UC promotes Ethics and Integrity among the academic community

The conference 'Ethics and Integrity' took place on 20 December in the Rectory Auditorium of the University of Coimbra.

The University of Coimbra (UC) held the conference "Ethics and Integrity—Together for the promotion of active and socially responsible citizenship" this Friday, 20 December, to strengthen its organizational integrity.

The event, organised by the Audit and Management Risk Prevention Office (GAPRG), “aims to promote a better understanding of issues as important to our institutional experience as ethics and integrity,” says Luís Neves, UC vice-rector for human resources, finance and social services.

“The UC has strengthened its organisational integrity tools, namely through the adoption of the Code of Ethics, Conduct and Integrity, the implementation of the Plan for the Prevention of Management Risks, Corruption and Related Offences and the Whistleblowing Channel," explains the UC Vice-Rector. Luís Neves added that "in the next academic year, an elective cross-curricular unit on ethics will be included in all UC training programmes".

The University of Coimbra has several mechanisms in place, but the vice-rector adds that "for them to work and be effective, we need the collaboration and commitment of our entire academic community. "

Amílcar Falcão, Rector of the University of Coimbra, says: “We have an excellent internal monitoring system, so it's not difficult to detect something, and we carry out regular internal audits. In addition, we also have a whistleblowing channel, which is completely independent and helps us a lot,” he added, highlighting the university's progress in promoting ethics and integrity. At the end of the conference, Amílcar Falcão promised to continue working “to improve our internal mechanisms so that ethics and integrity are increasingly values that our university has acquired together and that we pass on to our students'”.

The "Ethics and Integrity" conference is part of a series of activities promoted by the Audit and Management Risk Prevention Office on the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day, celebrated on 9 December.

The next initiative will be "From the Tower to the Community - A Journey of Integrity", which will allow the heads of the different UC structures to make staff aware of the tools to strengthen organisational integrity.

The awareness-raising sessions will take place in the first semester of 2025. Registration is open until 31 December at https://ls.uc.pt/index.php/622195?lang=pt