Rita Gouveia (Tondela, 1983). She started her academic career in the field of Psychology. She holds a degree in Social Psychology (2006) and a master in Psychology of Education, Development and Counselling (2008) by the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences in the University of Coimbra. She got her PhD in 2014 in Sociology by the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon (ICS-UL) with the thesis "Personal networks in Portugal: Combining a configurational and lifecourse approaches". As a post-doc researcher in the University of Geneva, she studied the longitudinal effects of personal networks on conjugal and psychological vulnerability of heterosexual couples. Currently, the researcher is developing a post-doc project funded by the Science National Foundation (FCT), named "Rethinking personal relationships and family meanings in same-sex couples". She belongs to the research group "LIFE - Lifecourses, Inequalities and Solidarities: Practices and Policies" and she also collaborates in the OFAP - Observatory of Families and Family Policies. She was member of the European Society for Family Relationships (ESFR) between 2012 and 2018 and she is currently member of the executive board of the Research Network "Families and Intimate Life" of the European Sociological Association (ESA).

Keywords: personal networks; families; conjugalities; lifecourse; social network analysis