Maria Panayiotou was born on June 5, 1982 in Larnaca.  

She studied History and Archaeology at the University of Cyprus from where she graduated in 2004 with honors. In 2006 she completed her postgraduate studies at the University of Birmingham where she received the title Mphil (B) in Modern East Mediterranean History. In 2017 she was awarded a PhD in Modern and Contemporary History from the University of Cyprus. 

Since 2004 she has worked in more than seven research projects of excellence, co-funded by the European Development Funds, the University of Cyprus, the Research Promotion Foundation and the Anastasios G. Leventis Foundation, where she gained significant experience in archival research and research program management. She singles out her employment as a member of the Scientific Team of the University of Cyprus for the project Cyprus File for the period 2007-2010. From March 2016 until February 2023 she had the honor to be Head of the Press Office of EDEK and Spokesperson of the party. From 2017 to 2022 she worked as a Special Scientist teaching economic history at the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Cyprus.  

She has published more than 16 scientific articles in mixed volumes and international scientific journals (such as the European History Quarterly) on the topic of economic history, while she has already participated in a large number of international scientific conferences, most recently the International Conference of the Modern Greek Studies Association in Toronto, Canada (October 2022).  

On March 2023 she was appointed as Environment Commissioner by the President of the Republic of Cyprus.