Biography

João Arriscado Nunes is a Senior Researcher at at the Center for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal, of which he was Executive Director (1998-2000) and a member of the Coordination of the Epistemologies of the South (alice-ES) Research Program. Full Professor of Sociology (Retired) at the School of Economics , University of Coimbra. He was co-coordinator of the Doctoral Program "Governance, Knowledge and Innovation), a member of the Advisory Council of the Portuguese Sociological Association and of the coordinating team of the project ALICE - Strange Mirrors, Unexpected Lessons, directed by Boaventura de Sousa Santos and funded by the European Research Council (2011-2016). In 2011-2012, he was Visiting Researcher at Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His research interests include social studies of science and technology (namely social studies of biomedicine, health and the life sciences and public engagement with science and technology), political sociology (democracy and participation), Human Rights and social theory. Co-editor of  Enteados de Galileu: A Semiperiferia no Sistema Mundial da Ciência (Porto: Afrontamento, 2001, with Maria Eduarda Gonçalves); Reinventing Democracy: Grassroots Movements in Portugal (London: Routledge, 2006, with Boaventura de Sousa Santos), The Dynamics of Patient Organizations in Europe (Paris: Presses de l'École des Mines, with Madeleine Akrich, Florence Patterson and Vololona Rabeharisoa); Objectos Impuros: Experiências em Estudos Sobre a Ciência (Porto: Afrontamento, 2008, with Ricardo Roque). He was Principal Investigator of the projects "Science Engaging Society: Life Sciences, Social Sciences and Publics" (BIOSENSE) and "Evaluating the State of Public Knowledge on Health and Health Information in Portugal" (Harvard Medical School - Portugal Program), both funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology, Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education. He was a participant in other national and international research projects (as a coordinator of the Portuguese teams), including "European Patient Organizations in the Knowledge Society" - EPOKS"; "Deepening Ethical Engagement and Participation in Emerging Nanotechnologies - DEEPEN"; "Researching Inequality through Science and Technology - ResIST", "Governance, Health and Medicine. Opening Dialogue between Social Scientists and Users - MEDUSE", all funded by the European Commission, as well as a member of the Steering Committees of the networks European Neuroscience and Society Network - European Science Foundation and Public Health Genomics European Network - PHGEN (EC). He acted as the coordinator of the Portuguese team of the international project "Reinventing Social Emancipation", directed by Boaventura de Sousa Santos and funded by the MacArthur and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundations.