Elsa Justino, a Portuguese Social Worker, holds a PhD in Social Work, with a Master's degree and a degree in the same area. She's an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Policies at the University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL) and an integrated research member at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES/Iscte - IUL). From 2019 to 2022, she was on the Board of the Hospital Center in the Portuguese region of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (CHTMAD). From 2016 to 2022, she was an Invited Professor at the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD). Among other leading positions, she was a University Administrator at the UTAD and Manager of the University Social Services (2008-2019), Head of Office of the Secretary of State for Employment and Vocational Training (2006-2008), Deputy Director of the Directorate General for Higher Education from 2002 to 2006 (Ministry of Science Technology and Higher Education) and Vice-President of the Student Support Fund (Ministry of Education) from 1998 to 2002.

Helena Belchior Rocha has a PhD in Social Work, is an Assistant professor at ISCTE- University Institute of Lisbon in the Department of Political Science and Public Policies and deputy director of the Transversal Skills Laboratory. Integrated researcher at CIES, Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, linked to national and international research projects, namely 2 from Marie Curie Actions. Author of papers and communications at national and international congresses, in the areas of social work theory and methodology, environment, sustainability, community Intervention, ethics, human rights, social policies and Well-being, education and soft skills. Member of the Editorial Board of national/international journals.

Inês Casquilho-Martins is a social worker with a Master's and PhD in Social Work. She is Assistant Professor at Iscte - University Institute of Lisbon and researcher at the Center for Research and Studies in Sociology at Iscte - University Institute of Lisbon (CIES-Iscte) and at the Lusíada Research Center on Social Work and Social Intervention (CLISSIS) - Lusíada University.  She was Online Learning's technical and pedagogical coordinator for the promotion, preparation, production and dissemination of iscte e-learning courses (2017-2019). 

Joana Azevedo is an associate professor at the Department of Sociology, School of Sociology and Public Policy of ISCTE-IUL and integrated research fellow at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES-IUL) since 2008. She holds a PhD in Social Theory and Research from the Department of Sociology and Communication Sciences of the University La Sapienza in Rome (2007), with a doctoral grant for studies abroad from the Portuguese national science foundation - FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia). She is postgraduated in Data Analysis in Social Sciences (2010) and graduated in Sociology (2001) from the ISCTE-IUL. She is currently member of the Observatories of Communication (OberCom) and Emigration (OEm). She was postdoctoral fellow at CIES-IUL with a postdoctoral grant from the FCT (2008-2014). Since 2011-2012 she has been teaching at ISCTE-IUL in the fields of communication sciences, sociology and social science research methods. She’s member of the Scientific Commitee of the PhD Programme in Comunication Sciences. She also teaches at the European Master's Programme Erasmus Mundus MFamily.

  João Sebastião, sociologist, PhD in Sociology. Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Policies at ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon and researcher at the Center for Research and Studies in Sociology-IUL (CIES-IUL), where he was director between 2014 and 2020. His main research areas are social inequalities in education, educational policies and school violence. In convergence with the research in sociology of education worked as expert in the area of school violence for different national and international institutions (OECD, EU, Council of Europe; or as developer and Coordinator of the School Safety Observatory of the Portuguese Ministry of Education, among others). At CIES maintains a line of work of applied science on programs about school success and early school leaving, class dimension, school violence and municipal educational plans, cooperating with schools, local authorities or NGOs.  

