She was part of the group that articulated the foundation of the Brazilian Center for Research in Physics (CBPF), an institute she created together with José Leite Lopes and César Lattes in 1949.

[2][3] Before obtaining her doctorate, she was already an assistant professor in the Mathematics Department of the FNFi, participating in the creation of the CBPF, together with César Lattes (1924–2005) and José Leite Lopes (1918–2006), in 1949.

In the same year, she taught Geometry in the Engineering course of the newly created Aeronautics Institute of Technology (Instituto Tecnológico da Aeronáutica – ITA) and worked, in the United States, at the Department of Mathematics of the University of Chicago.

In 1976, she took part in the foundation of the Group for Teaching and Research in Mathematics Education (Grupo de Ensino e Pesquisa em Educação Matemática – GEPEM), which was chaired by Maria Laura during the first eight years.

In 1981 she and a group of teachers developed the research project "Evaluation of students at the end of the 4th grade in public schools" (Avaliação dos alunos no final da 4ª série primária das escolas públicas) in the city of Rio de Janeiro, and in 1982 she joined the Ministry of Education's "Program for Integration of the University with Primary Education" (Programa de Integração da Universidade com o Ensino do 1º Grau).

On July 1, 1996, after 65 years of teaching and research career, she received the title of professor emeritus from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).