NOVA University Lisbon will confer the title of Doctor Honoris Causa upon Maria Leptin and José Sousa e Brito, in a ceremony that will bring together distinguished members of the academic community.
Maria Leptin, renowned scientist and President of the European Research Council, will be sponsored by Professor Elvira Fortunato, who will also deliver the laudatory speech.
José Sousa e Brito, a leading jurist and thinker, will be honoured with a joint laudatory address by Professor Teresa Pizarro Beleza and Professor Luís Duarte d’Almeida. The sponsor for this distinction will be Professor Margarida Lima Rego.
Honourees brief presentation
Professor Maria Leptin
President of the European Research Council (ERC) since 2021, Maria Leptin is an internationally renowned biologist, known for her research on the mechanisms that shape developing organisms. She studied mathematics and biology in Germany, completed her PhD in Switzerland, and conducted research in the UK, Germany, the USA, and France. She has held leading positions at prestigious institutions such as EMBO and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. A member of several prominent scientific academies, she has been a strong advocate for science in Europe. Her work has had a major impact on the international profile of scientific research, including at NOVA University Lisbon, which now proposes to award her an honorary doctorate in recognition of her outstanding contribution to science.
Professor José de Sousa e Brito
A central figure in Portuguese legal academia, José de Sousa e Brito has nearly five decades of teaching experience and over sixty years of scholarly publications. A specialist in legal philosophy, constitutional law, criminal law, and law and religion, he served as a judge on the Portuguese Constitutional Court (1989–2002) and has been a long-standing collaborator of NOVA School of Law. He studied in Lisbon, Vienna, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Oxford, and Saarbrücken, and has lectured at several Portuguese and European universities. He contributed to the drafting of the protocols to the European Convention on Human Rights and to the Portuguese Law on Religious Freedom. Author of over a hundred scientific works, he holds leadership roles in major international academic societies and journals. NOVA University proposes to award him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his academic excellence and close connection to the institution.
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