Jéssica Deise Bersch is a PhD Student in Civil Engineering at Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability (CERIS), Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environment (DECivil), Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), University of Lisbon, Portugal, since September 2023, with a Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) scholarship starting in October 2023. She is also a PhD Student in Núcleo Orientado para a Inovação da Edificação (NORIE), Postgraduate Program in Civil Engineering: Construction and Infrastructure (PPGCI), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), in Brazil.

Her PhD research focuses on the performance and durability of photocatalytic and anti-graffiti surface protection solutions for mortar coatings on building facades.

Jéssica graduated in Civil Engineering with honours at UFRGS in 2019. She was a Scientific Initiation scholarship holder for 15 months during the undergraduate course. Jéssica also had internship experiences at a construction site and with planning, project, and financial viability of construction works. In 2016/2017, she studied at IST with a Smart² program (SmartCities & SmartGrids for Sustainable Development/Erasmus Mundus) scholarship. In 2022, Jéssica got her Engineering master's degree in PPGCI (CAPES 5) from UFRGS, focusing on construction through the dissertation entitled "Photocatalytic and self-cleaning activity of pigmented mortars containing titanium dioxide (TiO2)". Jéssica published ten papers in international journals, two book chapters (in Brazil), and five congress papers (three international and two Brazilian national). Her research emphasizes photocatalytic, self-cleaning and pigmented mortars, historic building facades, and hygrothermal performance.