FMUL News
The project for the merger between the Classical University and the Technical University of Lisbon
J. Lobo Antunes
In recent months, the heads of the Classical (UC) and Technical (UT) universities of Lisbon have been deeply engaged in the possible merger of the two institutions, in fulfilment of a decision emanating from their General Councils. At a time when the need to reorganise the network of university and polytechnic education is generally accepted, this initiative has been very positively received by the schools of both universities.
Several factors may contribute to the success of this project. Firstly, the similarity in size, with regard to, for example, budget, number of lecturers, students, and educational programmes. Secondly, the existence of a remarkable complementarity of their educational provision, with the areas where there is some overlapping being quite limited. The merger of the two institutions would bring about a full coverage of the so-called learned professions, that is, professions based on knowledge gained at university. From an administrative, economic and financial perspective, the benefits of the merger are also evident as it will enable the sharing of administrative resources in a variety of areas, such as social services, health and buildings.
On the other hand, it is essential to bear in mind that both the UC and the UT have a heritage and a tradition that are fundamental pillars for the creation of a new university. The UT has adopted a more federalist model, its organizational bodies having distinct levels of autonomy that must be preserved. But both have realised that they must go further to acquire both an international competitive hedge and a much stronger integration into the fabric of the city of Lisbon.
The merger of the two universities will also have a major impact on their scientific activity and this seems to be the added value that units believe to be the most important. The university that will emerge out of the process will cover all the key areas of biology and life sciences. It is worth remembering that Medicine, Pharmacy, and Dental Medicine are part of the UL, and that Veterinary Medicine, Human Kinetics and Agronomy are part of UT, in addition, of course, to the Higher Technical Institute, whose importance in this field has grown dramatically. It is now undisputed that life sciences, along with information technology, are the most promising areas of science and technology of the twenty first century. Due to the fact that life sciences are paramount to sectors as diverse as health, energy, climate, and agriculture, the Academic Medical Centre and particularly the Institute of Molecular Medicine are cornerstones of the new university. This has been repeatedly acknowledged by the leaders of all the schools mentioned above and with whom I have spoken to in recent weeks. It should be pointed out that they all have joint research projects with groups from the IMM and FML, and that a lot more can be done.
As a personal note, I conclude that the expectations regarding this project are huge. The suspicion felt by leaders of other universities is evident, but the spirit of openness and trust between schools and the conviction that a new university can be the first and very significant step towards a much needed and systematically delayed reorganisation of higher education makes me think that the success of the FML-IST in the area of Biomedical Engineering can be replicated on a much larger scale and thus fulfil an ambitious national goal.
In recent months, the heads of the Classical (UC) and Technical (UT) universities of Lisbon have been deeply engaged in the possible merger of the two institutions, in fulfilment of a decision emanating from their General Councils. At a time when the need to reorganise the network of university and polytechnic education is generally accepted, this initiative has been very positively received by the schools of both universities.
Several factors may contribute to the success of this project. Firstly, the similarity in size, with regard to, for example, budget, number of lecturers, students, and educational programmes. Secondly, the existence of a remarkable complementarity of their educational provision, with the areas where there is some overlapping being quite limited. The merger of the two institutions would bring about a full coverage of the so-called learned professions, that is, professions based on knowledge gained at university. From an administrative, economic and financial perspective, the benefits of the merger are also evident as it will enable the sharing of administrative resources in a variety of areas, such as social services, health and buildings.
On the other hand, it is essential to bear in mind that both the UC and the UT have a heritage and a tradition that are fundamental pillars for the creation of a new university. The UT has adopted a more federalist model, its organizational bodies having distinct levels of autonomy that must be preserved. But both have realised that they must go further to acquire both an international competitive hedge and a much stronger integration into the fabric of the city of Lisbon.
The merger of the two universities will also have a major impact on their scientific activity and this seems to be the added value that units believe to be the most important. The university that will emerge out of the process will cover all the key areas of biology and life sciences. It is worth remembering that Medicine, Pharmacy, and Dental Medicine are part of the UL, and that Veterinary Medicine, Human Kinetics and Agronomy are part of UT, in addition, of course, to the Higher Technical Institute, whose importance in this field has grown dramatically. It is now undisputed that life sciences, along with information technology, are the most promising areas of science and technology of the twenty first century. Due to the fact that life sciences are paramount to sectors as diverse as health, energy, climate, and agriculture, the Academic Medical Centre and particularly the Institute of Molecular Medicine are cornerstones of the new university. This has been repeatedly acknowledged by the leaders of all the schools mentioned above and with whom I have spoken to in recent weeks. It should be pointed out that they all have joint research projects with groups from the IMM and FML, and that a lot more can be done.
As a personal note, I conclude that the expectations regarding this project are huge. The suspicion felt by leaders of other universities is evident, but the spirit of openness and trust between schools and the conviction that a new university can be the first and very significant step towards a much needed and systematically delayed reorganisation of higher education makes me think that the success of the FML-IST in the area of Biomedical Engineering can be replicated on a much larger scale and thus fulfil an ambitious national goal.
