Maria Silva is Full Professor at the Catholic University, Porto, Portugal. She has got a MSc degree in Management Science and Operational Research from Warwick University in the U.K and a PhD degree in Management Science from Aston University, UK, and the ‘aggregation’ degree by Portuguese Catholic University. She has co-authored over 30 refereed academic publications in the efficiency and productivity analysis area, including applications of Data Envelopment Analysis. She has also co-authored, various book chapters from international editors like Kluwer Academic Publishers, Oxford University Press or Springer. She has applied the DEA technique in various fields including schools, bank branches, water companies, retail outlets, primary health care General Practice units and hospitals. She has also been the leading researcher of 3 projects financed by the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology, and vice-chair of the cost action Efficient justice for all. She has been also involved in consultancy work and acts as Associate Editor of the Journal of Productivity Analysis and is a former associate editor of Omega. She has been involved in several administrative roles in her faculty like director of the Management MSc for 3 years, or president of the scientific council for 2.5 years.