The Rector of the University of the Azores (UAc), Susana Mira Leal, reflects on the institution’s past decade, highlighting increased investment in research, growing international visibility, and a strategic commitment to pedagogical renewal, distance learning, and the rejuvenation of the faculty. In an interview with Correio dos Açores, she also underscores the University’s impact on regional qualification, the specific challenges of higher education in an insular context, investment in student housing, and expectations for the future—particularly the consolidation of areas such as Veterinary Medicine and the ambition to offer the full medical degree in the Azores.

Correio dos Açores – What evolution have you observed over the years in the life of the institution?

Susana Mira Leal (Rector of the University of the Azores) –
Over the past decade, the University of the Azores has seen a significant increase in research support, a fundamental pillar of the University’s mission. Research is essential not only to institutional financing but also to international visibility and the real impact of the scientific knowledge produced here.

Although located in an ultraperipheral region of Europe, the University of the Azores has increasingly positioned itself, in a clear and sustained manner, as a valuable partner to international institutions. It has also established itself as a reference institution in the study of issues related to insular contexts, natural environments, biodiversity, ecology, and the ocean.

In addition, the University has expanded its international reach by attracting a growing number of mobility students who choose our institution for their studies, recognizing the value it offers for their academic and professional development across a wide range of fields.

At the same time, we have been attracting degree-seeking students from other national and international institutions, who now represent approximately 25% of our student body. This demonstrates that, despite being located in an insular region, the University of the Azores is increasingly able to project its image and its added value in education and research beyond the Region.

Since assuming office as Rector, which structural measures would you highlight, and what have been the most significant moments of your mandate so far?

Within the institution, we have made a substantial investment in renewing our pedagogical capacity and strengthening our academic community, both in terms of human resources and technical infrastructure—particularly for distance learning.

Today, higher education institutions face complex demographic challenges, including a foreseeable and increasingly evident decline in the number of young students entering higher education. The Region continues to experience a gradual reduction in the number of young people accessing tertiary education. At the same time, the labor market, society at large, and the demands of innovation and development—both public and private—require continuous qualification and requalification of the workforce.

It is therefore essential that the University be able to renew its educational offerings, increasingly introducing programs that enable the acquisition of specialized skills, both at the degree level and through non-degree programs. Equally important is the ability to overcome territorial discontinuity and reach all Azoreans across the islands, enabling them to reconcile education with their personal and professional lives while updating their skills. This contributes not only to individual development but also to local economic and public-sector development across the islands.

The same principle applies to our capacity to reach beyond the Region, attracting both international and national students through distance-learning programs.

In parallel, we have been working on renewing our technical and research staff. Over the past two to three years, the University has hired approximately 30 new faculty-researchers. These new academics not only rejuvenate the faculty but also bring new scientific expertise and diverse academic and professional experiences, significantly enriching the University’s capacity for ongoing renewal and for responding to contemporary challenges—and those the future will inevitably bring.

From a technical standpoint, renewing our staff and increasing investment in highly qualified professionals have strengthened service capacity and improved the quality of support provided to both the academic community and external stakeholders.

The University is also investing in strategic projects to consolidate long-standing academic pathways, particularly preparatory programs. A clear example—one that has mobilized considerable effort and energy toward short-term implementation—is Veterinary Medicine. The University has taught and ensured the first two years of this program since 2002/2003 and is now preparing to offer the full Integrated Master’s degree in-house. To that end, one of the planned investment projects is the construction of a University Veterinary Hospital at the Angra do Heroísmo campus.

It is also public knowledge that the University has invested heavily in student support, particularly in housing, recognizing that this is a major challenge for families and students and that, in an insular context, it takes on added significance. In the near future, we expect to provide more than 220 beds across the three campuses, easing the financial burden on families and creating conditions for more students to choose the University of the Azores by providing access to affordable, appropriate housing.

We have also consistently invested in combating student dropout and promoting academic success, both through pedagogical innovation and through dedicated integration, welcome, and support programs.

Finally, in the area of mental health—whose importance for well-being and academic success is increasingly recognized—the University has developed specific projects on its campuses and in student residences, supported by competitive funding from the Directorate-General for Higher Education.

How do you assess the current situation of higher education, and particularly that of the University of the Azores?

At the national level, higher education is marked by a wide dispersion of institutions across the territory. There are currently more than 60 higher-education institutions in Portugal, of which over 30 are public. One persistent issue is the need to strengthen funding for institutions and for science, so that they can address the challenges of international competitiveness while continuing to renew, invest, and innovate in teaching and research.

This reality is even more pronounced in the case of the Universities of the Azores and Madeira, as insular institutions that face additional factors that complicate not only their operations but also their need for additional resources to strengthen competitiveness at both national and international levels.

