Member of the International Advisory Board at the Brazilian Center of International Relations (CEBRI). Professor of Brazilian and Latin American Studies in the Department of War Studies and Coordinator of the Latin America Security and Defence Research Group at King's College London. At the same institution, he served as Director of the King's Brazil Institute (2020–2022), Director of the MA Programme in Strategic Communications, and International Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy (2021–2023).

Dr. Carvalho is an Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and an Honorary Associate Professor at the Institute of the Americas, University College London. He earned his PhD from the University of Passau, Germany, in 2006. He also holds both a Master's degree and a Bachelor's degree from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora.

From 2008 to 2014, he was Professor of Brazilian Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark, where he also served as Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies, Coordinator of the Brazilian Studies Programme, and Honorary Consul of Brazil. As a scholar, he has an extensive academic record spanning a wide range of fields, including literature, religion, history, music, diplomacy, international relations, and security and defence studies, with a consistent focus on Brazil and Latin America.

In addition to his academic activities, Dr. Carvalho is also a professional musician and currently conducts the King's Brazil Ensemble in London. In 2021, he was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by the Brazilian Army Command and General Staff College (ECEME). In 2012, he founded Brasiliana: Journal for Brazilian Studies and served as its Editor-in-Chief until 2020. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Anthem Brazilian Studies Series at Anthem Press.