"May this award be a source of pride for all your dedication, perseverance and quality demonstrated, but also a strong encouragement to maintain this level of excellence throughout your academic career and, later, already as professionals, because the challenges of our society are big and complex and we need 'our best' to face them", highlighted the Rector of NOVA, João Sàágua, at the beginning of the ceremony - and, shortly afterwards, also underlined that "the students are the reason for the existence of the University and it is part of our mission of service to society to attract, retain and train the best talent in each of our schools".
It was this afternoon that NOVA University Lisbon took up again the practice of honouring the students who stood out in the 1st year of the Degree and Integrated Master in its Schools. Interrupted in the last years by the Covid-19 pandemic, the ceremony honoured the best 1st-year students of each one of the 39 courses of NOVA, in the academic years 2020/2021 and 2021/2022.
In addition to distinguishing the commitment and dedication of the students, the awards are also meant to recognise the basic training they have enjoyed, through the homage to their respective Secondary Schools of origin.
Before this moment, there was still time to listen to Carolina Amorim, a former student of Biomedical Engineering at FCT NOVA, and who about 6 years ago became CEO and Founder of Emotai, a company that operates in the field of neurotechnology.
"Winner in 2019 of the "Best Founder by Portuguese Women in Tech" awards, Carolina is a happy example of entrepreneurship in an area, such as STEAM, where there are fewer examples of female success, and should therefore also serve as an inspiration to all of you", pointed the Rector of NOVA.
Included in the Strategic Plan of the University for 2020-2030, the Talent@NOVA Program is composed of several sub-programmes dedicated to all those who constitute the NOVA community, teachers, researchers, collaborators and students. The initiative that gathered part of the NOVA community this afternoon is just one of those measures.
