Merit and excellence for students who have changed their path

The BPI Merit Award for the 9th edition of the Acertar o Rumo training course was presented to 13 students yesterday at the Senate Hall by the Rector of the University of Coimbra (UC), Amílcar Falcão, and the Curator of the "la Caixa" Foundation, Artur Santos Silva.

"Our vocations and interests change over the years. If we're not happy with our life, we need to change it; we need to be able to leave our comfort zone and take on new challenges," said the UC Rector.

According to Amílcar Falcão, the 'Acertar o Rumo' training course "challenges us to change the way we do things, and that's very important and courageous for those who do it."

Artur Santos Silva also believes in the "challenge" of the programme and congratulated the UC and the Faculty of Sciences and Technology for "taking this step."

Vítor Graveto, the coordinator of 'Acertar o Rumo' [which roughly translates as 'Changing Paths'], said the course aimed to 're-qualify people's skills' and congratulated the group of students who had 'taken the risk and accepted the challenge of changing their lives'.

Jorge Henriques, Director of the Department of Informatics Engineering at the UC Faculty of Sciences and Technology (DEI/FCTUC), said that this is "a fundamental course" for DEI, which complements other training courses offered by the department and which "allows us to train professionals," in line with one of our missions. He recalled that throughout the nine editions, "more than 200 people have completed the course, with an employability rate close to 100%". Jorge Henriques took the opportunity to "renew the commitment for the future", demonstrating that the DEI/FCTUC intends to "continue to provide opportunities to change people's lives".

Find out more about Acertar o Rumo here.