Dr. María Esther Fernández Mostaza has been a full professor in the Department of Sociology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) since 2002, where she teaches the master's course "Management of Religious Diversity" and sociological subjects in the faculties of Economics and Business and Anthropology studies.

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His research focuses on the processes of religious socialization and the intersection between religion, identity and diversity, analyzing how religious communities construct meaning through specific socializing practices. He has particularly studied Opus Dei as the topic of his doctoral thesis and the Culture of Deaf people, during his postdoctoral research at universities in Finland, the Netherlands and Italy. He participates in prominent projects such as "Between science and religion: an empirical study to understand the role of religious and spiritual beliefs in opposition to biomedical technologies" (2021-2025), "Religious expressions in urban space in Madrid and Barcelona" (2016-2020) and the "European Network on Science, Religion and Health" (2021-2023). It is worth noting that he is IP of the Erasmus + project "HEARTS: Higher Education Action Response for Trauma Support" (2023-2025).

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His teaching excellence is supported by five teaching periods, obtaining special mention in the last one for maximum score. He has directed more than 25 Final Degree Projects, two published as book chapters on urban religiosity and death rites. His innovative methodological approach combines classical sociology with therapeutic and theatrical techniques to understand social phenomena.

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She has developed an outstanding career in university management as Academic Secretary, Vice-Dean of Academic Organization, Coordinator of the Degree in Political Science and Sociology (six years) at the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology of the UAB, and Director of the Sociology department, obtaining four management positions (the maximum number recognized).

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Her international projection includes memberships in the Council of Doctoral Professors of the Unicusano University of Rome, the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies on Latin America (CeSIAL) and she participates as an evaluator at the National University of Colombia.