08-05-2026
It was with an emotional testimony that the NOVA Young Talent Awards ceremony began on Thursday, the 7th, at the Rectorate of Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. Margarida Silva, a NOVA alumna, nutritionist at NOVA Medical School and medal-winning athlete at the Deaflympics, delivered a message that resonated throughout the auditorium: "Do it, even if you're afraid. Study, even if you don't get the best grade. Train, even if you don't finish first."
The NOVA Young Talent Awards recognise the best-performing students in the first year of undergraduate and integrated master's degrees in the 2024/2025 academic year. The distinction takes the form of a scholarship equal to the annual tuition fee, awarded at the end of each academic year as a tangible acknowledgement of merit achieved. Now over a decade old, this initiative has established itself as one of the most symbolic moments in NOVA's academic life. As Rector Paulo Pereira emphasised in his address, the NOVA Young Talent Awards "do not celebrate results alone, but recognise the discipline, consistency, ambition and commitment of students who knew how to transform talent into work and merit."
NOVA FCT was represented at the ceremony by its Dean, José Júlio Alferes, in a session that also brought together members of the rectoral team and deans from the University's other organic units. Music was provided by the band Queima Roupa, a project born within NuMAC — the Music, Art and Culture Nucleus of NOVA FCT — which opened and closed the ceremony with performances of songs by Jorge Palma, Ornatos Violeta and Frank Sinatra.
