Nuno Sampaio is an Assistant Professor, Integrated Researcher, and Coordinator of the Advanced Programme in Local Government at the Institute of Political Studies of the Portuguese Catholic University.

He served as Secretary of State for Business and Cooperation in the 24th Constitutional Government (April 2024–June 2025).

He held the position of Adviser for Political Affairs to the President of the Portuguese Republic between July 2025 and March 2026, and previously between 2021 and 2024.

Earlier in his career, he also served as Adviser for Political Affairs to President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa between 2016 and 2021, and as Adviser for Parliamentary Affairs to President Aníbal Cavaco Silva between 2006 and 2016.

He holds a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from the Institute of Political Studies of the Portuguese Catholic University (2018), where he also completed his Master’s degree (2008). He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Higher Institute of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Lisbon. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management (INDEG-ISCTE) and completed the Advanced Management Programme (AESE/IESE Business School, Navarra). He was a visiting student at the University of Oxford, supported by a merit-based scholarship awarded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation as part of his Master’s studies.

He is the author of Elections in the European Union (FFMS, 2019) and The Portuguese Electoral System: Chronicle of a Postponed Reform (Alêtheia, 2009), as well as numerous academic articles in the fields of Political Science and International Relations. He is a regular contributor to the media as a commentator and analyst.

At the beginning of his professional career, he worked as a manager in private-sector companies. At the local government level, he served as a Municipal Councillor and as a Member and Group Leader in the Municipal Assembly of Lourinhã.