS OF THE DISTANT UNIVERSE, THE MILKY WAY, AND EXTRA-SOLAR PLANETARY SYSTEMS2011 · The Astronomical Journal · 2,179 citations
  2. THE EIGHTH DATA RELEASE OF THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY: FIRST DATA FROM SDSS-III2011 · The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series · 1,442 citations
  3. The CosmoVerse White Paper: Addressing observational tensions in cosmology with systematics and fundamental physics2025 · Physics of the Dark Universe · 322 citations
  4. The Lyman-α forest in three dimensions: measurements of large scale flux correlations from BOSS 1st-year data2011 · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics · 178 citations
  5. Interpreting DESI's evidence for evolving dark energy2024 · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics · 138 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Edinburgh. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. Universities had a net outflow of 2,068 moves in AI careersIncludes University of Edinburgh. Our estimates of career flows and median h-index across universities and companies in AI, including the role of joint appointments and earlier academic jobs.
  3. People shaping AI work at a median of 3 organizations over a career: 3 for university starters and institute and lab starters, versus 2 for company startersIncludes University of Edinburgh. Across 6,853 people shaping AI with a dated work role, we estimate a median of 3 parent organizations over a career (mean 3.6), comparing role groups, starting sectors and starting decades from the 1950s to 2020–2026.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Edinburgh. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Marina Cortês - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Marina Vinhas Cortês (DB1C-D334-2145) | CIÊNCIAVITAE cienciavitae.pt. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Paper on the nature of time wins new cosmology prize ph.ed.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Biocosmology: Towards the birth of a new science arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. AI Horizon Scanning, White Paper p3395, IEEE-SA. Part I: Areas of Attention arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. A First-Principles Based Risk Assessment Framework and the IEEE P3396 Standard arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço iastro.pt. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. INPA Seminar Speaker: Marina Cortes (University of Lisbon)-Title: Towards multi-probe pipeline standardization inpa.lbl.gov. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. IEEE SA - P3395 standards.ieee.org. Checked 20 October 2026.