The symposium “The Academic Centre in times of crisis. Health, Education and Science” took place on 30 May at the “Aula Magna” of the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon. The initiative came from the Northern Lisbon Hospital Centre in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine and the Institute of Molecular Medicine, and had the objective of conducting a joint reflection on the impact of the crisis on the three key areas that form the CAML. The budget assigned to the three institutions has been decreasing since 2010. However, the heads have attempted to find solutions to address the problems resulting from this situation. Professor Isabel do Carmo was responsible for presenting the symposium and she referred to the need to debate ideas at a time the country and the world are facing an unprecedented crisis. Hence, the need to think about the current state of health and medical education and research, how they will be in future and how barriers and difficulties can be overcome.

The intervention of Professor M. Carmo Fonseca, Executive Director of the IMM, started with a question: “Is it possible to face the crisis in the field of scientific research? The IMM was no exception to the budget cuts over the past four years and, as a Research Institute, the obligation to continue to conduct top quality research is increasing. The main objective now is to increase the capacity to obtain competitive funding through top quality research involving the best researchers. All activity has been of excellent quality and the answer is clear: yes, it is possible to face the crisis by “recruiting highly qualified young researchers”.

In the presentation of Professor J. Correia da Cunha, President of the Board of CHLN-EPE, the question “Is it possible to maintain the quality of the services in times of crisis?” was answered with data pertaining to the situation of healthcare in Portugal and in central hospitals in the country. Despite major constraints, the goals are well defined and all want to “do more and better with fewer resources”.

The intervention of Professor Fernandes e Fernandes, Director of FMUL, entitled “ Is Excellence in Education an objective in times of crisis”? stressed that the future is the essence of the University, and, as such, it is looking at the future that this centenary institution will overcome this stage, never neglecting excellence. The focus is on deepening the Academic Centre model, on joint projects, on qualification and differentiation, on the meritocratic selection of professionals, and on a new funding model.

This was followed by a debate moderated by Dr. Adalberto Campos Fernandes, Executive President of HPP SGPS, and it produced a few extremely pertinent interventions about the topic of the symposium.

Editorial Team
news@fm.ul.pt