About MPU

Professor António de Almeida Costa is a distinguished educator and education administrator, having played various important roles in the area of education in different social sectors. At present he is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education (A3ES), a public entity in Portugal established for promoting and ensuring the quality of higher education.

During his distinguished career, Professor Almeida Costa has served in many important positions in higher education institutions and Portuguese or international entities. He has been Secretary of the State in the Area of Education in the Third, Fifth and Ninth Constitutional Governments of Portugal, Representative of Portugal in the Education Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCDE), Special Counsellor for Education Matters of President Mario Soares, Director of the R&D Office of the Ministry of Education and Sciences, Director General of Personnel and Administration of the Ministry of Education and Sciences, President of the Coordination Counsel of Private and Cooperative Education, President of the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, President of the Coordination Counsel of Polytechnic Higher Education and President of Evaluation Counsel of Polytechnic Higher Education.

Devoted fully to education, Professor Almeida Costa's research focus lies mainly in the field of education administration covering areas such as organizational models for the initial system of basic and secondary education; a model to evaluate the impacts of the continual formation system of basic and secondary education on teachers, schools and students; the global project of education system reform; the expectation of life-long education; the structure of the National Evaluation System of Higher Education in Portugal etc.

Major Publications authored or co-authored by Professor Almeida Costa include Compêndios Escolares de Matemática, Avaliação do Ensino Superior Politécnico Público: A Qualidade como Desafio: O Futuro como Horizonte, Projecto Global de Reforma do Sistema Educativo, Formação Inicial no Ensino Superior: Apresentação de Proposta de Realização de Cursos: Aspectos Metodológicos, Ensino Superior: Uma Visão para a Próxima Década and Avaliação para a Excelência: A Oportunidade de Bolonha.