The event, organized by the Presidents of the General Councils of the Polytechnic Institutes, took place on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Constitution of Portuguese Republic, and it was in this context that the Head of State emphasized the "unique contribution of polytechnic institutions to territorial cohesion".
"The country is grateful to you," says Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in the opening speech of the seminar, which took place in the auditorium of the Higher Schools of Nursing and Health Technology in Lisbon, attended by the Presidents of the Polytechnics and several entities, among them the ex-former education minister, Marçal Grilo.
The meeting and debate had, as background theme, the demands of the polytechnics to offer PhD courses and to adopt, for an international context, the designation of Universities of Applied Sciences, following the European trend.
During the debate, which was devoted to the topic of Polytechnic Development, Marçal Grilo questioned the current model, namely the impossibility of polytechnics to grant PhD's. João Duarte Silva, member of the Board of Directors of the A3ES emphasized the enormous evolution of polytechnics in terms of research and critical mass, highlighting the asymmetries, for instance, in PhD's awarded in association, whose areas and competences are the exclusive of Polytechnics, but only the Universitary system can assign them.
Daniel Proença de Carvalho, spokesman of the Presidents of the General Councils, closed the seminar.
