Historian and full professor at the Faculty of Human Sciences of the Catholic University of Portugal. His areas of research and teaching are Portuguese and international history of the 19th and 20th centuries, in the political, institutional, cultural, and intellectual fields. He is the author of around 130 chapters and articles in collective books, academic journals, and volumes of national and international annals, of around 190 texts in dictionaries, encyclopedias, or catalogues, and of 20 books in the field of contemporary Portuguese history, having coordinated or co-edited another 10 books. He has presented around 140 conferences and communications at national scientific events and in Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States.
He is a researcher at the Center for Communication and Culture Studies at the Faculty of Human Sciences, a professor at the Institute of Political Studies, and a columnist for Rádio Renascença, with regular appearances on radio and television programs, providing historical commentary or current political events. He was Director of the Faculty of Human Sciences at UCP between 2012 and 2016 and is currently Director of the Interuniversity Doctoral Program in History and a member of the Board of Directors of the Scientific Society of the Catholic University of Portugal.
In 2011, he received the “National Defense” Award from the Ministry of Defense and the Portuguese Military History Commission for his book Napoleonic Europe and Portugal. Revolutionary Messianism, Politics, War and Public Opinion (published by Tribuna da História). In 2021, he was awarded the «Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation» Prize for Modern and Contemporary History of Portugal by the Portuguese Academy of History for his book Alfredo da Silva and the CUF. Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Commitment (published by Principia Editora). In 2022, the exhibition D. Maria II. From Brazilian princess to queen of Portugal, 1819-1853, curated by him, received the Prize for Best Temporary Exhibition in Portugal, granted by the Portuguese Museology Association.