Cecília Aguiar is an associate professor at ISCTE-IUL and a senior researcher at CIS-IUL. With background in developmental and educational psychology, she has both conducted and participated in research on ECEC quality and teacher practices in ECEC, focusing on children’s social outcomes (i.e., peer social interactions, networks, and relationships) and, especially, on the social participation of children with disabilities. Other research areas include adult-child interactions, early childhood special education, and early childhood intervention. Aguiar served as an Associate Editor of the Early Childhood Research Quarterly between 2016 and 2019. She has been awarded several grants, all of which secured through competitive calls promoted by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, including a doctoral fellowship, two post-doctoral fellowships, and two Scientific Career Development Fellowships awarded to her as the principal investigator of two projects: “Enhancing peer relationships: Preschool teachers' ideas and practices” and “Enhancing social participation of preschoolers with disabilities”. Further, she coordinated the dissemination workpackage in the FP7 CARE Project and the workpackage on curriculum, pedagogy, and social climate in the H2020 ISOTIS Project. Aguiar was also the national coordinator for Erasmus+ Projects KIT@ and BECERID. She is the coordinator the team of PrimeirosAnos.pt, a research-based blog on inclusiveness in early childhood education. Between 2019 and 2022, she coordinated the Erasmus+ project PARTICIPA - Professional Development Tools Supporting Participation Rights in Early Childhood Education. Currently, she is the coordinator of the Erasmus+ project KidLe: Developing an intercultural game as a pedagogic tool for the inclusion of pupils with migrant bacKground in new Learning environments.