FCT

R&D Institutions

Resultado da avaliação 2007 na área de História

Unidade de I&D

Centro de Estudos de História Contemporânea Portuguesa [HIST-LVT-Lisboa-3128] visitada em 15/01/2008

Classificação: Good

Comentários do painel de avaliação
Sobre a unidade
It is a relatively small Unit, consisting of 16 PhDs, specialized in Contemporary History. It has a sound training and research tradition, with more than 200 publications in the last period, 25 of which are books.
This Unit is going through an in-house changing process, both in its leadership and in its research groups’ structure, since they are closing three past research areas and are opening some new ones.
It is the founder and the main support of the journal Ler História, that has been published for 25 years (graded B by ERIH-ESF), although the journal is independent from the Unit.
It has its own book’s collection led by the Unit’s founder, Dra. Halpern Pereira. To the present, it has published 6 books.
In the last period it has concluded 6 PHD theses and 4 Master’s degrees.
Visit: Pass

Strengths:

It has a research tradition that belongs to a “scientific school”, with an external and internal vision.
High performance.
They maintain stable international relationships. Several of its researchers have been trained at a doctoral level in foreign universities (France). They have research projects on non Portuguese topics (Quebec, Spain).
It has a new research area on Cultural Studies that replaces the Political History, which is more traditional.
It has fixed future performance standards for its researchers: 12 books, 30 chapters, 15 papers in national journals and 15 papers in international journals.

Weaknesses:

The proposal to create new research groups or areas has not been widely justified. Some of them are personal (Iberconcepts) or very limited in time (Óbidos com História).
The Unit’s future aims as regards training have not been clearly specified.
Sobre os grupos de investigação
Electricity and the question of energy in Portugal (1890-1973) [RG-X-HIST-LVT-Lisboa-3128-1472]
Iberconcepts [RG-HIST-LVT-Lisboa-3128-1471]
Iberconcepts is a project born in the University of País Vasco (Spain) in order to investigate the evolution of the political and social lexicon in the American-Spanish area between 1750 and 1850. Researchers from 10 countries and 30 universities are working on this project. The scientific relevance and feasibility is fair as well as the general evaluation.
Levar a História aos Jovens [RG-X-HIST-LVT-Lisboa-3128-1712]
Metamorfoses da Cultura [RG-HIST-LVT-Lisboa-3128-2423]
The project, starting in January 2008, aims at analysing the changes of cultural nature that took place, since the 19th century, in Europe. The cultural transformations that follow the economic and social developments of European Society will be privileged in this investigation. The apprehension of the cultural transformations contemplates diverse research areas: the way as people see the surrounding world; everyday life forms; the spaces of sociability; the literary and artistic ideas; the scientific knowledge; the political cultures; the future visions; the past images; the individual and groups identities construction and so on. This research group is part of CEHCP’s strategic options to consolidate its main individual research lines, promoting a more solid or inclusive investigation and anyway the planned activities seem to be very good
Óbidos com História (Séculos XIX e XX) [RG-HIST-LVT-Lisboa-3128-1708]
This group wants to reconstruct the history of Óbidos, a little town near Lisboa, between the XIXth and the XXth century, and publish monographic studies on this topic. The modesty of the goal allows only a fair evaluation. I can remark the absolute local dimension of this initiative.
Portugal do Antigo Regime à Democracia [RG-X-HIST-LVT-Lisboa-3128-1470]
Urban History Research Group [RG-HIST-LVT-Lisboa-3128-2417]
The activities of a previous project (“Visiting the city”) are pursued in order to present a new application where the discussion of sources, concepts as well as new perspectives in Urban History become the main aim of the group. A seminar held three times each semester will be a space of debate. Some of these seminars will be internal and for others will be invited members of other research units, both Portuguese and foreigners. The participation in the dictionary of the first republic net work (word “Cidade e República”) is provided for being a part of most important activities for the next tree years and supporting comparative studies with the Brazilian colleagues. Contacts really have been already developed with Brazilian historians working in the same field in Campinas and Rio de Janeiro.

Comentários da unidade

Com todo o respeito pelo painel de avaliadores que apreciou a prestação do CEHCP, não escondemos algum desapontamento face à classificação (Bom) que nos foi atribuída.
Relativamente aos pontos que os avaliadores apontaram como menos sólidos, desejamos salientar o seguinte:
O projecto Portugal do Antigo Regime à Democracia (PARDE), que ocupou todos os membros do CEHCP desde 2003 até ao seminário de conclusão, em Dezembro de 2007, não foi propício a reformulações. Após a sua conclusão, foi-nos clara a necessidade de reequacionar objectivos, estratégias e organização, a que nos dedicámos durante o primeiro semestre de 2008.
Dentro das novas definições, e durante o ano de 2008, avançámos nomeadamente nos seguintes campos:
- reorganização dos grupos de pesquisa;
- aumento do número de membros do CEHCP, com a entrada de um doutorado e sete doutorandos;
- inclusão de quatro bolseiros (BII)
Desta forma, não só se impulsionou o alargamento do CEHCP, como a formação de investigadores.
Com isto, desejamos sobretudo salientar que, assim que o período de estabilidade do PARDE foi ultrapassado, e antecipando sobre o conhecimento da apreciação dos avaliadores, já tínhamos começado a colmatar os nossos pontos mais frágeis.
Gostaríamos que, se possível, que essa correcção fosse tida em conta.