‘It is an honour and a privilege to be the first female Dean of CIÊNCIAS.’

Over the next four years, Conceição Freitas will be the Dean of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (CIÊNCIAS ULisboa). Following a public hearing held on Wednesday at the School Council, the professor and researcher from the Department of Earth and Energy Sciences was announced as the new Dean, succeeding Luís Carriço at the helm of the Faculty. The Swearing-in ceremony date has yet to be set, but it is expected that the first woman to head CIÊNCIAS will take up her new position in early 2026. Conceição Freitas ran for election with a prodigious career that took her from her bachelor's degree to her doctorate and opened doors for teaching and research at the Faculty where she graduated. Her curriculum vitae highlights her studies in Coastal Geology, which allowed her to learn about different lagoons, estuaries and beaches and made her a reference in the academic community. Before the current election, the Lisbon-born researcher had already served as Chair of the Department of Geology and Coordinator of the Geology Centre at the University of Lisbon, as well as being the first woman to chair the Scientific Council. "We spend most of our valuable time each day and many days each year at the Faculty. That's why we have to make sure we feel good there," she says in this first interview after her election to the board of CIÊNCIAS.

- How should we interpret the fact that there is only one candidate for the new leadership?

- Having a single candidate can be interpreted in various ways. It is not an unprecedented situation; it has happened before. The pool of potential candidates is huge, and having more than one candidate has the advantage of making the election process more dynamic and pluralistic. However, management positions are not highly valued, and in this case, being a one-person position, it requires a great deal of motivation. Perhaps the School's knowledge of how I seek consensus for strategic decisions and the disclosure of who I chose to be part of the Management team contributed to the School's unity around a single candidacy. At least I would like that to be the case. This fact did not diminish the commitment, ambition and demands we imposed on ourselves throughout this process.

- How was the management team proposed in your application selected? Who are the new deputy deans?

- The deputy deans are five colleagues who agreed to embark on this journey with me: professors António Casimiro, Carlos Duarte, Cristina Máguas, Jorge Marques da Silva, and researcher José Afonso. They are colleagues whom I immediately identified as having the ideal profile for the different areas that I considered to be priorities at this stage. I am very proud that they have placed their trust in this candidacy. However, in order to achieve what we set out to do and with the ambition we have planned, it will be important to have a larger team that can help us go further and overcome the barriers imposed by the countless issues and tasks of day-to-day management.

- Will there be an infrastructure and CIÊNCIAS campus redevelopment? Is this where the expansion of funding sources mentioned in the Action Programme comes in?

- Expanding funding sources is important for implementing many actions. And upgrading infrastructure and equipment is one of them. The list of ongoing and planned interventions, which the previous management initiated, will be completed. These are lengthy processes, much more so than would be desirable or than we anticipated. But there are many other workspaces and social areas that we would like to improve for the enjoyment of the CIÊNCIAS community. We spend most of our valuable time each day and many days each year at the faculty, so we need to make sure we feel comfortable there.

- The Action Programme mentions ‘High administrative and bureaucratic pressures’; ‘Complex and slow internal processes’ and ‘Extensive timetables’... what measures do you plan to implement in these three areas?

- The measures are diverse and can be implemented at different levels. Specifically, it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of internal and external processes and circuits, as well as the constraints imposed by law that cannot be overcome. It is necessary to work together with those directly involved in the tasks, from the individual to the collective level, and find the best actions to eliminate barriers, reduce bureaucracy, streamline, simplify, reduce response times and improve efficiency. And to gain time to increase quality in the CIÊNCIAS community. The school calendar is an issue that needs to be addressed urgently because it has a downstream impact on the lives of students, teachers and researchers.

- Is there a shortage of professors, researchers and students? Does the solution lie in the use of artificial intelligence, online courses, distance learning, and international summer and winter schools?

- We cannot exactly speak of a shortage, but the number of students and lecturers/researchers is a matter of concern for us. Having more and better students is one of our priorities, but the challenges are not only at the entrance stage; they also extend to the course of study in CIÊNCIAS and the success of our graduates when they finish their academic career and embark on their professional life. The so-called demographic winter is a fact that we will have to combat through the opportunities that, for example, international students can represent. In this regard, events such as international summer schools and winter schools can be a factor of attraction. But there will certainly be others. There can never be too many teachers and researchers, and there is no substitute for face-to-face teaching, contact and interaction with students, and the opportunity for them to learn hands-on. Other forms of teaching will certainly be useful as a complement and as a way of reaching a wider and more diverse audience. There is room for pedagogical innovation, and the conscious use of new technologies can enhance the quality of learning, bring students and teachers closer together beyond the classroom, and prepare young people for a future that is expected to be demanding and where knowledge of science and technology will be decisive.

- Finally, we will have a woman as director! Is it a coincidence that the Action Programme advocates for the ‘Inclusion of gender equality in CIÊNCIAS documents’?

- I am delighted to have the opportunity to be the first female director of CIÊNCIAS. It is a real honour and privilege. Despite the progress made in recent decades, we still live in a male-dominated world. In a world where women represent almost 50% of graduates and 41% of academic staff in Europe, only around 24 to 28% are in management positions. That is why we must continue to work and fight for greater gender parity.