He holds an Aggregation in Design (2015) and a PhD in Communication Sciences (2006). He is a lecturer at ESADand a researcher at esad—idea. He was a Visiting Full Professor at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto and has collaborated with various educational institutions since 1998. He was a member of the evaluation panel in Architecture, Design, and Urbanism of the FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, and is part of the evaluation team for study cycles in Design (specialization in Communication Design) and Multimedia at A3ES – Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education. He is also a tutor for the New Scientific Talents Program of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

In the past three years, José Bártolo has served as General Curator of the Porto Design Biennale; curator of the exhibitions D — Collection on Display (2021), Millennials — New Millennium Design (2019), and Sinal — 100 Years of Design in Telecommunications and Postal Services in Portugal (2019); he is a member of the research team of one R&D project; author of eight book chapters and six journal articles; editor of three exhibition catalogues; and co-editor of the Post Millennial Journal (2019). One of his most recent articles, “The Subject-Image or the Post-Millennial Condition”, was published by esad—idea and the Dutch publisher Onomatopee in Image in the Post-Millennium (2021).