This years scientific committee
Pedro Gomes
Birkbeck Business School, University of London
Pedro Gomes is an economist and professor at Birkbeck, University of London, specialising in labour economics and macroeconomic policy. His research focuses on working time reduction, labour market institutions, and the future of work, and he is widely known for his work on the economic case for shorter working weeks, including policy-oriented research on the four-day workweek. Pedro Gomes has co-coordinated the national four-day working week trial in Portugal.
Rita Fontinha
University of Reading, Henley Business School
Rita Fontinha is a professor and researcher at the University of Reading, Henley Business School and a leading researcher in human resource management and organisational behaviour. She is a key figure in international research on the four-day workweek and co-coordinator of major pilot projects in Portugal, examining the impacts of working time reduction on productivity, employee well-being, and organisational performance. She is currently coordinating the four-day working week pilot within the public administration sector in the Azores, Portugal.
Sofia A. Cruz
School of Economics and Management of the University of Porto
Sofia Alexandra Cruz is an Associate Professor with Habilitation at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto, and a Researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the University of Porto. She holds a Post-Doctorate in Sociology of Organisations and Professional Groups (University of Porto and Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - founding member of the Université Paris-Saclay), a PhD in Sociology (University of Porto), a Master's in Social Sciences (University of Lisbon), and a Bachelor's degree in Sociology (University of Porto). Her main research interests are: working time reduction; work, digital platforms and artificial intelligence; time use and wellbeing; organisational culture and professional groups; sustainable development goals and corporate social responsibility. She currently coordinates the research project 'Work Time Reduction: The 4-Day Workweek', funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (2025–2027).
Ana Isabel Couto
University of Porto, Faculty of Economics
Ana Isabel Couto, sociologist, is professor at the School of Economics and Management of the University of Porto (FEP). With extensive experience in research, she is a researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the University of Porto (IS-UP), coordinating the research line of "Work, Employment, Professions and Organizations". The main fields of work and research interests are: corporate social responsibility (CSR), Work-life Balance (WLB), SMEs and entrepreneurship, labour market, HRMD, gender studies, sociology of work and organizations. At the current time she is co-coordinating a FCT funded project about work time reduction aimed at analysing the implementation process and the effects of the 4DWW on companies in Portugal, using a qualitative approach.
Joan Sanchis
University of Valencia
Joan Sanchis i Muz is an economist and Associate Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Valencia. His work focuses on labour economics and public policy, with particular expertise in working time reduction and the four-day workweek. He has been actively involved in the design and evaluation of pilot programmes in Spain and Europe, and his research integrates economic, ecological, and sociopolitical perspectives on reducing working hours.
Alexandra Arntsen
Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University.
Alexandra Arntsen is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University. Her research sits at the intersection of labour, ecological, and feminist economics, with a particular focus on working time reduction as a pathway to environmental sustainability. She examines how working hours relate to pro-environmental behaviour, well-being, and gender equality, and is actively involved in European research and policy networks on working time, including the European Work-Time Network.
Affiliated Universities and Organizations
