A decade later - Fundação Luso-Americana

By AnTónio rendAs*
A groundbreaking program
‘ Academic exchange programs of varying duration
and with a number of different objectives,
designed to step up the flow of professors,
scholars and researchers, definitely spell progress,
broaden horizons, cut across borders, and have
led to the criss-crossing of cultural identities, and
opportunities to share values and experiences.
’
Portugal has a network of 16 public universities
that offer educational opportunities at every level
of higher education, including post-doctoral and
research programs in every field of science. The
country has responded to the need to internationalize
and, as a consequence, Portugal’s universities
have a wide range of programs and curricula in
the various fields of science and at every degree
level, which are taught in English in order to cater
to the international learner.
The country is particularly well-suited for the
study of a broad selection of subjects such as history,
marine biology and oceanography, economics
and law, comparative literature, medicine,
engineering, architecture, and a host of other topics.
International experience plays an extremely
important role in the exchange of learning and
knowledge among institutions, while acting as a
significant contribution to the growth of universities
themselves. This is precisely why the Study
in Portugal Program, which was set in motion by
a protocol signed by the Council of Portuguese
University Chancellors (Portuguese acronym
CRUP), the Luso-American Foundation, the
Portuguese Tourist Board, AICEP- Portugal’s Agency
for Investment and Foreign Trade, and the Fulbright
Commission, will likely become a valuable contribution
to making American universities and
research centers more aware of the activities of
their Portuguese counterparts.
This groundbreaking program will be a concrete
step forward in publicizing Portuguese institutions
of higher learning in the United States. Another of
the initiative’s important targets is to spark an
increase in the number of US students choosing
Portugal as a study destination. That is why a number
of strategic partnerships between Portuguese
universities and prestigious schools in the United
Sates have increasingly been forged over the last
few years. Academic exchange programs of varying
duration and with a number of different objectives,
designed to step up the flow of professors, scholars
and researchers, definitely spell progress, broaden
horizons, cut across borders, and have led to
the criss-crossing of cultural identities, and opportunities
to share values and experiences.
The Council of Portuguese University Chancellors,
established in 1979, has invested its efforts in academic
exchange and post-graduate education in the
partnerships it has formed with leading institutions
around the world. Promoting mobility among scholars
ultimately means sharing knowledge and broadening
people’s outlook on multilateral cooperation
among nations. But it especially means highlighting
the value of education, scientific research, and the
growth and scope of universities.
* President of the Council of Portuguese University Chancellors
Parallel no. 6 | FALL | WINTER 2011 49
RUI OChÔA