Investiture of the FCH and CESOP Directors for the 2025-2028 triennium

On 18 March, the new Directors of the Faculty of Human Sciences (FCH) and the Centre for Studies and Opinion Surveys (CESOP) of the Universidade Católica took office for the three-year period 2025-2028.

‘Today is a happy day, a moment of great importance in the life of the University, which is always about renewal and transformation,’ said Isabel Capeloa Gil as she opened the session with a speech welcoming and recognising the work done by the previous teams.

The President expressed her gratitude for the willingness and generosity with which Catarina Duff Burnay and João António accepted the invitations to lead the FCH and CESOP boards, respectively.

Isabel Capeloa Gil emphasised the importance of the Faculty of Human Sciences and, in particular, the Humanities, which not only promote critical but also human research, essential for the integral development of society.

Regarding the directors, the President emphasised the qualities of Catarina Duff Burnay, highlighting her ‘gentle assertiveness’ and her remarkable career, being widely recognised as a reference both in the academic world and in the field of television fiction, especially her international career. Isabel Capeloa Gil also underlined João Simões António's experience, ethics and integrity, highlighting his vast capacity for evaluation, rigour and observation of surveys.

The president also emphasised the importance of CESOP for the Universidade Católica, saying that it plays a fundamental role ‘in affirming the institution as autonomous, independent, but attentive to political developments’.

This was followed by speeches from Catarina Duff Burnay and João António, the new directors. Both expressed their gratitude for the trust placed in their teams.

‘It is with great joy that I embrace the challenge that the President has given me and I thank her for her trust, promising to honour the mission of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, to train with quality, to cultivate science, to have truth and respect as guiding principles, and to take Christian humanism as the basis of all action,’ said Catarina Burnay.

João António, for his part, also said: ‘I want to continue a path of rigour at CESOP, a path of quality, learning, innovation and service to the University and the Community.’