University Institute of Lisbon

Ana Camacho has a master’s degree in Clinical and Health Psychology. In her master’s thesis, she developed and tested the effectiveness of the intervention program Cultivating Writing designed for parents of beginning writers. She has experience in psychological assessment and intervention with children and adolescents. She also worked with children from disadvantaged backgrounds and teenagers with disabilities. In 2016, Ana was research assistant in the European project “Curriculum Quality Analysis and Impact Review of European Early Childhood Education and Care” (CARE). Her main research interests are parental involvement, reading and writing disabilities, motivation to read and write, and inclusive education.

Carla Silva is a researcher at the Center for Social Research and Intervention (CIS-IUL) of ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. She is currently finishing her PhD in Psychology at ISCTE-IUL, which focuses on the construction of children’s and adolescents’ self-representations in risky family environments, and their associations with psychosocial adjustment. Her research interests include child/adolescent developmental outcomes related to interpersonal experiences in significant relational contexts, namely the family and school environments, with a focus on social interactions with parents, peers, and teachers. She has also several years of professional experience as a school psychologist and in a Children and Youth Protection Committee.

Cecília Aguiar is an assistant professor at ISCTE-IUL and a senior researcher at CIS-IUL. With background in developmental and educational psychology, she has both conducted and participated in research on ECEC quality and teacher practices in ECEC, focusing on children’s social outcomes (i.e., peer social interactions, networks, and relationships) and, especially, on the social participation of children with disabilities. Other research areas include adult-child interactions, early childhood special education, and early childhood intervention. Cecília Aguiar has been awarded several grants, all of which secured through competitive calls promoted by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, including a doctoral fellowship, two post-doctoral fellowships, and two Scientific Career Development Fellowships awarded to her as the principal investigator of two projects: “Enhancing peer relationships: Preschool teachers' ideas and practices” and “Enhancing social participation of preschoolers with disabilities”. She was a researcher in project FP7-SSH-2013-2: Curriculum Quality Analysis and Impact Review of European ECEC (project no. 613318).

Dulce Martins is a PhD in Education-Psychology of Education, researcher at CIS-IUL (research unit of ISCTE-IUL). She is a staff member in the Educational Territories for Priority Intervention program (TEIP). Her professional trajectory was initially as a teacher of Math/Science in courses of regular and vocational education for about 8 years at Portuguese public schools. She was member in some national and international projects, namely in the “ECLIPSE” project- European Citizenship Learning In a Program for Secondary Education (2012-2014; European Commission, Lifelong Learning Program, Comenius Multilateral projects 517815 –LLP- 1- 2011-I- IT- COMENIUS –CMP).
She had collaborated with national and international researchers and had published books, books chapters and articles. Her research interests are on citizenship education, identity and career development and management, and on groups with risk/delinquency behaviour in social exclusion situation.

Inês Alves Ferreira is a research assistant at CIS-IUL (Center for Research and Social Intervention) at ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa.
Inês holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Systemic Psychology and her research interests include community development and intervention issues, and people-environment studies (namely within residential contexts). During her Master she was part of community development projects working with multicultural communities in disadvantaged areas. Her thesis focused on perceived insecurity and residential satisfaction among residents of a disadvantaged neighbourhood in Lisbon. She has also worked as a research assistant in environmental psychology at Lund University, participating in several research projects on human perception and interaction with environmental factors in outdoor and indoor environments.

Dr. Ricardo Borges Rodrigues has a PhD in Social Psychology at ISCTE-IUL (2012), is an Invited Assistant Professor at ISCTE-IUL and researcher at CIS-IUL. His research focuses on the development of intergroup relations in childhood involving racial, ethnic, social class, and age groups. He is specifically interested in the predictors and moderators of prejudice and discrimination, especially (explicit and implicit) group norms. Alongside, his research also aims to uncover the structural and psychological factors underlying the development of group and social norms. He is currently the coordinator of the Master in Psychology of Intercultural Relations and the TEIP3 project that involves consultancy to 18 public school districts.

Dr. Rita Guerra holds a PhD in Social Psychology and is currently a senior researcher at CIS-IUL. She has conducted research on intergroup relations among ethnic majority and minority groups, focusing on contact-based interventions to reduce prejudice among children. Recently she has been working on acculturation dynamics among immigrant children and its impact on well-being and school achievement. She was the PI of 3 research projects secured through competitive national calls by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the European Fund for the Integration of Third Country Nationals). She has also been awarded several competitive grants, i.e., doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships, and two Scientific Career Development Fellowships awarded to her as the principal investigator of two projects: “How much do we need them? A functional intergroup perspective of assimilation and integration among different status groups” and “Narcissistic ingroup love in Europe: threat, identity indispensability and extreme forms of national identification”.