_{© Nuno Barbosa}

Ana Cristina Santos, researcher at CES, has been elected President of the European Sociological Association (ESA) for the 2026-2028 term. Her election was announced on Friday, 28 August, during the ESA General Assembly, held in Warsaw.

A sociologist with a PhD in Gender Studies from the University of Leeds and a Coordinating Researcher with Habilitation in Human Rights at the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, at CES she coordinates the Thematic Line on Democracy, Justice and Human Rights and co-coordinates the PhD in Feminist Studies. She has published extensively and led a series of research projects on LGBTQI+ issues, the body, intimate citizenship and queer ageing, including two grants awarded by the European Research Council (ERC).

About the ESA

Founded in 1994, the European Sociological Association (ESA) is a non-profit academic association based in Paris, bringing together more than 3,000 members organised into 38 Research Networks dedicated to different areas of sociology.

Its main aim is to facilitate research, teaching and communication among sociologists, as well as between sociologists and other scientists, promoting the development of sociological knowledge at a European scale. The association also seeks to give sociology a voice in European debates and policymaking, in a context of profound social transformations across the continent.

To fulfil these aims, the ESA organises conferences in various European cities, supports dozens of events and publishes two leading scientific journals, European Societies and the European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology, reinforcing its role in training new sociologists and shaping the European research agenda.

_29.08.2026