“If today I could speak to the Margarida of 15 years ago, who was very afraid of the future, I would tell her: do it, even if you are afraid. Study, even if you don’t get the best grade. Train, even if you don’t finish first. Because my life today is the life that the Margarida of back then dreamed of.”
It was with this testimony that Margarida Silva, a NOVA alumna, a nutritionist at NOVA Medical School, and an athlete awarded medals at the Deaflympics, moved a full auditorium this Thursday, the 7th, at the Rectory of Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, in the opening moments of the NOVA Young Talent Awards ceremony, which celebrates the University’s young talent.
In her speech, Margarida spoke of fear, perseverance, and the value of continuous effort, stressing that the future is not built on talent alone, but on work, purpose, and humanity. She also shared her experience as a Deaf person, living in a world that was not always prepared to receive her, and the effort of learning to speak “against her own nature” in order to integrate.
Her intervention then gave way to the celebration of an initiative that, over more than a decade, has become one of the most symbolic moments of NOVA’s academic life. As Rector Paulo Pereira emphasised in his address, the NOVA Young Talent Awards “do not celebrate results alone, but recognise the discipline, consistency, ambition and commitment of students who have learned how to transform talent into work and merit.”
The ceremony honoured 41 students with the best academic performance in the first year of NOVA’s undergraduate and integrated master’s programmes in the 2024/2025 academic year: 17 from NOVA FCT, 15 from NOVA FCSH, 3 from NOVA IMS, 3 from Nova SBE, 2 from NOVA Medical School, and 1 from NOVA School of Law. The distinction takes the form of a scholarship equal to the annual tuition fee, awarded at the end of each academic year, as a concrete sign of recognition of the merit achieved, while also acknowledging the students’ secondary schools of origin.
All of this was witnessed with pride by the various directors and representatives of NOVA’s academic units present in the auditorium: José Alferes (NOVA FCT), Alexandra Curvelo (NOVA FCSH), Miguel de Castro Neto (NOVA IMS) and Margarida Lima Rego (NOVA School of Law), as well as Ana Balcão Reis, Vice-Dean of Nova SBE, and Paula Macedo, Vice-Dean of NOVA Medical School, alongside members of the Rectoral Team who were also in attendance: Cecília Roque, Vice-Rector for Research and Advanced Education; Emília Monteiro, Vice-Rector for Education, Academic Life, Health and Quality; João Dias, Pro-Rector for Administrative Innovation, Digital Transformation and Communication; Manuela Aparício, Pro-Rector for Pedagogical Innovation; and José Branco, Pro-Rector for Institutional Development and Fundraising.
It is also worth noting that, on the same day NOVA publicly reinforced its commitment to inclusion at the 1st National Meeting of the Valor T IES Network, inclusion and accessibility were doubly highlighted at this ceremony. In addition to Margarida Silva’s testimony, the event also featured the presence of Sebastião Palha, from the Valor T team, a partner of NOVA, who ensured full interpretation of the session in Portuguese Sign Language.
“This is a clear sign of the path we want to continue to follow: that of a truly inclusive university, where every person finds their place, their voice, and the possibility to participate fully,” Rector Paulo Pereira further underlined, stressing that academic excellence is also measured by a university’s ability to include and to ensure that no one is left behind.
There was also room for music, with a performance by the band Queima Roupa, a project born within NuMAC — the Music, Art and Culture Hub of NOVA’s Faculty of Sciences and Technology. Between “Frágil,” by Jorge Palma, at the beginning of the ceremony, and “Chaga,” by Ornatos Violeta, to close it, the band also treated the audience to the, very fitting, “Fly Me to the Moon,” by Frank Sinatra — leaving in the air a challenge to go further and to dream beyond the immediate.
