It was with great enthusiasm that School of Arts welcomed the new students of the degrees in Cinema, Conservation and Restoration and Sound and Image in three welcome sessions in the late afternoon of last Thursday, September 5.

With a welcome message, the new students were greeted by the course coordinators: Pedro Alves (Cinema); Carla Felizardo and Gonçalo Vasconcelos e Sousa (Conservation and Restoration); André Baltazar and Cristina Sá (Sound and Image). The sessions were also attended by the director of School of Arts, Nuno Crespo, the president of the Pedagogical Council, Maria Coutinho, SoA's Student Care, Joana Sampaio Silva and the president of the Students' Association, Diogo Pinto.

During the sessions, Nuno Crespo stressed in his speech the existence of support mechanisms for students who need them and also stated that the School of Arts is an active and open space, in which students are expected to participate, propose activities and be critical.

These sessions were followed by a general session attended by Isabel Braga da Cruz, president of Católica Porto, in which the merit of our students was recognized through the distribution of merit scholarships. At the School of Arts, the recipients of the scholarship with the best access classification and portfolio were:

Degree in Cinema - Sofia Regis Brasil Mello (application grade); Davi da Costança Evaristo (portfolio).

Degree in Conservation and Restoration - Maria Ferreira Borges (application grade).

Degree in Sound and Image - Catarina Denise Ward Carneiro (application note); Maria Eduarda Pereira Rodrigues (application note); Luís Afonso Vieira (portfolio); Matylda Koltan Carvalho (portfolio).

In this first week of September, all the new students took part in a welcome program designed to ensure that the welcoming spirit remains from the first moments until the years to come.