Assistant professor in the Department of Political Studies at the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the New University of Lisbon (INOVA FCSH). Researcher at the Portuguese Institute of International Relations (IPRI). Her research lies at the intersection of three disciplinary areas: history, law and political science, with a substantive focus on political thought, political institutions and the relationship between religion and politics, authoritarian regimes and transitions to democracy. Geographically, her work prioritises the Ibero-American circuit, with an emphasis on Portugal and Latin America.
She has been an invited professor at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Coimbra and a visiting professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In Spain, she regularly collaborates with the University of Seville, the UNED, the Miguel Hernández University and the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Paula has taken part in several international projects. She is currently the principal investigator at NOVA FCSH for the European project ‘Democracy at work in Europe: actors, cultures and models in historical and comparative perspective (1973–2023). Case studies from Germany, Spain, Italy and Portugal in the railway and energy sector’ (EURODEM_WORKSIPG), funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme.
Author of more than 140 publications, she has received three awards.