João Arriscado Nunes is Full Professor of Sociology at the School of Economics and Senior Researcher at the Center for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal, of which he was Executive Director (1998-2000). He is co-coordinator of the Doctoral Programme "Governance, Knowledge and Innovation). 

In 2011-2012, he was Visiting Researcher at Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ in Rio de Janeiro). His research interests include social studies of science and technology (namely social studies of biomedicine, health and the life sciences and public engagement with science and technology), political sociology (democracy and participation) and social theory. 

He is the co-editor, among others, of Reinventing Democracy: Grassroots Movements in Portugal (London: Routledge, 2006, with Boaventura de Sousa Santos), The Dynamics of Patient Organizations in Europe (Paris: Presses de l'École des Mines, with Madeleine Akrich, Florence Patterson and Vololona Rabeharisoa); Objectos Impuros: Experiências em Estudos Sobre a Ciência (Porto: Afrontamento, 2008, with Ricardo Roque).