Helena Barroco was admitted to the Portuguese Diplomatic Service in 1997 and is a Diplomatic Advisor to the President of Portugal, Mr. Jorge Sampaio, since 1999. From 2006 onwards she serves mainly in the context of his international activities (i.e., United Nations Alliance of Civilizations; fight against Tuberculosis as part of the MDG’s Agenda; Dialogue Café Global Network; the Global Commission on Drugs Policy). Since 2013 she coordinates the programmes developed by the Global Platform for Syrian Students www.globalplatformforsyrianstudents.org and advocates for the promotion of higher education in emergencies in a sustainable and systemic way. Ms Barroco has degrees in Philosophy, Linguistics, and a PhD in Philosophy of Quantum Physics from UCL, Leuven Catholic University (Belgium).