CICS.NOVA is based at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities (FCSH) of Universidade NOVA de Lisboa and has four hubs at other higher education institutions: University of Minho, University of the Azores, University of Évora and Polytechnic of Leiria.
The unit of CICS.NOVA at Leiria is based at the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria’s School of Education and Social Sciences. It has developed its activity since 2002, when the Research Center on Identiy(ies) and Diversity(ies) was created. It’s researchers became, in 2015, members of the CICS.NOVA.IPLeiria. Following its founding matrix, the unit at Leiria is committed to advancing research in a diverse set of areas of the social sciences, particularly on social trajectories, intercultural mediation, migration, heritage, tourism and identities. These are areas that are not conceived as rigid and/or autonomous from a disciplinary point of view, favoring rather the inter- and multidisciplinarity that characterizes the overall CICS.NOVA project and thus justifying the integration of its researchers in various work groups of this research center.
Coordinator: Cristóvão Margarido
Team – Integrated PhD Members:
Ana Maria de Sousa Neves Vieira
Maria Helena Ferreira de Pedro Mesquita
The Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences – Campus of the University of Azores, CICS.NOVA.UAc is the result of the integration of researchers from the Centre of Social Studies of the University of Azores (CES-UA) in the Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (CICS.NOVA). The CICS.NOVA.UAc is a decentralized unit of the CICS.NOVA, dedicated to the development of scientific research, education, cultural extension and provision of services to the community, with an interdisciplinary range, especially in the following scientific areas: a) Sociology; b) Demography; c) Psychology; d) Educational Sciences.
With the Regional and the Republic Governments as well with the other poles of CICS.NOVA, the CICS.NOVA.UAc develops its activity in the evaluation and definition of public policies, in the diagnosis of social problems and the characterization of the categories and social groups targeted by public policies, playing thus a significant role in the design and evaluation of the impacts of these policies. The Centre plays a role in transferring knowledge to the Governments in areas such as employment, education, social protection, youth policies (in particularly in the Azorean Youth Observatory), problems associated with children and young people at risk, inequalities of gender and domestic violence, migration, cultural consumption, fishing communities, among others.
Coordinator: Pilar Sousa Lima Damião de Medeiros
Team – Integrated PhD Members:
The Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences, University of Évora – CICS.NOVA.UÉvora – contributes to the knowledge of the territorial and social dynamics of the transition areas and / or low-density areas. The investigation follows a wide-ranging approach including fundamental and applied research, training of junior researchers, and technical and scientific advice to community outreach services (university extension work).
CICS.NOVA.UÉvora has in its creation the former CESNOVA-Centre of Social Studies, established at the university of Évora since the 30th of june 2012. Their relations of cooperation and exchange in the domains of sociological studies led to its integration in the current research Centre, covering a wider territorial dimension and assuming an interdisciplinary approach, fundamental in social sciences. CICS.NOVA.UÉvora integrates researchers with expertise in the different domains of research and activities of the Investigation Groups of CICS.NOVA. These researchers are from the University of Évora, the Algarve University, the Polytechnic Institute of Beja and the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, and share common objectives of fundamental and applied interdisciplinary investigation.
The regional context where CICS.NOVA.UÉvora is integrated and the institutional framework with other research structures from the different Universities and Polytechnic Institutes, turns CICS.NOVA.UÉvora in an investigation unit of recognized superior quality, that promote the development of studies of complex problems and of new societal challenges. Furthermore, it is able to respond to the concerns and questions of its environment and identity, through effective knowledge transfer.
The head office of CICS.NOVA.UÉvora is located in the facilities of institute for Advanced Studies and Research (IIFA) from University of Évora, Palácio do Vimioso (Room 224), Largo Marquês de Marialva, 7002 – 554 Évora, Portugal.
Coordinator: André Carmo
Team – Integrated PhD Members:
Maria da Saudade Rodrigues Baltazar
The University of Minho branch of CICS.NOVA (CICS.NOVA.UMinho) began operating on January 1, 2015, following the creation of the Interdisciplinary Center for Social Sciences (CICS.NOVA), an R&D unit based at NOVA FCSH. The Minho branch of CICS.NOVA is based at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Minho, representing the continuity and expansion of the former Social Sciences Research Center of the University of Minho, which was active between 2007 and 2014.
In partnership with the headquarters and other centers, CICS.NOVA.UMinho maintains the interdisciplinary vocation of its founding matrix, promoting research in a wide range of social science areas, with strong links to the territory and the surrounding community. Its researchers collaborate on interdisciplinary projects, combining knowledge and methodologies that strengthen scientific production and the social impact of research.
Supported by values such as scientific rigor, interdisciplinary and interinstitutional collaboration, and social commitment, CICS.NOVA.UMinho has established itself as a center of excellence in the production and dissemination of knowledge.
The history and entire output of the Social Sciences Research Center (2007–2014) and the Interdisciplinary Center for Social Sciences – University of Minho Branch (until August 2025) are available in the archive.
Coordinator: Ana Maria Simões de Azevedo Brandão
Team – Integrated Doctoral Researchers:
Ana Maria Simões de Azevedo Brandão
Ana Paula Vieira Gomes Ferreira
António Maria Ferreira Cardoso
Carolina Feliciana de Sá Cunha Machado
Domingos Fernando da Cunha Santos
Iris Patrícia Teixeira de Castro Neves Barbosa
José João Correia Leite Ribeiro
José Manuel Morais Lopes Cordeiro
Manuel Carlos Ferreira da Silva
Maria Cristina Guimarães de Almeida Moreira
