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Centro de Estudos Sociais - Universidade de Coimbra

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Areas of expertise & Fields of activity:	Economic and Social: Citizenship and Governance Criminal Justice Culture Decolonization Development Disabled Persons Disarmament Economics and Finance Environment Family Governance Human Rights Indigenous Peoples International Law Justice Labour Migration Minority Rights New Global Institutions Religion Science and Technology Social Development Violence Volunteerism Water Women Women/gender Equality Financing for Development: External debt Gender Issues and Advancement of Women: Capacity building Human rights of women Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women Millennium Development Goals Policy advice Research Trafficking in women and girls Women and armed conflict Women and the media Population: International migration Population structure Public Administration: Ethics, Transparency and Accountability Governance and Public Administration Social Development: Conflict Disabled persons Employment Indigenous issues Poverty Social policy Sustainable Development: Disaster management and vulnerability Forests Gender equality Science
Geographic scope:	International
Millennium Development Goals:	Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Promote gender equality and empower women Ensure environmental sustainability Develop global partnership for development
Mission statement:	The Centre for Social Studies (CES), founded in 1978 at the Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, is a scientific institution devoted to research and advanced training in the area of the social sciences and humanities. The scientific activity of CES-Associate Laboratory is governed by six major strategic orientations: To promote new epistemologies and stimulate the cultural interaction of ideas as an exercise of knowledge ecology; To support the development of progressive human rights concepts, fighting against racial and sexual inequalities and discriminations, among others, and improving democracy; To strengthen the participation in national and international networks, with special attention to North-South and European cooperations and the relationship with Portuguese-speaking countries; To promote democratic participation and active citizenship supporting the elaboration of public policies; To improve the knowledge about the Portuguese society in a comparative perspective, in order to promote the diversity of visions and democratic debates within the society; To promote post-graduate studies and advanced training activities to young researchers, professionals and citizens in general, as a way of contributing to the improvement of societal skills in order to achieve a better quality of life. The methodological guidelines are the following: - To promote interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, combining contributions from different areas and traditions; - To develop new and innovative analytical, theoretical and methodological instruments and approaches, capable of understanding the specificities and complexities of contemporary societies; - To disseminate scientific knowledge, making it available in its multiple applications, through joint initiatives with civil society organizations, state institutions and international agencies, as well as with local, regional and national administration entities, within the Portuguese context. Over the past years, CES has seen its scientific activity expand to a significant degree. This can be noted in its increased number of researchers, in its academic progression, in the growth of research projects involving CES researchers, in the broadening of international cooperation networks, in activities carried out in cooperation with the outside sphere and in the vitality of its main instruments for scientific dissemination. The research projects and international scientific networks in which its researchers have participated over the past decade confirm the dynamism of the Centre for Social Studies, which, in 1997 and in 1999, and more recently in 2005 and 2010, received recognition of its scientific merit when it was evaluated as Excellent (the highest classification) by an international panel, within the framework of the Evaluation Process for Research Units of the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education. In February 2002, CES was awarded the status of Associate Laboratory by the Ministry for Science, on the basis of two central premises: firstly, its proven ability to develop innovative research on Portuguese society in its different aspects, as well as on current transformations at the international level, with special emphasis on semi-peripheric societies and those of the Southern hemisphere, especially the Portuguese-speaking countries; secondly, the Centre’s involvement in issues of public interest, notably public policies and the new forms of regulation, the relation between scientific knowledge and citizen participation, and the legal system and the reform of the administering of justice.
Year established:	1978
Year of registration:	1978
Organizational structure:	Governing Bodies The Director since the foundation of the Centre, Boaventura de Sousa Santos, is responsible for coordinating all the research activities and for external representation. The Scientific Board ofunctions in plenary sessions composed of all PhD Associates, one representative from the team of non-PhD researchers and one representative from the team of junior researchers, and in standing committee. The Standing Committee of the Scientific Board is composed of 25 PhD associates, including ex-officio and peer-elected members, a representative from the team of non-PhD researchers and a representative from the team of junior researchers. The Scientific Board is currently presided over by Pedro Hespanha, and vice-presidents are Maria José Canelo, Tiago Santos Pereira and Sílvia Portugal. The Scientific Board deliberates on all issues related to the research activities of CES, including the definition of criteria and priorities concerning the hiring of researchers. The Executive Board, is composed of 5 full members and 4 reserve members, elected in a General Assembly, for a period of three years. Currently it consists of the following full members: Boaventura de Sousa Santos, José Maria Castro Caldas (Coordinator), Margarida Calafate Ribeiro, Vítor Neves and João Paulo Dias (Executive Director). The reserve members are: Daniel Francisco and Sílvia Ferreira. The Executive Board is responsible for implementing the guidelines determined by the General Assembly and the Scientific Board; for coordinating and overseeing the administrative and technical services of support to research (logistics, maintenance, accounting, administrative work, etc); and for submitting annual reports to the General Assembly. The General Assembly of Researchers is composed of all researchers, and decides on the major guidelines of the Centre’s activities, discusses and approves the budget for each year, assesses the financial and activities reports presented by the Executive Board, and decides on the admission of new members. It is presided ex-officio by the Rector of the University of Coimbra, João Gabriel Silva, the vice-president is Mathias Thaler and the secretary is João Mascarenhas Mateus. The Audit Committee is composed of three CES associates, President - Ana Cordeiro Santos, Member - Lina Coelho, Member - Madalena Duarte. It monitors the implementation of the budget, delivers opinions on management instruments, examines the financial statements and delivers opinions on the annual financial report. The Centre for Social Studies (CES), founded in 1978 at the Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, is a scientific institution devoted to research and advanced training in the area of the social sciences and humanities.
Number and type of members:	The Centre for Social Studies (CES), founded in 1978 at the Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, is currently headed by Professor Boaventura de Sousa Santos, CES now numbers 124 researchers, 48 associate researchers and 53 junior researchers. Many of these researchers work on a full time basis at the Centre. Remaining members combine research with lecturing (the vast majority at the Faculty of Economics, the Facultys of Humanities and the Faculty of Science and Technology) or with other professional activities. The team of researchers at CES include sociologists, economists, jurists, anthropologists, historians, specialists in the areas of education, literature, culture and international relations, geographers, architects, engineers, biologists and medical doctors.
Funding structure:	Fees for providing consulting or research services Donations and grants from domestic sources Foreign and international grants
Funding structure other:	Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (Ministry of Science).

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