Ílison Dias Dos Santos is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Barcelona (Margarita Salas Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2023–2024) and a collaborating professor in the Master's Program in Criminology, Criminal Policy, and Sociology of Criminal Law (2023–2024). Previously, he was a Gastwissenschaftler (postdoctoral fellow) at Humboldt University of Berlin (2022–2023). He holds a PhD in Law from the University of Salamanca (Summa Cum Laude with International Distinction, 2020), where he received the Extraordinary Doctorate Award. He has been awarded several research fellowships, which enabled him to undertake academic stays in Brazil, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Argentina.
He has contributed to interdisciplinary research projects across Europe and Latin America, focusing on criminology, criminal law, and criminal policy. He is the author of several academic articles and books, including The New Critical Criminology (with Eugenio Raúl Zaffaroni) and Aporophobia and Punitive Power. He serves as the academic editor of the Ibero-American Criminal Sciences book series (Springer Nature) and the Reflexiones en Derecho Penal y Criminología book series (BdeF–Reus).
He served as president of the Center for Criminal Sciences at the Federal University of Bahia, where he is a founding member. He is affiliated with the Istituto di Studi Penalistici “Alimena” at the University of Calabria, serves on the editorial boards of specialized journals, and collaborates actively with scholars from various regions. He is fluent in multiple languages and regularly participates in international academic networks and conferences.