Dari Escandell Maestre (Petrer, 1982), PhD in Language Studies and senior lecturer at the University of Alacant's Department of Catalan Studies.

His scientific career, with two 6-year research activity periods recognised by the Spanish Committee for Research Activity Assessment (CNEAI), focuses on children's and young adult literature. In Hàbits i tendències de lectura en el sistema educatiu valencià ('Reading habits and trends in the Valencian educational system', 2015), a monograph derived from his PhD thesis, he analyses the factors that influence the reading of literature in school settings. Moreover, he has taken part in up to five ministry-funded R&D&I projects on autobiographical literature, virtual epitexts and the construction of the non-academic literary canon, in addition to his research work on cultural studies and illustrated books. This has resulted in many high-impact publications: books and book chapters with prestigious publishers, plus 15 articles in WoS-, Scopus, SCImago- and FECYT-indexed journals. Mr Escandell has also participated in about 50 international conferences at prestigious European universities and served on the organising committee of up to 30 conferences, most of them international. He currently directs Caplletra. Revista Internacional de Filologia.

Regarding knowledge transfer, he has advised the FULL Foundation on the drafting of the Valencian Plan for Promoting Books and Reading and has curated an institutional exhibition on children's picture book, targeted at those involved in the world of children's books and reading.

As for university management positions, he was Deputy Vice President on the University of Alacant's management team (2016-2020) and, previously, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Education (2013-2016). At present, he serves as Academic Vice Secretary on the Managing Board of the Interuniversity Institute of Valencian Studies (IIFV) and secretary of one of the IIFV branches.

His teaching career has always been linked to university settings. After 20 academic years as a full-time lecturer, he has more than 3,000 hours of regular teaching on official degree programmes (Master's, undergraduate and former first- and second-cycle undergraduate degrees, as well as international visits under the Erasmus+ Teaching Staff programme). He currently has three 5-year and five 3-year teaching activity periods, five consecutive Excellence in Teaching awards (Docentia programme) and about 50 research publications on university teaching.

For his work, he has been recently accredited as a university professor by the Spanish Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA).