'Students turned into digital cretins.' Manifesto calls for a ban on AI in universities
A manifesto signed by dozens of professors. They want to put an end to the deluge of 'artificial assignments systematically brought down to mediocrity by a chatbot'.
Aerospace Engineering course continues to post a record-breaking average in Portugal: 'it has very good talent — we see that in the people we recruit'
Ivo Vieira, CEO of Lusospace — Portugal’s first homegrown space company — explains on the podcast 'O Futuro do Futuro' how the country’s Aerospace Engineering courses continue to post record-breaking averages and how that strong educational pipeline is producing talent the national space sector can recruit across roles, not only engineers. He stresses that the quality of graduates makes recruitment easier for emerging Portuguese space firms, signalling a maturing ecosystem linking higher education and industry needs.
Eric Mazur: 'There's a real earthquake shaking academic institutions'
The Harvard physics professor speaks to PÚBLICO about the challenges academic institutions face in the era of artificial intelligence. A hint: teaching methods will have to change.
Higher education's capacity for growth is 'severely limited' by the shortage of teaching staff
Is the academic staff crisis reaching higher education? 'The absence of professionals is a major challenge', especially in the private sector, and it affects strategic areas, concludes a new observatory.
Universities expected to decide by February whether to require one or two admission tests
The reduction from two to one higher-education entrance test has not been finalised. The National Commission for Access to Higher Education warns about deadlines and says the change would involve a time-consuming process.
NOVA IMS (NOVA School of Information Management)
NOVA IMS (NOVA School of Information Management) is the information management and data science faculty of NOVA University Lisbon. It specialises in data science, information management and business analytics through taught programmes, applied research and industry partnerships. The school emphasises quantitative methods, practical analytics skills and interdisciplinary approaches to prepare graduates for roles in data-driven organisations and to support research and consulting activity across public and private sectors.
The culture of repetition in higher education
Between shared drives, past exams and recycled assessments, Portuguese higher education has normalised repetition, devalued merit and institutionalised 'desenrascanço' (the knack of improvising to get by). Column by Alexandre Pinto.
Rectors: new legal regime could damage institutions
The President of the Council of Rectors warns that the word “freely” is missing from the text on the autonomy of higher education institutions, for example.
Access to higher education and the illusion of easy solutions
If we want an inclusive, competitive and socially relevant higher education, the solution is not to lower the bar but to raise the quality of the entire educational pathway. Opinion by Luís Ferreira
The law
In higher education institutions there is a deep-rooted habit of denying the evidence.
MPs reject all initiatives to abolish tuition fees in higher education
Bloco de Esquerda, PCP, PS and Livre argued for ending that payment, with slight differences between them, but all the proposals were voted against by MPs from PSD, CDS-PP, Chega and Iniciativa Liberal.
Minister of Education highlights 'huge potential' of the Azores
After meeting with the Council of Rectors of the Azores, the minister said that, besides the space centre on Santa Maria, the region's contribution will come through 'other strengths, many at the University'.
MPs vote down all proposals to abolish university tuition fees
The proposals were rejected with votes against from the PSD and CDS-PP, which favour increasing tuition fees.
The Assembly of the Republic will discuss tuition fees in higher education this Friday
Some parties call for the abolition of tuition fees.
Tuition fees return to Parliament today under the Bloco's initiative: key points of seven proposals
'Frankly, I think everything will stay the same,' says an official of the Lisbon Academic Federation.
Majority of student grant applicants have their applications approved; 73% receive only €87 a month
So far 107,000 student grant applications have been submitted, below last year. The rejection rate is around 17%, with about 18,000 applications denied.
Education Inspectorate investigates institutions that 'sell' unauthorised higher education courses
Entities with no links to higher education were the subject of six proceedings by the Education Inspectorate in 2024 for advertising programmes as postgraduate qualifications without having authorisation to do so.
New doctoral students complain about delays in contracting research grants
Held annually, the FCT competitions for doctoral grants are intended to finance scientific research for four years in order to confer the academic degree of doctor.
Pay tuition fees after graduation or abolish them: PS, PAN, Livre and Chega present proposals
The issue of higher education costs borne by students remains on the table: five different proposals were submitted to the Assembly of the Republic in recent days.
Do we want scientific excellence or only the application of the science we lack?
The Minister of Education, Science and Innovation should be given the opportunity to outline the plan to revive fundamental science in Portugal and to build a modern scientific system. Opinion by Jorge Almeida.
Many students with special needs in higher education are unaware they are entitled to support
Fewer than 40% receive a grant. The vast majority have no form of individualised support during their course — for most this is because they do not need it, but one in three are unaware that such support exists.
Requirement of two higher-education entrance exams prevented placement of 2,000 students
In August the minister said it made no sense 'to change the rules again'. The polytechnics say it was the evidence that made him change his mind. There will be only one exam. Rectors are not opposed.
Covilhã wants the interior to benefit from an increase in higher education places
Covilhã City Council unanimously approved a plea to the Government that the increase in places in public higher education should be preferentially allocated to institutions based in the interior, in low‑density territories. The motion was presented on Friday by the head of the executive, Hélio Fazendeiro, and was approved by the rest of the council line‑up...
Minister announces proposal for a single entrance exam for most higher education courses
Fernando Alexandre admitted he never understood the 2023 decision by the Socialist Party (PS) government to make at least two entrance exams mandatory.
