Under the auspices of the IEM new supports and opportunities initiative and with the objective of supporting researchers integrated or eligible for integration, the prize for the best PhD thesis was awarded, ex aequo, to Gonçalo Melo da Silva for his thesis “As Portas do Mar Oceano: Vilas e Cidades Portuárias do Algarve na Idade Média (1249‐1521)” (“The Gates of the Ocean Sea: Towns and Port Cities of the Algarve in the Middle Ages (1249-1521)”) and to Luís Miguel Rêpas for his thesis “Esposas de Cristo. As Comunidades Cistercienses e Femininas na Idade Média” (“Wives of Christ. Cistercian and Female Communities in the Middle Ages“).

The IEM considers it essential to highlight the work carried out by the academic community, thus raising the profile of the commitment and merit of the PhD students at this research unit.  Thus, within the framework of the Multi-Annual Funding Program Contract for R&D Units (2020-2023) signed between the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. and NOVA University (IEM NOVA FCSH), this prize awards the winners a Certificate for the Best Doctoral Thesis and €1,500 (paid out in the form of Missions (transport, accommodation, enrolments at scientific meetings, among others) and/or the costs of Goods and Services (translations, revisions, material analysis, among others) that enable the development of knowledge and ongoing research.

Excerpt from the thesis abstract “As Portas do Mar Oceano: Vilas e Cidades Portuárias do Algarve na Idade Média (1249‐1521)” – Gonçalo Melo da Silva:

“The present thesis aims to study the port towns and cities of the Algarve in the period between 1249 and 1521 – Aljezur, Sagres, Lagos, Alvor, Portimão, Porches, Silves, Albufeira, Loulé, Faro, Tavira, Cacela, Castro Marim and Alcoutim -, in the light of three fundamental questions: (I) How does a port urban hierarchy and network form, evolve and function? (II) How is the urban landscape of port towns and cities formed and developed? (III) What is the impact of the port and maritime activities on the configuration of the urban landscape? This choice was not fortuitous as we perceive the reconstitution and study of the urban network, as well as the relationship of urban space with the port, may allow future studies on other themes, such as its society and economy. This also provides for reflecting on the existence of an urban port network and port cities in the Algarve and whether these concepts are valid for studying and better understanding Medieval Portugal. The structure is organised into six distinct but complementary chapters in order to answer the questions formulated above”.

Excerpt from the thesis abstract “Esposas de Cristo. As Comunidades Cistercienses e Femininas na Idade Média” – Luís Rêpas:

“The study of nuns, individually and as a whole, according to the reality of each conventual community, demonstrates how the Cistercian monasteries analysed here responded to the social and spiritual needs of Portuguese society, throughout the 13th and 14th centuries, benefiting from a context extraordinarily favourable to their expansion in which multiple factors converged. They also reflect the rise in the female profile within the European religious panorama ongoing throughout the 13th century, which led to a multiplication of nunneries.

Finally, this sets out how, regardless of the wealth and prestige of each religious establishment, the social status of the nuns in each community and the family members staying there, the way in which they lived, their location and even the state of their buildings, for each of the women referred to in this thesis, the same monastery might represent a career, a vocation, a prison or a refuge”.