Jorge Ferreira, Doutor em Serviço Social na especialidade de Serviço Social, Politicas Sociais e Sociedade, (Aprovado com Distinção e Louvor) realizado em associação entre ISCTE/ISSSL, sobre o tema: Serviço Social e Modelos de Bem-Estar para a Infância. Modus Operandi do Assistente Social na Promoção da Protecção à Criança e à Família. Mestrado em Serviço Social sobre o tema, Intervenção Social e Intervenção Judicial no problema Criança Maltratada. Relação e/ou Intersecção (ISSSL:1998), após a Licenciatura em Serviço Social (ISSSL: 1990). Realização de um curso pós-graduado no Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada - História das Ideias e das grandes Doutrinas em criminologia (ISPA: 1993), frequência do ano Zero «Abordagem Sistémica» do curso de Terapia Familiar (Associação Portuguesa de terapia Familiar: 1997), realização de provas de Aptidão Pedagógica e Capacidade Científica (ISSSL: 2000) sobre o tema, Mediação e Intervenção Social em Justiça. Realização de Formação Prática de aprofundamento após Licenciatura no estrangeiro, em Reabilitação Psiquiátrica na Fundação de Waterheuvel, Amsterdão / Holanda (1993), em Reabilitação Psiquiátrica na Société Parisiene d?aide á lá Santé mental - SPASM .Paris (1993); Reinserção e Integração Profissional na Scotish Association for mental healt . Escócia (1994). Participação em programas e projectos de investigação nas áreas da Transferência dos perfis de acção, formação, para desenvolvimento da relação de ajuda aos públicos em situação de abandono (Crianças, Adolescentes) ; Trabalho Social na Europa. Modelo Comparativo em Línguas Românicas e nos domínios do Sistema de Protecção à Criança; Direitos da Criança, politicas sociais de Infância e Intervenção Social com Famílias. Tem 13 artigos científicos publicados e várias comunicações em seminários nacionais e internacionais e comunicações em congressos. Colaborador da Revista Katálisis (revista semestral com circulação em países de língua hispânica e em Portugal dirigida a Assistentes Sociais e Profissionais de áreas afins, Professores, Investigadores). Professor de diferentes Unidades Curriculares ao nível de 1º e 2º Ciclo. Professor Visitante na Universidade Complutense de Madrid (Escuela de Trabajo Social), e na Universidade de Granada (Escuela de Trabajo Social), colaborador com instituições de ensino superior em Portugal (Instituto Universitário de Lisboa . ISCTE) e nos programas de cooperação científica de docentes da Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa (Instituto Politécnico da Guarda, Instituto Politécnico de Beja, Universidade dos Açores). No ano de 2009, Acreditado Avaliador Externo das Novas oportunidades. Vogal de Júri do concurso de dirigente de grau intermédio de 2º grau da Administração Pública. Coordenador pedagógico e cientifico e professor do Curso de Especialização Tecnológica (CET) «Acolhimento em Instituição». (2008/2010). Várias participações no âmbito do Programa Socrates Erasmus (mobilidade de professores) com Universidades Europeia: Complutense de Madrid Espanha, universidade de Kalmar Suécia, Universidade de Mastrich, Holanda, Universidade Bicocca Milão Itália e Universidade de Granada Espanha. Áreas Cientificas de Formação: Teoria e Metodologia do Serviço Social, Teoria Critica e Serviço Social, Investigação em Serviço Social, Seminários de Prática em Serviço Social, Avaliação de Programas de Politicas Sociais, Serviço Social Internacional; metodologias de Investigação, Metodologias Especificas de Intervenção em Gerontologia Social, intervenção Social em Situações de Risco, Intervenção Social com Famílias Maltratantes, intervenção em Rede, Comportamentos Desviantes, Introdução à Criminologia e Vitimologia.

Maria Inês Amaro is PhD in Social Work and MA in Communication, Culture and Information Technology. Professor at the bachelor, master and doctorate in Social Work at University Institute of Lisbon. She co-ordinated Social Work bachelor and master degree at Catholic University of Portugal. Supervises master and PhD dissertations and thesis in Social Work. She is researcher at the CIES-IUL, Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology and reviewer of UCE (Catholic University Press) for Social Work publications. She founding member of the European Association for Social Work Research was part of the host committee for the 6th European Conference for Social Work Research (Lisbon, 2016). Has research interests in the areas of theory and practice of Social Work, Social Policy and Social Work, Society and Technology and Labour and Social Exclusion. Consultant in the area of social planning and evaluation. Author of books, chapters and articles in the above-mentioned fields. Since 2019, commissioner at the Institute of Social Security, where is Head of Social Development Department, with national responsibilities over the impkmentation and development of public policy in the fields of children and youth, cooperation with third sector and charities, and socialintervention. President of the National Commission of the National System for Child Early intervention; of the National Council for Adoption (years 2024-2026); evaluation jury for Programa Escolhas (projects to prevent and combat youth delinquency), 2023 edition; is member of the National Council of Cooperation; Single Operational Group, for the reception of asylum-seekers; of the National Council for Migrations; of the Commission for Inclusive Policies for People with Disabilities; of the executive group for the Implementation, Monitoring and Assessment of the National Strategy for the Integration of People Experiencing Homelessness, and, among others,of the Follow-up Commission of the National Strategy for Fighting Poverty; is the national oficial link to civil protection.

