Full Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Minho Institute of Education. He got his PhD in Psychology, specialising in Educational Psychology, from the University of Porto in 1987, and took the Aggregation Tests in Psychology at the University of Minho in 1994. In preparation for his PhD, he did internships at Yale University (USA) and the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium). He is a member of several national and international scientific associations and has been a director of several of them. He was President of the National Board of the Association of Portuguese Psychologists (APPORT). Member of the Order of Portuguese Psychologists and President of the Specialisation Council for Educational Psychology. Member of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Educational Innovation (Ministry of Education). He was part of the Committee for the External Assessment of Teaching Degree Courses in the area of Arts and Humanities (2001/02). He was a member of the National Education Council (2002/05), coordinating the fifth Committee. He was a consultant for the Regional Government of Madeira in defining studies and programmes to identify and support gifted students. He received the Scientific Merit Award from the University of Minho in 2019.