The list of state secretaries proposed by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro was accepted today by the President of the Republic. In the Education, Science, and Innovation portfolio, led once again by Fernando Alexandre, only two of the three previous state secretaries have been reconducted.
Politologist and education specialist Alexandre Homem Cristo remains the Deputy Secretary of State for Education, while Maria Luísa Oliveira, a former director-general who joined the government in February, continues as the Secretary of State for School Administration.
In the area of science, Ana Paiva is replaced by Helena Canhão, who has been the director of NOVA Medical School, as the Secretary of State for Science and Innovation.
According to the biographical note on the University NOVA of Lisbon’s website, Helena Canhão was also the director of the Rheumatology Unit of the Local Health Unit of São José – Hospital Santo António dos Capuchos in Lisbon, president of the Clinical Research Ethics Committee, and the Ethics Committee of the Medical Association.
Under the new organization, the MECI will have a new Secretary of State for Higher Education, an area previously under the direct responsibility of Minister Fernando Alexandre in the former government.
The new Secretary of State is Cláudia Sarrico, who holds a Ph.D. in Management and is a lecturer at the University of Minho. She has been a policy analyst in the Directorate for Science, Technology, and Innovation at the OECD since September 2023, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The second government led by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, which was inaugurated today, will have 16 ministries, one fewer than the previous, and will retain thirteen of the 17 ministers from the outgoing executive.
The state secretaries will take office on Friday at 12:00, at the Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, in Lisbon.
