Maria José da Silva Fernandes is a Principal Coordinator Professor in the Accounting and Taxation Department of the School of Management of the Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave (IPCA). She completed her Aggregate Degree in Management at the Lisbon Institute of Economics and Management (ISEG) in April 2012, and her PhD in Economic and Business Sciences at the University of Santiago de Compostela in April 2004. She's President of the Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave (IPCA) since July 2017 and President of the Coordinating Council of Higher Polytechnic Institutes (CCISP) since February 2022. She has been a member of IPCA's Research Centre on Accounting and Taxation (CICF) since 2018 and was Director of the CICF from June 2008 to July 2017. She also collaborates with the Research Center in Political Science of the University of Minho. She's President of the Public Accounting Specialty College of the Order of Certified Accountants (OCC) since June 2021. Since 2017, she has collaborated in the PhD Program in Accounting at the University of Aveiro. She plays an active role as a jury member for doctorates, master's degrees and specialists and in supervising doctoral theses (1 thesis in progress and 1 completed) and master's dissertations (12 completed). She has been coordinator of the Anuário Financeiro dos Municípios Portugueses (Financial Yearbook of Portuguese Municipalities) since 2019, an annual publication with national impact, supported by the Portuguese Association of Certified Accountants (OCC) and the Portuguese Court of Auditors, and co-author since its beginning (2004). She has (co)authored more than :15 articles in journals, most of which are indexed in Scopus/WoS (e.g. JPBAFM, PMM, RAP, IJPA, FAM); 8 peer-reviewed book chapters; 2 edited books; 2 published books; 50 conference papers. She has participated in the organizing committee of 8 international conferences and in the scientific committee of an average of 2/3 international conferences per year.