The Rector's Strategic Advisory Board of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa met on 7 January at the Católica Medical School for a session dedicated to strategic reflection on innovation and research.
The meeting included a presentation of the main initiatives and results of the UCP in 2025, as well as a discussion of new projects in the areas of university innovation funding, longevity training, and biomedical research development, including the Teaming for Excellence project of the Católica Biomedical Research Centre.
The proceedings were led by Isabel Capeloa Gil, President of the Universidade Católica, with contributions from Athina Chatzipetrou, (CEO and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Development Bank), Céline Abecassis-Moedas (Vice-Rector for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UCP) and Pedro Simas (Director of the Católica Biomedical Research Centre). As the President pointed out, ‘this meeting of the Rector's Advisory Council provided an opportunity to discuss strategic priorities, present new innovative projects at the University and reflect on major trends in higher education at a global level’.
The Rector’s Strategic Advisory Board is composed of permanent members of recognised national and international prestige: Athina Chatzipetrou (Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Development Bank), Carlos Moedas (Mayor of Lisbon), Deborah L. Wince-Smith (President and CEO of the Council on Competitiveness), Firoz Rasul (former President of Aga Khan University), José Manuel Durão Barroso (former President of the European Commission), Nuno Teles (Chairman of Diageo Beer Company), Paulo Moita de Macedo (Chairman of the Board of Directors and Executive CEO of CGD), Soledade Duarte (Managing Partner of Transearch Portugal) and Pamela Gillies (Emeritus Professor of Public Health and former Vice-Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University).
The meeting was also attended by guests who are experts in their respective fields, such as Céline Abecassis-Moedas (Vice-Rector for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UCP), António Martins da Costa (President of AmCham Portugal and member of the UCP Board of Trustees), Randi Charno Levine (Honorary Professor of Art and Diplomacy at UCP and former US Ambassador to Portugal), Miguel Athayde Marques (Vice-Rector of UCP) and Pedro Simas (Director of the Católica Biomedical Research Centre).
The Board plays a key role in supporting the definition of the major strategic guidelines of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa reinforcing its academic and scientific mission and its impact on society.
