Social Affairs

She specialises in cognition and the cognitive distortion patterns that prevent us from making better life choices. She is also an expert on how behavioural changes can lead to a happier and more fulfilling life via positive psychological attitudes.
A professor of psychology and Director of Yale University's Silliman College, her «Psychology and Living Well» classes have been wildly successful, breaking all enrollment records at the institution. They also led her to create a free online course, which has already received over 3.3 million students, as well as the podcast «The Happiness Lab».
Drawing on her research, she explains how we are biologically programmed to be motivated by sex, to be deeply influenced by other people and to repeat our mistakes. Using examples from the animal kingdom, she explains many of our illogical behaviours and gives tips on how we can use our human abilities to counter evolution, make more rational choices and live happier lives.

Last updated: February 2023

Author of the novels «Archipelago” and "Meridian 28», as well as the diaries «Life in the Countryside», which earned him the APE Grand Prize. He was born on Terceira Island, spent 20 years in Lisbon – where he wrote for almost all the major national newspapers – and returned to the Azores in 2012. Since then, he has been living in Dois Caminhos, where he takes care of his two dogs, a garden and an orchard. He is the author, among others, of the column «Father at 50» (Notícias Magazine).

He has a master’s degree in legal and political sciences and a law degree. A professional lawyer with over 15 years’ experience, he has also been a member of Parliament (2011-2013) and Secretary of State for Tourism (2013-2015). Furthermore, he served as vice-president of the CDS-PP (2016-2019). He has been a commentator and columnist for SIC, TSF, Visão, Jornal de Negócios, Diário de Notícias and i.

Last updated: April 2023

She has a PhD in social work and a degree in sociology and currently works as Lecturer at the Faculty of Human Sciences of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa. She was a member of the Social Security staff, where she held various positions. She has been a councillor (without portfolio) in the Porto City Council since 2017, having also served a term from 2009-2013.
A consultant to the European Commission for social programmes, she coordinated the 2nd and 3rd National Action Plan for Inclusion (Portugal 2006-2010). She is president of the Administrative Commission of the Porto Delegation of the Red Cross (since 2017).

Last updated: May 2021

A journalist at the Público newspaper since 1999, she writes about human rights and social exclusion, such as poverty, gender, the protection of children and young people, ageing, domestic violence, drugs, equality and social protection policies. She has written the books «Nobody’s Boys» (2009), «White Travels» (2011), «Perpetual Motion» (2016) and «Women of my Island, Women of my Country» (2022). Her volunteer work resulted in the books «Challenges – the Rights of Women in Guinea-Bissau» (2012), which she co-wrote with Nelson Constantino Lopes, and «Women of São Tomé and Príncipe» (2018), which she co-wrote with Dário Pequeno Paraíso. She has written two documentary plays: «Where the Cold Lingers» (2016) and «It’s Different Now» (2019).

Assistant professor and vice-director of the Department of Social Research Methods at ISCTE. She has a PhD in Quantitative Methods and specialises in Statistics and Data Analysis.
She is a researcher at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology at the same university, with a particular interest in the areas of sampling, robust statistics, data visualisation, employability, well-being and social inequalities. She is also a member of the European research projects "InCities – Trailblazing Inclusive, Sustainable and Resilient Cities" and "Synclusive – A systemic approach to eliminating employment gaps and creating a more inclusive labour market for vulnerable groups".
She is part of the Youth Employment Observatory (OEJ) and has been coordinating the specialisation course in Visual Information Communication (ISCTE) since 2015.

Last updated: January 2024