Bio notes

Ana Cristina Santos is a Sociologist and Research Director with Habilitation in Human Rights at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra (CES-UC). She is Principal Investigator of TRACE – Tracing Queer Citizenship over Time: Ageing, ageism and age-related LGBTI+ politics in Europe, an ERC-funded project exploring LGBTQI+ ageing and citizenship across Southern Europe. She has led research projects on sexuality, gender, LGBTQI+ citizenship, ageing and human rights and is the co-director of documentary film Outlasting – Living Archives of Older Queers. In August 2026, she was elected President of the European Sociological Association (ESA).

Nuno Barbosa is an independent filmmaker and multimedia artist based in Portugal, working across documentary, music videos, advertising, motion graphics and mixed media. He holds a BA in Communication Design and a Master’s Degree in Multimedia Communication – Digital Audiovisuals and is currently an Invited Assistant Professor at the Department of Communication and Art at the University of Aveiro. His documentary work has received several national and international awards. He is the co-director of Outlasting – Living Archives of Older Queers.

Joana Brilhante is an Associate Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra (CES-UC). She holds a degree in Anthropology, a Master’s degree in Human Biology and Evolution and a PhD in Human Rights in Contemporary Societies from the University of Coimbra, with a doctoral thesis examining the experiences of LGBTQI+ people through the lens of geographical isolation. She is currently a researcher on TRACE – Tracing Queer Citizenship over Time: Ageing, ageism and age-related LGBTI+ politics in Europe. She is co-coordinator of the CES Sexualities Research Group (GPS-CES) and received the European Sociological Association Young Scholar Award in 2024.

Gabi Calleja joined the Council of Europe’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Unit as a Senior Policy Advisor in March 2023. She previously served as Head of the SOGIGESC Unit within Malta’s Human Rights Directorate, from June 2018 to February 2023, and as Chair of Malta’s LGBTIQ Consultative Council from 2015 to 2020. Between 2007 and June 2018, she was Coordinator of the Malta LGBTIQ Rights Movement. She has been involved in LGBTIQ advocacy, legislation and policy development, strategic planning, training and capacity building, awareness-raising and support to the LGBTIQ community since 2003. She served on the ILGA-Europe Executive Board between 2010 and 2014 and holds a Master’s degree in Youth and Community Studies from the University of Malta.

Pedro Fidalgo is a Sociologist and Junior Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra (CES) since 2019. PhD Student in Human Rights in the Contemporary Societies (CES/III-UC). Research Manager at project TRACE - Tracing Queer Citizenship over Time: Ageing, ageism and age-related LGBTI+ politics in Europe. Holds a Master's degree in International Relations - Peace, Security and Development Studies from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra (2022), and a Bachelor's degree in Sociology (2019) from the same University. He collaborated with project REPLAY - Approaches to Peace and the (re)production of violence in Mozambique (2022-2023) and with project TIMES - Institutional Trajectories and Social Enterprise Models in Portugal (2019-2021). Member of the Research Group on Sexualities at CES (GPS-CES) and co-coordinator of the Sexuality and Gender Thematic Section of the Portuguese Sociological Association (APS). His research interests include rural and poor queer studies, queer (auto)biographical research and peace and violence studies.

Maria Ellul is Head of the Gender Mainstreaming Unit at the Human Rights Directorate in Malta. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in European Studies (Hons.) and International Relations from the University of Malta, as well as a Master of Arts in Diplomacy and International Relations from Lancaster University. Maria’s professional focus lies in advancing gender mainstreaming policies at both local and international levels. Furthermore, she holds the position of Vice-Chair and Maltese representative at the Gender Equality Commission at the Council of Europe, and is a member of the EU Commission’s High Level Group on Gender Equality and EIGE’s Expert Forum.