A generous donation to the University of Warwick by a Warwick alumnus will fund a total of five visiting fellowships between Warwick and Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (NOVA University Lisbon).

This will mean that five academics from Warwick and NOVA will each receive funding to spend six months at the other institution in order to further their research. Academics currently completing a PhD, as well as more established academics, will be eligible to apply.

Rui Fernandes, who studied Economics at Warwick, has made this generous donation to fund cross-cultural exchange and to deepen links between Warwick and NOVA.

Mr Fernandes’ previous donation established the Fernandes Fellowships Programme, regarded as one of Warwick’s most successful fellowship schemes. This provided international fellowships linking Warwick to universities in Europe, and in addition enabled Ukrainian academics to visit Warwick in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

Applications will be encouraged from academics working in areas of strategic international significance, including health, food, energy, behaviour, cyber security, habitability, innovative manufacturing and future materials, sustainable cities, and productivity and the future of work.

The donation will be officially announced at the latest EUTOPIA week, which NOVA is hosting in Lisbon from 19 June. The week is a focal point for the activities of the EUTOPIA Alliance, a student-centred group of ten entrepreneurial and change-focused European universities, of which Warwick is a founding member.

The EUTOPIA Alliance aims to build powerful connections across communities, institutional structures and local industries, and addresses global challenges through collaborative research across Europe.

Professor Seán Hand, Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Europe) at the University of Warwick said: “Warwick is proud to partner with Universidade NOVA de Lisboa through the EUTOPIA Alliance. Over the years, it has been wonderful to see the incredible breadth and depth of activities across the EUTOPIA partner universities, in support of our students, researchers, educators and staff. As a founding member of EUTOPIA, Warwick remains deeply committed to advancing this alliance.

We are incredibly grateful to Warwick alumnus Rui Fernandes for his generous philanthropic support which will establish a total of five prestigious fellowships for talented researchers at Universidade NOVA de Lisboa and the University of Warwick. These fellowships will also help provide the dynamic impetus for both universities to forge meaningful collaborations in areas of transformative research.”

Rui Fernandes commented: "I’m delighted that my philanthropic support will create opportunities for talented researchers at both Universidade Nova de Lisboa and the University of Warwick, facilitating bilateral fellowships in areas of research that affect us all.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time studying Economics at Warwick and I have been impressed by Warwick’s international outlook and world class interdisciplinary research. Alongside this, I have a strong connection to Lisbon and Universidade Nova de Lisboa itself, as I studied at Nova for a year in 1994 before studying at Warwick. These have all been key factors in my decision to support Warwick’s international and European strategy.

I am delighted to be able to support the University, and I would encourage my fellow alumni to consider supporting Warwick’s research and educational work.”

João Sàágua, Rector of Nova University said: “Universidade NOVA de Lisboa is delighted to host this year’s EUTOPIA week and to welcome our university partners to Lisbon. NOVA is proud to be a partner university in the EUTOPIA alliance, which will bring great opportunities to develop impactful knowledge and research exchange.

“We should like to extend our warm gratitude and thanks to NOVA alumnus Rui Fernandes for providing opportunities for our researchers to visit Warwick, and we very much look forward to hosting researchers from Warwick who come to NOVA.”