22-09-2022
To mark the beginning of the academic year, Elvira Fortunato, Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, returned to the Caparica Campus on 21st September.
This visit intended to encourage and mobilise the academic community for welcoming and integration practices that create an inclusive and safe academic environment for new students, therefore accompanying the welcoming activities of NOVA School of Science and Technology | FCT NOVA.
"I am extremely happy [to return]. It was in this house that I grew up, did all my studies here and did my research," recalled the Minister.
The Minister was welcomed with the performances of anTUNiA and Tuna Maria and had the opportunity to watch the preparations of the Freshman Parade and to hear the enthusiasm in the voices of the new generation of talents in the areas of Sciences and Engineering.
But the School started the welcoming activities already on Monday, September 19th, with a lot of animation. The return to the face-to-face format was marked by the crowd that came to charge the Caparica Campus with good mood, some nervousness and a lot of enthusiasm.
"I entered in the 1st option. I chose FCT NOVA in the first three options even in courses in which I was not so interested", explained Jorge Silva, who comes to study Electrical and Computer Engineering."I know that this is the best choice for me," he added. He is one of the 1095 students who last September 19 filled the country's largest university campus with dreams.
Another of our new students is Alexandre Agostinho, who came from Rio Maior to FCT NOVA because, he explained, he liked the environment he met at EXPO FCT NOVA and the interest in Geological Engineering brought him back to Caparica.
The sun that was present all day could not compare to the heat that was felt in the Grand Auditorium. "We are a university that lives for the student and today we received this wonderful injection of energy", was with these words that João Sáàgua, Rector of Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, opened the Official Ceremony of Reception to the New Students in the Grand Auditorium. The more than 500 seated places were not enough for everyone, but everyone managed to be present at the biggest opening session of the academic year ever.
It was to an audience full of enthusiastic young people, which even extended to the corridors, that José Alferes, Director of FCT NOVA, said: "Here we imagine the future. We create knowledge to then build this same future, creating a generation of new talents of which you are now part."
Carla Quintão, Subdirector of FCT NOVA for the Pedagogical Council, explained to the more than 1,000 students that: "The success of one is the success of all, and the success of all enhances the success of one."
Finally, the President of the FCT NOVA Students' Association, Edgar Coimbra, took the floor and recalled that "we all share the same academic spirit that has crossed decades and of which [the new students] are already part."
Still on September 19th, the students were able to participate in the "The Great Odyssey" game, which allowed them to get to know better the various Student Groups, Partner Associations and Sports Teams of the Faculty and the Campus.
With a dedicated space to receive the Freshmen Kit, in the Atrium of Building VII, it was possible to talk with our partners and collect the card that will accompany them for the next three years.
"I chose FCT NOVA because it is a faculty that welcomes us like no other", concluded Filipa, who is now starting the steps to become a Civil Engineer.
Photo gallery of the new students' reception here.
Photo gallery of the Minister's visit here.
