Rector's Message

LIFE GOES ON!

Few have the memory of months as long and difficult as the last ones we lived through. The media often brings us comparisons between the COVID-19 world and war.

A year ago no one would have imagined streets where everyone wears a mask, houses where families don't hug and greet each other from afar, friends who get together through internet platforms, purchases that are ordered and not chosen from store shelves, empty classrooms.

I usually say that the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa is a House of knowledge, combined with critical thinking and new skills that lead us to an active citizenship.

This is the time to show this active citizenship.

If the health authorities impose confinement, reinforced hygiene practices and social distancing, each of us must impose resilient attitudes on ourselves that allow us to overcome this enormous challenge, that allow us to resist, steadfast in the face of a future. that no one will take away from us, but that involves a new way of life. This resilience is nothing more than a personal competence at the service of the community where we are involved.

Critical thinking is not limited to interpreting texts or understanding exercises. Critical thinking is required at times like these, when collective action must reflect individual action, so that we can move away from realities of chaos, fragility, death, intensive care, and other expressions that have massively entered our daily lives through an organism. invisible to the human eye.

We thus confirm that the foundations of UAL, principles that we defend and cherish, are called to action in the face of the enormous adversity we are experiencing.

Everyone's daily life has changed profoundly, and if the complex health support system of the community - doctors, nurses, hospital staff, firefighters,... - forces these people to maintain physical proximity, because only then can they save lives, the best The way to thank them and minimize their professional effort is to keep the distance required by the challenge.

However, our mission continues to be carried out, readjusted in the face of the pandemic and determined for our future!

We believe that the UAL approach will provide citizens who are more competent at a personal level, more demanding with themselves, future professionals with the experience of overcoming a global crisis.

Together, we will overcome this vicissitude. Together we are stronger.

Jose Amado da Silva