Telma de Mattos Ruas holds a Master in Art History from the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa (1987) and a Master in Cultural and political History from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (1995). She attended the PhD program in Comunicación Institucional e Empresarial at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, having obtained the Diploma in Advanced Studies (2001/2002). She also attended the program for Leaders in Education School Turnaround Leadership Program “Starting Fresh: Establishing Leadership, Building a Vision and Creating the Conditions for Student Success” at Virginia University Darden Business School and Curry School of Education (2007). She attends the PhD program PIUDHIST - Inter-University Doctoral Programme in History (Change and Continuity in a Global Word), a partnership between five Portuguese higher education institutes: Instituto de Ciências Sociais and Faculdade de Letras (both from Universidade de Lisboa), Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Universidade Católica Portuguesa and Universidade de Évora. She is currently writing her PhD thesis entitled Education: words and actions. From parliamentary debate to political action in Portuguese liberalism (1820-1876) (Educação: as palavras e os atos. Do debate parlamentar à ação política no liberalismo português (1820-1876)) under the supervision of Professor Sérgio Ribeiro Pinto. Researcher at the Centre of Religious History Studies (Centro de Estudos de História Religiosa) - Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP-CEHR). Assistant Professor at Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa, Portugal.