In December, the University of Algarve will lay the foundation stone for the new building of the Medicine Course, an infrastructure that will serve not only to provide other conditions for Medicine students and researchers in related fields, but also to increase the “numerus clausus” of the Integrated Masters in Medicine, «within two or three years».
The work has already started, although for the time being, it will only consist of “the preparation of the land, with the clearing of vegetation” and the installation of the shipyard.
The new building – which, in practice, will be the remaining wing of the existing Faculty of Science and Technology building located in front of the Gambelas Campus Library – will cost «nearly 3 million euros», with the money to come "of the State Budget and European Funds", as he revealed to the Sul Informação the dean of UAlg.
João Guerreiro, who finishes his term this year and does not re-apply for the position, had already admitted, in a balance he made of the time he led the institution, that the launch of this work was one of the great victories of his second term.
«The idea is to give other working conditions to students and professors of the Medicine Course. Thus, the architecture of the building itself was designed to adapt to the model of the course, which relies heavily on seminars», he revealed.
The pedagogical component was not the only concern and the building will also have spaces for research and incubation of companies generated from the knowledge produced there.
In this way, and thinking about the future evolution of the research and incubation component, three floors will be built to be used immediately and «a fourth that will be left in ruins, with a view to an eventual expansion».
As for the increase in the “numerus clausus”, that is, the number of medical students who will be accepted annually to enter the 1st year, for the first time, it has already happened in the current academic year. In 2013/14, 48 new students were placed and the number «will increase even more, because that is what determines the contract between UAlg and the Government», signed when the course was approved and launched.
"We still have to increase more, but the numbers will always depend on the country's needs", said João Guerreiro.
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