Mónica Dias is Director of the Institute for Political Studies of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP), where she teaches since 1992, and Head of the PhD Programme. At the IEP, she also organizes the annual Summit of Democracies, a simulation of a meeting of Democratic States for University and School students.

She holds a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from the IEP-UCP and works currently in the field of International Politics focussing on Democracy Studies, Peace Studies and International Conflict as Professor and Senior Researcher.
She graduated and holds a MA in Cultural Studies and besides her academic experience, which includes lecturing at the University of Cologne, Germany, and participating in a Summer Institute in the USA on Federalism (Fulbright), she translated several books and was a lecturer at international youth seminars on multi-cultural Education, Leadership and Conflict Management organised by the European Commission. From 1996 to 2000, she worked at the Portuguese Parliament as consultant for the Committee on Education, Science and Culture.