Associate Professor at the Autonomous University of Lisbon. Integrated Researcher and Deputy Director of OBSERVARE – Observatory of Foreign Affairs, where she is the main coordinator and executive manager of the project “THE COUNTRY WE ARE, THE WORLD(S) WE HAVE: A ROADMAP FOR THE STRATEGIC CONCEPT IN THE NEXT DECADE” , funded by the Ministry of National Defense (2020-2021).
She is a Guest Professor at the Department of History at ISCTE and an associate at the Center for International Studies (CEI-IUL) and at CISDI-UM – Center for Research in Security and Defense of the Instituto Universitário Militar.
She holds a PhD in International Relations from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra (specialization in European Studies), with a thesis entitled “The European Union and Human Security: a crisis management actor in search of a strategic culture? Prospective analysis and considerations.” (2011). She holds a Master's degree in Sociology of Development and Social Transformation (2006) and a degree in International Relations (2003) from the same Faculty. She has a postgraduate degree (2005) in Human Rights and Democratization from the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra.
Auditor of the National Defense Course in 2011/2012 was, from 2014 to 2016, President of the Board of the Association of Auditors of National Defense Courses (AACDN). Auditor of the Youth Defense Course in 2004, at the Alfeite Naval Base, she was President of the Board of DECIDE – Association of Young Auditors for Defense, Security and Citizenship between 2009 and 2013.
She was a trainer of the Portuguese trainers network of the European Commission Team Europa from 2007 to 2016. Since 2015, she is a regular trainer of the courses of the European College of Security and Defense “CSDP Training for Eastern Partnership Countries” and “CSDP Reflection Seminar”. He is a guest lecturer at the Air Force Academy in the courses for promotion to Captain and Chief Sergeant and in the training of unit commanders.
In 2013, she was selected by Fulbright Portugal to attend the SUSI – Study of United States Institute program and, in 2016, she was the Portuguese candidate chosen for the German Marshall Fund Fellowship program.
From March 2015 to February 2017, she served as Deputy Director General for National Defense Policy at the Directorate General for National Defense Policy, having been awarded the Cruz del Mérito Aeronáutico con Distintibo Blanco by the Government of Spain (August 2016) and by Minister Azeredo Lopes with the First Class National Defense Medal (December 2017).
She is a regular guest of the media to comment on international news, having been resident commentator on RTP's OLHAR O MUNDO program for 6 years (2014-2020).