Joana Gonçalves de Sá, Director of the Graduate Program Science for Development (PGCD) and group leader at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC), will be honored in Praia by the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, a ceremony that aims to distinguish personalities and organizations that greatly contributed to the advancement and consolidation of Higher Education and Science tin Cape Verde. The honorees will be decorated with the First Degree of Educational Merit Medal.
The Government of Cape Verde thus recognizes the innovative character of PGCD and the role played by Joana Gonçalves de Sa as Director of the programme. The PGCD is a PhD programme in life sciences, aimed at students from PALOP and East Timor, whose school year runs in Praia, on the campus of University of Cape Verde (Uni-CV). Promoted by the IGC and supported by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of Cape Verde, PGCD will educate about 80 students from PALOP and East Timor and annually takes around 100 international scientists to Cape Verde. These scientists, beside lecturing in the programme, often participate in other initiatives, such as public lectures, debates or popular science activities and programmes. Furthermore, the PGCD has favored the development of joint research projects between the international scientific community and researchers in Cape Verde and the rest of the PALOP.
Joana Gonçalves de Sa says: “This honor of the Cape Verde government is completely unexpected, but makes me very honored. This programme began as an initiative of the IGC and has managed to generate a dynamic of generosity and huge commitment by the spoken Portuguese scientific community, which has allowed us to provide an European level education to some of the most promising young PALOP. For making the PGCD a reality we had to overcome many obstacles and is a great satisfaction to see the programme recognized by the Government of Cape Verde. We acknowledge the work that has been developed in support of higher education and science in recent years, in Cape Verde”.
Pedro Lourtie, Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico, Fernando Fragateiro, Professor of Medicine, University of Coimbra, and Stefan Oschmann, Merck Pharmaceutical’s CEO, will also be honored at the ceremony for the contribution they have given to the Education and Science in Cape Verde.
