At the Opening Ceremony for the 2009/2010 Academic Year on the 18th of November in the Aula Magna of the University of Lisbon Chancellery, the Chancellor of the University of Lisbon, Professor António Sampaio da Nóvoa announced his pleasure at seeing the government’s intention to establish a “contract of trust” with Higher Education, but at the same time criticized the “bureaucracy” imposed upon universities and which seems to drive them away from what is essential. The Chancellor thus mentioned the situation that has been the case over recent years and which he classified as “almost unbearable” due to the “permanent adapting” to new rules, laws and regulations.
"The “bureaucracy” imposed upon universities seems to drive them away from what is essential".
He recalled the “thousand adaptations demanded by the Bologna Process”, followed by the new Juridical Regime of the Higher Education Institutions (REJIES). The alterations to the status of the teaching career, since September, have also meant the approving of “a dozen or so new regulations, in a difficult process involving inevitable conflicts”, he stated.
"The contract of trust that we wish for will constitute a new breathing space for the universities".
For the Chancellor the problem has to do with “management views that have brought in new forms of bureaucracy that are even more stifling than the previous ones”, but he stressed that "the contract of trust that we wish for will also constitute a new breathing space, a new breath of life for the universities”. In his speech António Sampaio da Nóvoa also tried to respond to two questions. How can one build the future of the university? “It is built from basic education, from childhood, from the work carried out on our children, forming a solid base for training,” he stated. How can one build the future of science? “From higher education. In a country like Portugal investment in science is decisive, but it would be a mistake if it is carried out in detriment to higher education,” the Chancellor replied.
“The creating of a university that is an international reference should be the dream for our generation”.
Professor António Sampaio da Nóvoa considered that “throughout our history we have never had a university that was an international reference. A mesh of fifteen universities and fifteen polytechnics is absurd in a country of our size. The creating of a university that is an international reference should be the dream for our generation,” he affirmed.
The ceremony also included the granting of Diplomas and PhD Certificates for the 2008/2009 academic year.
PhDs by the University of Lisbon Academic Year 2008/2009:
Faculty of Letters: 37
Faculty of Law: 4
Faculty of Medicine: 13
Faculty of Sciences: 79
Faculty of Pharmacy: 10
Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences: 4
Faculty of Fine Arts: 6
Faculty of Dental Medicine: 2
Institute of Social Sciences: 6
PhD in Nursing: 1
In the previous speech the President of the Academic Association of the University of Lisbon, André Moz Caldas, alluded to the deepening of relations with polytechnics and other institutions in Lisbon so that the University of Lisbon might “stop being a regional university and achieve a European and world dimension.
“We will not go along with those who wish to force students into being research grant holders.”
This has to be a priority of the University, as well as that of the Erasmus city it wishes to be.” In relation to the Bologna Process, André Caldas considered that “the instruments of mobility remain the same; so do those of teaching and learning. In short, what was interesting in Bologna was not carried out, which decisively puts the quality of teaching into jeopardy”. He declared he was against those who wish to force students into being research grant holders, stating that “work experience and that of life itself qualify people, adding value to their scientific work. That excessive elitism is over, and should be definitively left behind.”
Before this, the opening ceremony had started with the speech by Joana Ferreira Soares, a chancellery staff member, who purposely left out financings, strategies and numbers in order to focus upon the people who together make up the University of Lisbon – teachers, researchers, students and support staff. “We present ourselves as placed within perfectly drawn-up official notices, in information that is perfectly and concisely set out and solidly based, in the extremely careful carrying out of manual tasks; we forget, however, that beyond all this, beyond the face that is reflected there, one can find a whole lifetime, a whole humanity.”
The traditional inauguration speech was given by Teresa Barata Salgueiro, Full Professor and President of the Installation Committee of the Institute of Geography and Territorial Management (IGOT), and dealt with the subject, “Thinking out the Future through Territory”.
