Professor Maria Helena Chaves Carreiras was elected Rector of Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon on Friday, 20 February 2026, for the 2026–2030 term of office, with an absolute majority of the votes cast by members present (27 votes in favour and 4 blank votes).
A Full Professor at Iscte in the fields of Sociology, Public Policy and Social Research Methodology, Helena Carreiras currently serves as Vice-Rector for Internationalisation and the PIONEER Alliance at Iscte and is an integrated researcher at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES-Iscte), where a long and distinguished research career has been developed. Scholarly work has consistently focused on gender and society, armed forces, civil–military relations, public policies on security and defence, gender integration in military institutions, and the gender dimension of international security—areas in which wide national and international recognition has been achieved.
A PhD in Social and Political Sciences was obtained from the European University Institute in Florence, followed by an academic and scientific trajectory strongly anchored in these domains of expertise, with a substantial publication record, coordination of and participation in research projects, and the promotion of international research networks. Various academic and scientific leadership roles have been held, including Director of the School of Sociology and Public Policy at Iscte (2016–2019) and President of ERGOMAS – European Research Group on Military and Society (2017–2019), a leading European scholarly association in the field of military and society studies.
In the sphere of public service and links to the defence sector, roles included Deputy Director of the National Defence Institute (2010–2012) and subsequently Director of the institution (2019–2022), as the first woman to hold the post. This was followed by service as Minister of National Defence of Portugal from 2022 to 2024.
CIES congratulates the Rector-elect and wishes every success for the forthcoming term of office.
