She received her PhD in Educational Sciences/ Philosophy of Education from UTAD (1994). She is currently Chair, Department of Education and Psychology in UTAD. She has also served as Chair of the Scientific Council of the School of Human and Social Sciences (2017-2021), Chair of the Ethics Committee (2013-2017), and Student Ombudsman (2014-2017). Her research is currently centered on ethical competence, both in the field of moral education, civic and values education for children and young people, and in the field of professional ethics in various training areas, with a particular focus on helping  professions. She has been the lead researcher of the project “Education and moral development through the voices of the community – another look at citizenship and development” in CIIE. Maria is a member of the Portuguese Society of Educational Sciences (SPCE) and of its working group that monitors the application of the Ethical Code of Conduct. Maria serves as a volunteer in two solidarity  organizations: Refood https://refood.org/en/home/ and “Ser Mais Valia” https://sermaisvalia.org/sobre-nos/.