A university source told Lusa that, after the U.Porto Electoral Commission met, the candidates were announced in order of receipt. They are: Salvatore Cuzzocrea, an Italian and former rector of the University of Messina (2018–2023), as well as former president of the Italian Council of Rectors (2023); Lasisi Salami Lawal, a Nigerian currently serving as professor and researcher at the Minna Federal University of Technology in Botswana; Altamiro Costa Pereira, the current director of the Faculty of Medicine at U.Porto; Pedro Nuno Teixeira, who served as Secretary of State for Higher Education (2022 to 2024), vice-rector of the University of Porto, and director of the Centre for Research on Higher Education Policy; and Luís Antunes, who is director of the Centre of Excellence in Cybersecurity and Privacy at the University of Porto.

In his letter of application, Salvatore Cuzzocrea states that he made the decision “after months of reflection” and following the end of his term as rector of the University of Messina and as president of the Conference of Italian University Rectors.

Salvatore advocates strengthening U.Porto’s role as a “research university” to become “increasingly an international centre of knowledge”, calling for “sound resource management” and a “positive working environment”.

Candidate Lasisi Salami Lawal advocates for U.Porto “academic excellence and student success”, “research, innovation and knowledge transfer”, “internationalisation and partnerships”, “social engagement”, “institutional sustainability, governance and digital transformation”.

He proposes a programme of excellence in teaching with “staff development, peer observation and support for blended learning”, whilst, for students, he proposes a “comprehensive retention strategy” with targeted tutoring, “expanded scholarships”, “mental health services” and an accessibility audit.

Another priority for the Nigerian candidate is lifelong learning, including “scalable continuing education for professionals and alumni” and “short courses designed in collaboration with industry”.

Candidate Altamiro da Costa Pereira is standing for the post of rector of U.Porto for the third time, following his campaigns in 2002 and 2022, and states that he is standing again because he believes he “possesses the necessary experience accumulated over decades of academic service”.

His action plan emphasises the development of human resources. He advocates career progression and the “renewal and rejuvenation of staff through the recruitment of full-time or part-time staff”.

For Altamiro, the next rector must promote “administrative simplification and organisational flexibility”, reduce the bureaucratic burden, grant greater autonomy to organisational units in the management of human, financial and academic resources, and must “plan and prepare a new university campus in the Porto Metropolitan Area, capable of meeting the demands for scientific, technological and pedagogical expansion in the coming decades”.

Candidate Luís Antunes says that U.Porto’s current management model “has run its course” because it operates as a confederation of 15 isolated organisational units, with administrative duplication and fragmentation of resources.

It proposes “four pillars” to create a “new University of Porto”, comprising four clusters, with each unit retaining its identity and administrative and financial autonomy, whilst the rector’s office would set the priorities for funding and resource allocation.

It established the “Engineering, Science and Technology Cluster”, comprising the Faculties of Engineering and Science, and the “Health and Life Sciences Group”, comprising the faculties of Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Nutrition and Food Sciences, Sport, the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences and the Porto School of Nursing. Next comes the “Architecture and Arts Group”, comprising the faculties of Fine Arts and Architecture, and the “Humanities and Social Sciences Group”, comprising the faculties of Arts, Psychology and Educational Sciences, Law and Economics.

Candidate Pedro Nuno Teixeira advocates “shared governance” for U.Porto, capable of involving “members of the academic community, lecturers, researchers, students and technical and operational staff”, through consultation and coordination between the various institutional levels.

The former Secretary of State argues that the future does not lie in the “centralisation and standardisation of structures”, but rather in “tailored responses” with “support tailored to the specific needs” of each faculty.

“U.Porto must promote shared governance in which the Rector’s Office acts as a mobilising and coordinating force for the entire University through clear mechanisms for consultation, debate and monitoring of strategic, scientific, pedagogical and financial processes, whilst valuing horizontal models that recognise the diversity of scales, practices and knowledge existing within the various organisational units,” reads his election manifesto.

After the U.Porto Electoral Commission received 14 applications for the post of rector – three from Portugal and 11 from abroad – and following the Commission’s review of each one, the five candidates definitively admitted were announced today.

The public hearings will take place on 23 and 24 April in the Great Hall of the U.Porto Rectorate, with each candidate being heard individually.

The members of the General Council will meet in the Council Chamber at the U.Porto Rectorate at 4.30 pm on 24 April to elect the rector who will succeed António Sousa Pereira.