At the end of the ceremony there was the inauguration in the chancellery atrium of a tapestry and drawing exhibition by the greatest name in Portuguese surrealism, Artur Cruzeiro Seixas, which will be on display until the 29th of January 2010.
Carlos André - Editorial Team
carlos.andre@campus.ul.pt
"The “bureaucracy” imposed upon universities seems to drive them away from what is essential".
He recalled the “thousand adaptations demanded by the Bologna Process”, followed by the new Juridical Regime of the Higher Education Institutions (REJIES). The alterations to the status of the teaching career, since September, have also meant the approving of “a dozen or so new regulations, in a difficult process involving inevitable conflicts”, he stated.
"The contract of trust that we wish for will constitute a new breathing space for the universities".
For the Chancellor the problem has to do with “management views that have brought in new forms of bureaucracy that are even more stifling than the previous ones”, but he stressed that "the contract of trust that we wish for will also constitute a new breathing space, a new breath of life for the universities”. In his speech António Sampaio da Nóvoa also tried to respond to two questions. How can one build the future of the university? “It is built from basic education, from childhood, from the work carried out on our children, forming a solid base for training,” he stated. How can one build the future of science? “From higher education. In a country like Portugal investment in science is decisive, but it would be a mistake if it is carried out in detriment to higher education,” the Chancellor replied.
“The creating of a university that is an international reference should be the dream for our generation”.
Professor António Sampaio da Nóvoa considered that “throughout our history we have never had a university that was an international reference. A mesh of fifteen universities and fifteen polytechnics is absurd in a country of our size. The creating of a university that is an international reference should be the dream for our generation,” he affirmed.
The ceremony also included the granting of Diplomas and PhD Certificates for the 2008/2009 academic year.
PhDs by the University of Lisbon Academic Year 2008/2009:
Faculty of Letters: 37
Faculty of Law: 4
Faculty of Medicine: 13
Faculty of Sciences: 79
Faculty of Pharmacy: 10
Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences: 4
Faculty of Fine Arts: 6
Faculty of Dental Medicine: 2
Institute of Social Sciences: 6
PhD in Nursing: 1
In the previous speech the President of the Academic Association of the University of Lisbon, André Moz Caldas, alluded to the deepening of relations with polytechnics and other institutions in Lisbon so that the University of Lisbon might “stop being a regional university and achieve a European and world dimension.
“We will not go along with those who wish to force students into being research grant holders.”
This has to be a priority of the University, as well as that of the Erasmus city it wishes to be.” In relation to the Bologna Process, André Caldas considered that “the instruments of mobility remain the same; so do those of teaching and learning. In short, what was interesting in Bologna was not carried out, which decisively puts the quality of teaching into jeopardy”. He declared he was against those who wish to force students into being research grant holders, stating that “work experience and that of life itself qualify people, adding value to their scientific work. That excessive elitism is over, and should be definitively left behind.”
Before this, the opening ceremony had started with the speech by Joana Ferreira Soares, a chancellery staff member, who purposely left out financings, strategies and numbers in order to focus upon the people who together make up the University of Lisbon – teachers, researchers, students and support staff. “We present ourselves as placed within perfectly drawn-up official notices, in information that is perfectly and concisely set out and solidly based, in the extremely careful carrying out of manual tasks; we forget, however, that beyond all this, beyond the face that is reflected there, one can find a whole lifetime, a whole humanity.”
The traditional inauguration speech was given by Teresa Barata Salgueiro, Full Professor and President of the Installation Committee of the Institute of Geography and Territorial Management (IGOT), and dealt with the subject, “Thinking out the Future through Territory”.
At the end of the ceremony there was the inauguration in the chancellery atrium of a tapestry and drawing exhibition by the greatest name in Portuguese surrealism, Artur Cruzeiro Seixas, which will be on display until the 29th of January 2010.
Carlos André - Editorial Team
carlos.andre@campus.ul.pt
