Mário Vale has a Degree in Geography, a Master’s degree in Human Geography and Local and Regional Planning and a PhD Degree in Human Geography from the University of Lisbon. He holds a position as Full Professor at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon. He was Visiting Research Fellow at CURDS (Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies), at the University of Newcastle) in 2006 and a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the Department of Geography at UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) in 2013. Currently, he is Director of the Centre for Geographical Studies, University of Lisbon, and a member of ZOE research cluster in CEG.
He has been working on urban and regional economic change, especially in the European periphery, combining institutional, evolutionary and political economy perspectives in economic geography. His research has been supported by several research projects of national and international (FP4, 5 and 6, Gremi-T, Integrated Actions and FCT).
He was President of the Portuguese Association of Geographers (2004-2008) and Vice-Chair of the Regional Studies Association (2008-2011) and is currently FeRSA (Fellow of the Regional Studies Association) and RSA Ambassador to Portugal.