NOVA and the Luso American Development Foundation (FLAD) signed the renewal of the Study in Portugal Network (SiPN) program protocol, a program of the Foundation that promotes the exchange of American students in Portuguese universities.
At the ceremony, which took place at FLAD's headquarters in Lisbon, the Rector of NOVA, João Sàágua, commented:
“NOVA University Lisbon has been in this program since the first day. In general [what] NOVA University and the country have to offer these students is a particular case of European culture, the Mediterranean case, which has a history that involves the Atlantic, the USA and South America. When all this mixture of cultures enters the classroom it allows very enriching experiences, that will last a lifetime. ”
In addition to NOVA, three other universities (Universidade de Lisboa, Universidade Católica Portuguesa and ISCTE-IUL) renewed their partnership with FLAD in the Study in Portugal Network Program, which, throughout its five years of existence, has already brought to Portugal more than one thousand American students.
The objective of the SiPN program is to consolidate its role as an intermediary for students and professors in the USA who wish to develop their academic activities in Portugal, while accelerating the internationalization process of Portuguese universities in the USA.
The Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, was present at the ceremony and stressed the importance of the initiative, even in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: “It is important to insist, even in pandemic times, on the need of not forgetting that internationalization and mobility are part of our culture ”.
Applications for the 2nd semester of the program are open until the end of October.