Maria Elvira Callapez holds a B. Sc. in Applied Chemistry, Branch: Organic Chemistry (1993), and a M. Sc. in History and Philosophy of Science (1998), and PhD in History and Philosophy of Science (2002). Her PhD thesis was on Technology Transfer –  The Introduction in Portugal of PVC Industry by CIRES.  From 2004 to 2007 she was a Post Doc at University of California, Berkeley (UCB) in the Office for History of Science & Technology, on the analysis of the prohibition of substances used by the plastics industry, namely the use of phthalates in the production of toys made of PVC for babies and children under 5 years of age. Her research interests and publications focus on the history of chemical engineering teaching in Portugal, material culture studies, history of plastics in Portugal, technology transfer and environmental regulation. She has taught in master's and doctoral programs and has been visiting scholar at UCB. She has been member of executive committee of International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC), since 2011. Currently she is a visiting scholar at UCB, and a research fellow at Centro Interuniversitário de História da Ciência e Tecnologia. She is PI of a awarded research project ( PTDC/IVC-HFC/174/2014, on Contributions for a History of Plastics in Portugal, funded by Foundation of Science and Technology. The exhibition Plasticity - a History of Plastics in Portugal (Plasticidade - uma História dos Plásticos em Portugal) in the Leiria Museum, Leiria, Portugal, an output of her project, “The Triumph of Bakelite - Contributions for a History of Plastics in Portugal” awarded the 2019 Dibner Award for Excellence in Museum Exhibits and four more prizes from Associação Portuguesa de Museologia (APOM), in December 2020.  

See other publications on her cienciavitae: https://www.cienciavitae.pt//.

Maria also was a Visiting Scholar at the CSTMS Office for the History of Science and Technology from 2012-2013.