Academic Leadership and the Business Gateway to the Chinese and Portuguese Speaking World

Abstract

NOVA School of Business and Economics (NOVA SBE) identified the opportunity to complement the training of the best language universities in China to bring Chinese students with basic fluency in Portuguese to Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (UNL). They would be trained in Economics and Management at NOVA SBE and complement their Portuguese language studies at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities (FCSH-UNL) obtaining at the end a joint degree from UNL. After a lobby from the university leadership, the Portuguese Government eventually recognized this degree focused on its unique characteristics, namely (1) a Portuguese university as a means to cooperate with Chinese institutions to achieve their strategic goals in Africa and LATAM, (2) multidisciplinary cooperation putting together social sciences and business and economics, and (3) a potential internationalization cooperation for the Portuguese and Chinese HEI's markets far beyond the simple exchange of students.