As from 1 April 2024 I am a full-time "old age pensioner". However, I remain as Associate Researcher (non-stipendiary) at Institute for Contemporary History, Nova University of Lisboa, as I intend to pursue intellectual activities in an academic environment. My academic career is unconventional & comprises 2 periods. I was among the pioneers of my generation taking the opportunity of the Revolution and its impact on (partial) opening of academic community to international realities to study abroad. Soon after graduating in History (University of Coimbra, 1978, 5-yr degree), I took a PhD at Oxford (1979-1984), working on then unexplored Social History of Portuguese 19th c. Having returned to Portugal I was surprised by the refusal of Portuguese academia to grant me "equivalence" of my degree. This mirrors the fact that PhDs were not then a benchmark for doctorates in Portugal, as well as the atmosphere of protracted divergence with international standards. I was unable to pursue an academic career in line with my habilitations. I left the university in 1987. Henceforth, my livelihood was based on a business venture which took most of my time up to 2004. I also engaged in civic activities, serving as Vereador (city councillor) in Porto (1994-1998) & as head of the Comissão de Viticultura da REgião dos Vinhos Verdes (1998-2000). Portuguese legislation on foreign degrees was substantially altered in late 1990's, making it possible to reconsider entering the university. Concomitantly, the accession of Minister Mariano Gago to his governmental job (1995-2002 & 2005-2011) redesigned the institutional landscape for scientific research. I then returned to academia on a part-time basis grounded on teaching, later on a full-time basis grounded on scientific research. After winning a highly competitive post-doc grant in 2010, I devoted fully to academic research. I held a post-doc position at CES (2011-2017), followed by a 6 year contract (2018-2014) during which I conducted independent research. In 2017 my academic achievements were crowned by obtaining a title - "Agregado" (habilitation) - which is, in the Portuguese system, the highest testimony to academic proficiency. My title was obtained in "Democracy in the 21st century" (Political Science). At CES I was PI in a project on "The Self-determination of Timor-Leste: a study in Transnational History", in which I directed 2 other researchers, and developed solo research on political regimes and democracy without formal funding. In this period I combined political history with comparative politics. I wrote a monograph in Comparative Politics: Presidents in Semi-presidential regimes: moderating power in Portugal & Timor-Leste (Palgrave 2020); & co-edited a volume (with L.Kent) embracing broad Social Sciences (The Dead as Ancestors, Martyrs and Heroes AUP 2020). Earlier, I had published Democracia - linhagens e configurações de um conceito impuro (Afrontamento 2017). The project on the self-determination of Timor-Leste resulted in several book chapters & articles in special issues of national (Ler História, R:I, Oriente) & international (Indonesia) journals, & in normal issues (Bijdragen tot de taal, land en volkenkunde). With Z.Pereira, we published Timor-Leste's Long Road to Independence (AUP 2023) & Timor-Leste: do colonialismo tardio à independência (Afrontamento/Instituto Diplomatico 2023); we were endowed (ex-aequo) with the Aristides Sousa Mendes Award 2022 in History . I have also returned to teaching at Universidade Lusófona as Invited Full Professor (part-time) in 2023 - a situation that may be extended in ther neasr future, albeit for a semester per year. My current interests focus on the history of contemporary Portugal, including the 25 April 1974 "Carnation Revolution" and the ensuing decolonization process, as well as the dynamics between democratic transition and the construction of a welfare state in the wake of the Constitution of 1976