Press release

16^th April 2010

On Friday, 16^th of April 2010, the President of the Portuguese Republic, Aníbal Cavaco Silva together with his wife visited Charles University. The Portuguese President and the Rector of Charles University both had praise for the good relations and increasing student exchange between their countries. The visit culminated in a lecture given by the Portuguese President followed by a discussion with students.

The ceremonial meeting took place in the Patriotic Hall of Charles University. The Rector of Charles University Prof. Václav Hampl made the opening address, after which Šárka Grauová from the Department of Portuguese Studies at the CU Faculty of Philosophy and Art's Institute of Romance Studies spoke about the history and development of the teaching of Portuguese at CU and drew attention to the importance of the Portuguese Language Centre: „In this centre, directed by the untiring and exceptionally broad-minded Dr Joaquim Ramos, Czech Portuguese studies have acquired not only a completely invaluable support for their work but also a place where all those interested in Portuguese language and culture can meet.“

The President of Portugal Prof. Dr Aníbal Cavaco Silva then gave a lecture that was followed by discussion with students of Portuguese from the Institute of Romance Studies and students from the Institute of International Studies of the CU Faculty of Social Sciences. The President's programme also included a visit to an exhibition of art by Jiří Voves, whose work is inspired by the poetry of the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa. Here the guests were welcomed by H. E. Dr Jose Julio Pereira Gomes, special and plenipotentiary ambassador of the Portuguese Republic, and by Joaquim Coelho Ramos, director of the Cam?es Institute Portuguese Centre in Prague.

Charles University has been co-operating with Portugal since 1987 when it made its first inter-university agreement with the Universidade de Coimbra, relating specifically to the exchange of research and teaching staff in the fields of pharmacy, microbiology, education, law, psychology, romance studies and the environment. In 2003 Charles University signed a Protocol on Co-operation with the Instituto Cam?es Portugal, leading to the official establishment of the Portuguese Language Centre at the CU Faculty of Philosophy and Art. This centre offers for example lectures, themed events, concerts, film screenings and suchlike.

Currently there are 312 Portuguese students studying full degree courses at Charles University as independent fee-payers (most of these are at the CU Faculty of Medicine in Plzeň and at the 2^nd Faculty of Medicine and the 1^st Faculty of Medicine) and 36 trainees. Another 49 students from Portugal are here in this academic year on the basis of the Erasmus LPP programme, under which Charles University has agreements with 12 Portuguese universities.

The President of the Portuguese Republic Aníbal Cavaco Silva and his wife Maria Cavaco Silva were on a state visit to the Czech Republic at the invitation of the President of the Republic, Prof. Václav Klaus.

Charles University in Prague

Charles University in Prague was founded in 1348 and is one of the world's oldest universities. Today it has 17 faculties (14 in Prague, 2 in Hradec Králové and 1 in Plzeň), 3 university institutes, 6 further centres for educational, scientific, research and developmental or other creative activity or for provision of information services, 5 university-wide special facilities and the rectorate as the administrative centre for the whole university. The university has more than 7,500 employees, 4,000 of these being academic and research staff. Over 51,000 students are studying at CU (which is roughly a sixth of all students in the CR), in more than 300 accredited degree programmes and practically 660 study disciplines. More than 18,000 are studying in bachelor's programmes, 25,000 in master's programmes and more than 7,000 in doctoral programmes. Over 6,000 students are from abroad. Various courses in lifelong learning programmes organised by CU attract more than 15,000 people each year. The university places a fundamental stress on international co-operation with prestigious educational and research institutions. CU has made a total of 450 bilateral agreements and 190 international partnership agreements with foreign universities.

For accuracy:

Mgr. Václav Hájek

External Relations Office

Charles University in Prague

tel:                    +420 224 491 248

e-mail:                       

Translation: Jaroslav Švelch