The University of Coimbra (UC) and the World Cultural Council (WCC) are extremely pleased to announce that the 37th World Cultural Council Award Ceremony will be held at UC on November 29-30, 2022. Special lectures, including those by the laureates, will be given on November 29 and the Award Ceremony will take place on November 30.

The 2022 celebrations in Coimbra will be the first time in the history of the awards programme where all three WCC prizes are presented at the same event.

Since 1984, the “Albert Einstein” World Award of Science, the “José Vasconcelos” World Award of Education and the “Leonardo da Vinci” World Award of Arts have been bestowed on dozens of distinguished scientists, educators and artists who have made ground-breaking achievements in their own fields and have worked to promote tolerance, peace and understanding for the well-being of humanity and the environment. In 2019, the “Leonardo da Vinci” World Arts Award was presented to the film producer Paulo Branco who became the first Portuguese person to receive a WCC award.

This year, the Award Ceremony will coincide with the 250th anniversary of the Pombaline Reforms, which opened UC to scientific and experimental teaching and the ideals of the Enlightenment.

UC will be the first Portuguese university to host the World Cultural Council Award Ceremony, which has been held at renowned institutions across the globe, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oxford University and the University of Princeton.

“It will be an honour for our institution to host the 2022 ceremony. Obviously, hosting it in 2020 would have had an enormous significance, as it was the year in which UC celebrated its 730th anniversary. However, in 2022, we will be able to take this great symbolism a little further, as proof of our ability to constantly adapt to the most demanding challenges: on that date, UC celebrates the 250th anniversary of the important achievements associated with the reforms of the Marquis of Pombal, which deeply changed the University”, stresses UC Rector Amílcar Falcão. The Pombaline Reforms resulted in a profound reformulation of Portuguese higher education, originating what are now the Faculty of Science and Technology, the UC Press, and the Science Museum, the Botanic Garden and the Astronomic Observatory of the University of Coimbra.

Speaking on behalf of the World Cultural Council, Executive Director Dr. Esteban M. Wild enthusiastically stated: “We are very honoured that the University of Coimbra will host the 2022 Award Ceremony. After two long years of pause, we are confident that this will be an historical occasion, which will give us the opportunity not only to recognize remarkable scientists, educators and artists that have made outstanding contributions to the benefit of mankind, but it will also give us the opportunity to celebrate the significant role that culture and education have towards enhancing our societies”.

The World Cultural Council is an international non-profit organization founded in Mexico in 1982 by a group of 124 scientists, academics and university leaders from five continents, with the mission of promoting a culture of tolerance, peace and fraternity.

Founded in 1290, the University of Coimbra is the oldest seat of higher education in Portugal and in Portuguese-speaking territory, as well as one of the oldest in the world. For over seven centuries, UC has left an indelible mark on education, science, innovation and culture at a global level.

For further information please visit: wcc.uc.pt/home/