Maria Manuela Calheiros obtained a Postgraduate degree in “Social and Cultural Psychology” at Western Michigan University (1990), a Master’s degree in “Social and Organizational Psychology” at ISCTE-IUL (1996), an European Diploma of Advanced Studies in Social Psychology (DASSP, 1994), and a PhD in “Community Social Psychology” at ISCTE-IUL (2003). She was an Assistant Professor ISCTE-IUL (2003-2017) and she is currently a Full Professor at the University of Lisbon. At ISCTE-IUL she was Head of the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology (2012-2014). She founded and coordinated a Postgraduate Course (2005-2008) and the Master’s Program in Community Psychology and Protection of Children and Youth at Risk (2006-2014). She also founded and was a member of the ISCTE Ethics Committee for 8 years. At the University of Lisbon, She is the Vice-President of the Pedagogical Council. She was involved in 31 funded scientific projects (25 as PI). She has integrated 15 research teams for international and national competitive project funding (e.g., Horizon 2020; COST; FCT). She served on the Scientific Committee of international events, and she has been a member of evaluation panels of national and international projects (e.g., Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, Swiss National Science Foundation, Francisco Manuel dos Santos and European Research Council). She has served as member of the editorial board of six scientific journals and has reviewed for 35 journals (e.g., Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Psychology of Violence). She also has been a member of governing bodies of scientific societies – most notably, as President of the Portuguese Psychological Association (2010-2013). She has published 81 articles in specialized journals, has 29 book chapters and 4 books. She has been honored with 43 Scientific Awards: 37 Scientific Awards for publications; 1st Pedagogical Award 2014-2015 ISCTE-IUL; In 2009 Publication Award: "IPOST: Per la ricerca e per lo studio"(Italy). In 2023, she received the Scientific Award in Psychology, University of Lisbon, as a recognition of the track-record of international publications (31 manuscripts Q1) in 2018-2022. In 2024, she was honored with the 2023 ISCTE-IUL Alumni Career Award. This Career Award honours a personality who is considered relevant, both for the development of society and for recognizing the quality of teaching. Training young researchers has been a crucial part of her career. She has contributed to the scientific training of young researchers, both by supervising research fellows, Master's, PhD and post-doctoral students, and by teaching specific courses and co-authoring publications (e.g., Garrido & Calheiros, 2016) in this field. In knowledge dissemination to the community, the translational approach of applied research has led to funding projects applied to solving social problems, which resulted in the foundation of new services and respective legislation (e.g., Autonomy Residential Care). The attention that the media has given to the findings of her research also highlights its social relevance in disseminating science to the society. She has collaborated with different media channels (e.g., radio, TV, daily and weeklies newspapers) to raise awareness related parenting, education, development and risk, maltreatment, and trafficking . She has also worked on programs for the government and NGOs to transfer knowledge (consultancy, training, supervision) as well as the publication of several books for the professional community (e.g., Calheiros et al., 2019; 2024). The international recognition is reflected in invitations to collaborate in defining European public policies, including the European Parliament (Calheiros, 2019), and the Committee of Experts on Children and Families (European Council, 2005-2006) resulting in the “Recommendation Rec(2006)19 of the Committee of Ministers on policy to support positive parenting.