PULSAR is an ongoing programme of conferences, public forums and editorial initiatives of NOVA University Lisbon, dedicated to reflection and participatory engagement on the role of the university in the major issues of our time. PULSAR affirms the university as an institution of critical reason and a democratic actor, creating a regular space for informed dialogue between academic research, society and the public sphere.
PULSAR is organised around three complementary strands:
a public Lecture and Debate Series;
a Citizens’ Forum, focused on democratic deliberation; and
PULSAR Magazine, as a space for reflection, record and public dissemination.
- LECTURE AND DEBATE SERIES
In a context shaped by the crisis of liberal democracies, misinformation and political polarisation, anti-intellectualism, and pressures on university autonomy and the role of science, the Lecture and Debate Series positions itself as a space for informed public reflection and debate. The series reasserts the university as a place where critical thought is produced, brings academic research closer to the great questions of its time, and positions NOVA University Lisbon as an institution intellectually committed to democracy.
The Lecture and Debate Series comprises four annual sessions—one per season—around an annual theme. Each session brings together:
a Lecture, delivered by speakers of recognised intellectual authority;
a Public Debate, moderated and featuring both academic and non-academic participants;
Tools for Citizenship, a segment dedicated to sharing democratic literacy tools;
a Cultural Moment, which extends reflection into the symbolic and affective dimensions of the issues under discussion; and
an Informal Reception, as a relaxed space to meet and talk.
- CIVIC FORUM
The Civic Forum is a citizens’ forum oriented towards democratic deliberation, designed to strengthen civic participation and informed political engagement. Within the annual theme, a panel of citizens—selected according to criteria of diversity and representativeness—takes part in a structured process supported by independent facilitators.
The Forum combines learning moments, public consultation and collective deliberation, culminating in a set of recommendations addressed to the public, institutions and the media. By creating the conditions for informed and plural participation, the Forum affirms the university as a democratic mediator and as a space for the practice of deliberative citizenship.
III. PULSAR MAGAZINE
Each annual PULSAR cycle culminates in the publication of an issue of PULSAR Magazine dedicated to that year’s theme. The magazine brings together texts by invited authors, interviews, visual essays and other contributions, reflecting the lecture and debate series and the work carried out within the Citizens’ Forum. PULSAR Magazine positions itself as a space for record, critical reflection and public dissemination of the thinking produced within PULSAR.
PULSAR 2026 – DEMOCRACY AND RIGHTS
The 2026 cycle is dedicated to the theme Democracy and Rights, in a context shaped by political polarisation, challenges to liberal democracies, global geopolitical tensions and attacks on established rights. The year 2026 also marks the 50th anniversary of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, making public reflection on democracy, rights and the role of institutions particularly timely.