Vernardakis studied at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and graduated with a BA in political science, and afterwards studied in France, taking diplomas at the Sorbonne before returning to the University of Athens to take his PhD in 1995. In 1993, he founded the polling organisation VPRC, and became its president in 2004. After a term as a lecturer at the University of Crete (2004-2009), he became an assistant professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In the January 2015 Greek legislative election he stood election for Athens A and was seated with Syriza without election.
