Pedro Costa Gonçalves embraces role as Director of UC Faculty of Law with confidence and optimism
The new Management Board of the Faculty of Law also includes João António Pinto Monteiro, Teresa Almeida, Margarida Costa Andrade and João Pedro Rodrigues
During his inauguration in the University Senate Room on 9 July, Pedro Costa Gonçalves, the newly appointed Director of the Faculty of Law, delivered an optimistic address, stating that FDUC “has every reason to be confident and to look to the future with positivity.”
Costa Gonçalves thanked the previous director, Jónatas Machado, and his team for their dedication over two terms. Emphasising the importance of people, he praised the “unwavering dedication of our professors” and the “proven commitment of our staff”. He expressed confidence in the energy, creativity and transformative power of the students.
Turning to institutional achievements, he noted the strong standing of the Institute for Legal Research, emphasising that it is particularly encouraging that the Faculty’s R&D unit has achieved recognised excellence.
The new director also highlighted some key challenges, such as the ageing of both teaching and technical staff, as well as the heavy bureaucratic workload burdening the faculty.
Pedro Costa Gonçalves pledged to do his utmost for FDUC. “Together with my colleagues, we are committed to preparing the Faculty for the future — to face the challenges and implications of technological advances, and to tackle the complex questions raised by the impact of artificial intelligence on teaching, as well as on the law itself, in its development and, above all, its application.”
Presiding over the ceremony, UC Rector Amílcar Falcão praised the Faculty’s research, noting that the Legal Institute “has made significant progress” and that today, the Faculty of Law “has enough European projects of both quantity and quality to sustain research and scientific output we can all be proud of.”