There are also fundamental issues related to the qualification of highly skilled professionals in Portugal. While the country has made progress in increasing its qualified population, there remains a significant path to convergence with European goals and averages. This reality requires greater support for families in qualifying young people and adults, as well as greater awareness of the value and importance of higher education.

At the same time, it is essential to develop a competitive, robust business sector capable of attracting qualified professionals in a manner consistent with their career expectations,to curb the growing emigration of highly qualified—and even doctoral—graduates. Such emigration represents a serious loss of critical mass for the development of our economy, society, and culture.

In the Azores, this challenge is even more evident, as indicators of higher education attainment are significantly lower than the national average. It is therefore essential that the business sector attract and retain qualified young people, that families invest in their children’s education, and that the Government implement increasingly consistent incentives for higher education.

Moreover, it is necessary to rethink the funding model for the Universities of the Azores and Madeira, incorporating measures to ensure greater sustainability, strengthen institutional capacity, and promote fairness within the national higher-education funding framework. Although funding is distributed according to common criteria, the reality of these institutions differs substantially from that of mainland universities, requiring a differentiated approach that compensates for contextual disadvantages and ensures favorable conditions for development and growth.

This issue is not only relevant to the institutions themselves but, above all, to the communities they serve, territorial and social cohesion, and national economic development.

What are your expectations for the future of the University of the Azores, and what legacy would you like to leave?

My expectation is that, as it has over the past 50 years, the University of the Azores will continue to strengthen its capacity for continuous self-analysis, reflection on its missions, and sustained efforts to maximize its service to the community in collaboration with a wide range of partners.

This path must be grounded in continuous investment in adapting educational offerings and aligning teaching and research with ongoing, demanding, often unpredictable, and increasingly rapid social challenges—challenges that require ever-greater institutional agility and effectiveness.

It is equally essential that the University build upon the investments already made in faculty qualification and renewal, pedagogical innovation, and distance-learning capacity, thereby fully realizing the renewal of its educational project. This project is further strengthened by participation in a European university alliance that brings together institutions with complementary expertise, deepening institutional capacity, expanding educational offerings through partnerships, attracting new audiences, and responding more effectively to the specific challenges of our Region. Notably, this alliance includes universities from insular, coastal, and port regions with realities in many respects similar to our own.

It is also crucial that the consolidation of preparatory programs continue and expand. We are advancing in Veterinary Medicine, but it is essential to extend this model to other areas, particularly Human Medicine. In this domain, strategic, consistent, and timely action by both the University of the Azores and the Regional Government is critical to establishing an academic-clinical center and a university hospital in the Region, enabling our institution to eventually offer the medical degree in full. This development would also strengthen the Region’s capacity to attract and retain physicians and other health professionals.

At the same time, it is indispensable to continue renewing and investing in University infrastructure, which requires ongoing support, while aligning this effort with environmental sustainability and energy-efficiency goals and deepening measures to achieve increasingly high levels of institutional environmental sustainability.

Finally, it is essential to strengthen the work of research units in collaboration with the business sector and in knowledge transfer with economic and innovative impact. Faculty, researchers, and doctoral students should also be encouraged to actively consider entrepreneurial projects that integrate their research, thereby ensuring its effective transfer to society.

Would you like to leave a message for our readers on the occasion of the University of the Azores’ 50th anniversary?

The University of the Azores was created to contribute to the development of the Region, and over these 50 years, its role in training professionals, investing in science, developing knowledge, internationalization, and projecting the Azores beyond its borders has been unmistakable. This is the University’s legacy—a legacy that belongs to all of us, to the Region, and to the Azorean people.

It is therefore essential that Azoreans continue to embrace the institution while holding it to high standards and communicating their needs, aspirations, and concerns. It is vital that the population recognize the University of the Azores and its educational capacity as an asset for regional development across the islands and municipalities, as well as for the personal and professional development of individuals, organizations, and businesses.

It is equally important that companies recognize the value the University can bring to their activities. There are already highly successful examples of partnerships with the business sector that generate significant added value, but this process can and should be expanded and intensified.

The University must also improve how it communicates the science it produces and the value it offers, while the community should be increasingly engaged in challenging the University to respond to its own needs and contexts.

The University has celebrated—and continues to celebrate—its 50th anniversary throughout the Region, on nearly all the islands of the archipelago. In this context, I would like to express my deep gratitude to all the entities that joined these commemorations and hosted activities that highlighted the University’s presence, value, and importance, thereby strengthening its proximity to local communities.

I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to all who, over these 50 years, have passed through the University—those who worked, studied, and carried its name further; and all who contributed to the training of our professionals and to the research we have produced. This is, ultimately, a word of thanks to all Azoreans and to all those outside the Region, in Portugal and abroad, who constitute the very foundation and core reason for our institution’s existence and who have contributed to the construction of its many missions.

José Henrique Andrade is a journalist for Correio dos Açores, Natalino Viveiros, director.