Following the guidelines of the Health Directorate General and the Order no. 2836-A/2020 of 2 March, aiming to contain the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Rector of the University of Coimbra approved a set of preventive measures within this context, namely the interruption of all face-to-face academic activities at the University of Coimbra and their replacement by digital methods, thus promoting distance learning for a period of at least 15 consecutive days.
All UC students will be considered and assessment will take place via online platforms.
As the state of emergency has been extended, it is not foreseeable that, until the end of the current academic year, there will be conditions to carry out face-to-face activities.
In addition, due to the installed uncertainty, the emotional stability of the entire academic community should be considered a greater value - in addition to the need for all students (national and international) to be treated equally, which is why it becomes necessary to plan in time what remains of the current school year.
The established academic calendar for the current academic year, approved by the Rector’s Order no. 19/2019 of 7 February will remain the same; the only exception refers to the class interruption related to the student festivity “Queima das Fitas”. As it was postponed, there will be online classes during the days that had been allocated to this celebration.
We should all remember that with the involvement of the entire academic community, the University of Coimbra made every effort to create the necessary conditions to adapt to this new reality and to ensure that teaching activities may be carried out virtually and reach all students.
You may read the full Rector's Order (no. 55/2020) in English here.
Translation by Diana Taborda