Cristina Montalvão Sarmento has been Secretary-General of the Association of Portuguese-Speaking Universities since 2006, founder and Director of the Political Observatory, Professor at the ISCSP of the University of Lisbon and guest researcher at the Laboratory of Power Networks and Cultural Relations at UERJ. Her main areas of investigation are Political Theory, Public Policy, Security Studies and Political Culture. A member of several Political Science Associations, she held academic management roles at FCSH-UNL where she was Deputy Assistant Director for Research and Assistant director of the Cultural History Center where she coordinated the research line in political studies.