School of Communication and Media Studies (Lisbon Polytechnic Institute)

The mission of our School is the creation and transmission of applied scientific knowledge through the formation of highly qualified professionals in the domains of Audiovisual and Multimedia, Journalism, Marketing and Publicity, and Public Relations and Business Communication. Permanently seeking to improve the quality and foster innovation in the undergraduate and postgraduate courses, we aim to prepare our students to have a positive impact on the organizations and the society at large in the global and multicultural world of the 21 century.

The School of Communication and Media Studies is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in the communication domains for the quality of education, the learning experience, academic rigour, the research relevance and the reputation of the faculty and alumni. This recognition is attained with a mission focused on high quality and innovative teaching and learning, research, and valuable services to society.

Our values are Rigor, quality and continuous improvement; Trust, confidence, cooperation and collaboration; Social and Business relevance; Diversity and Multiculturalism; Social responsibility and ethical behaviour.

Our goals, arising from our strategic plan, are the embodied activities and projects that aim for a: valorisation, diversification and Internationalization of the courses; the promotion, progression and development of faculty members; the creation, communication and transfer of knowledge and research to society; internationalization of research and networks; a permanent responsible relation with the society; participatory governance and leadership and a permanent quality assessment on all the activities.

Our main activities are focused on innovative teaching and learning, research, and valuable services to society. Our students are provided with a diversified and continually updated long-life learning through varied undergraduate and postgraduate courses that within the realm of Communication and Media studies prepare them for a responsible professional activity and citizenship. Our faculty body develops research, valuing knowledge transfer and open science, on cutting edge thematic on social and human sciences translated into development for the society at large. Both the teaching and learning, as well as the research projects, are grounded in partnerships outside academia including the private sector, ONGs and public institutions. In regards to the services to society, beyond those already mentioned, we have many protocols with other institutions and organizations through which our students and faculty provide services on a local and regional and national scale.

Equity and accessibility for our School community is a major concern and priority crossing all activities. On that, we have several mechanisms and opportunities, namely the following Fellowships: Fellowships for students with low income; Fellowships for female students; Fellowships of academic excellence; Fellowships for international students, especially those from the PALOP (African Countries of official Portuguese language). Beyond the resource provided by our Social Action department, we also have programs of mentorship for students with special needs, volunteering programs for society and the specific program of inclusion (Programa Inclui) for students with special needs. Furthermore, we organize masterclasses, activities and cultural initiatives focused on the inclusion of students with special needs, ethnic minorities, foreign students, gender equality and LGBTIQ+. In what concerns quality, we mark out all of our courses with the quality criteria of the Portuguese evaluation and accreditation agency (A3ES). Additionally, we ensure a permanent quality assessment in all our activities (Teaching and Learning, Research, Internationalization and Relation with society) with internal quality assurance systems. For all the questions related, we have a Quality office permanently working on improvement in all criteria and areas.

All of our courses are based on Laboratorial learning and real practical cases in strict collaboration with the business sector. This approach is essential for our student’s performance on the future market labour. Particularly we highlight the innovative thematic of the postgraduate courses, such as those on Data Science for communication and marketing, Pharmaceutical Marketing, Brand a content marketing, Storytelling or Cultural and Creative industries. We are currently working to offer more opportunities for E-learning and Hybrid Learning experiences.

As already mentioned we have several protocols with organizations, public and private, through which we offer valued services. Furthermore, and beyond the articulation between the research projects and the society, we specific projects on societal issues such as sports ethics, justice, victims support, Communication & Advocacy or city mapping tools. Science communication is a priority, therefore, further, than the website and social media communication of our activities and contents, we have a monthly podcast focusing on Social and Human Sciences and our Journal «Comunicação Pública» is in open access. It's also important to mention that many of the conferences and congresses organized by ESCS are in partnership with public bodies (local and regional), business entities, ONGs, Hospitals, etc. Being a School of communication and Media Studies there are several activities promoted by our students with the support of the faculty body specially dedicated to the articulation with society such as Radio broadcasting, journals, Podcasts and a weekly television informative show broadcasted on national television.

Permanently seeking to improve the quality and foster innovation in the undergraduate and postgraduate courses, we aim to prepare our students to have a positive impact on the organizations and the society at large facing the challenges in the global and multicultural world of the 21 century. This concern is extended to the research and innovation projects and currently our faculty as projects on areas such as climate change and crisis, ageing societies, development of critical and reflexive thought, Literacy improvement, digital platforms and social media. Also, several projects focus on the covid and post-covid emerging issues for society.

ESCS is part of Eco-Escolas, an international program of the “Foundation for Environmental Education” and every year we fulfil the criteria for the School Green Flag. Our contribution to sustainability is materialized in a set of activities and initiatives, such as a podcast on climate issues; workshops on sustainability and we have organized international congresses on this thematic. Also, our faculty are engaged in research projects on themes such as sustainable tourism, sustainable consumerism or the valorization of natural inland and seaside landscapes.

What we set as our strategic goals on the social relationship is expressed in what was mentioned concerning the opening to society, nevertheless is important to mention that form 2022 we will implement a quality assessment system to evaluate and improve our actions, projects and activities with society to ensure the achievement of full social responsibility.