Madalena Ramos completed her MSc in Sociology in 1995 at New University of Lisbon, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, and obtained her PhD in Education, from Lisbon University’s Faculty of Science in 2003. She is currently Associated Professor at the University Institute of Lisbon (Iscte–Instituto Universitário de Lisboa), teaching mainly statistics and data analysis. She is the head of the Department of Social Research Methods, and an integrated researcher of Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES-IUL). Her current interests are in the field of sociology of family and integrity and academic fraud. She as published several scientific articles, book chapters and edited books. She was President and Vice-President of Iscte's Pedagogical Council and is currently a member of the Ethics Council. She was Vice President of the Portuguese Sociological Association (APS) board. Currently, she is the presently the director of SOCIOLOGIA ON LINE, the APS’s electronic scientific Journal.   Recent publications  Brandão, S.,  &  Ramos,  M.  (2023).  Teleworking  in  the  context  of  the  Covid-19  pandemic:   advantages,   disadvantages   and   influencing   factors   -   the   workers’   perspective. Revista Brasileira de Gestão de Negócios, 25(2), p.253-268. https://doi.org/10.7819/rbgn.v25i2.4221 Gomes, L., Martins, J., Ramos, M., & Carreiro da Costa, F. (2023). The impact that nonphysical education teachers' perceptions play on the promotion of active and healthy lifestyles: A cross-sectional qualitative study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20, 2026. (Q1)  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032026 Gomes, L., Martins, J., Ramos, M., & Carreiro da Costa, F. (2023). Physical activity levels of Portuguese adolescents in the first period of confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the first activities of teachers and coaches: a cross-sectional study (Niveles de actividad física de adolescentes portugueses en el primer periodo de confinamiento por la pandemia de COVID-19 y las primeras actividades de profesores y entrenadores: un estudio transversal). Retos, 47, 701–709. (Q3).  https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v47.93923 Ramos, M. & Ferreira, A.C. (2022). Marriage patterns among Portuguese-Brazilian couples: are same-sex couples different from heterosexual couples? Migraciones. (Q2). https://doi.org/10.14422/mig.2022.018 Abrantes, P., Banha, R., Ramos, M., Aníbal, A. & Urze, P. (2022). Inserções, identidades e competências dos sociólogos em Portugal. Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas, 100, 65-85. (Q3). https://doi.org/10.7458/SPP202210025945 Morais, C., Ramos, M., Cardoso, A., Gonçalves, S., Ramos, R., Costa, R.P. & Gonçalves , J.P. (2022). Plágio no ensino superior. Mensurar o que os alunos fazem, sabem e julgam saber. SOCIOLOGIA ON LINE, 29, 90-108. https://doi.org/10.30553/sociologiaonline.2022.29.4 Mata, C., Onofre, M., Costa, J., Ramos, M., Marques, A. & Martins, J. (2021). Motivation and  Perceived Motivational Climate by Adoles-cents in Face-to-Face Physical Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Sustainability. Special Issue "Physical Activity and Sustainable Health". 13(23), 13051. (Q1). https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313051 Gaspar, S., Ramos, M. & Ferreira, A.C. (2021). Transnational divorce in binational marriages: the case of Portuguese-Brazilian and Portuguese-Cape Verdean couples. Population, Space and Place. e2435. (Q1). https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2435 Ramos, M. & Morais, C. (2021). As várias faces do plágio entre estudantes do ensino superior: um estudo de caso. Educação e Pesquisa, 47. e235184. (Q3).  https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-4634202147231584

PhD with international mention by the University of Huelva (Spain) in the Department of Sociology and Social Work. Full-time Social Work Assistant Professor at ISCTE- University Institute of Lisbon teaching different courses at the bachelors, masters and PhD Social Work programs. He holds the position of Master's Program Director in Social Work. He is an integrated researcher of CIES-IUL, Agora Group (UHU) and Member of the Migration Research Center (CIM: UHU). His areas of interest are linked to Immigration (Superdiversity, Interculturalism, Mixed Couples, and Cultural Heritage in Children); Social Work Education; Social Exclusion, Human Rights and Social Work; and Digital Social Work.

Sandra Palma Saleiro (sandra.saleiro@iscte-iul.pt). PhD in Sociology. Researcher at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES-IUL). Invited Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology, School of Sociology and Public Policy, of the University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL). She has worked on research projects on gender, gender equality and gender violence; transgender, gender diversity; social inequalities and poverty and social exclusion; evaluation methodologies, evaluation of public policies and programs and projects. In her doctoral thesis entitled "Trans Genders. A sociological approach to gender diversity”,  she mapped the diversity of (trans) gender identities and expressions in Portuguese society. The most recent projects include the project "Gender Diversity, Citizenship and Health" at CIES-IUL, within the scope of the FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (2016-2022); the coordination of “National Portuguese Study on the Needs of LGBTI+ Persons and the reasons for discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sexual characteristics”, financed by POISE (2021-2022); the  local coordination of the projet “Cávado + Equal. Equality and Reconciliation in personal, family and professional life” (2020-2023).