If we are just another school, we are one school too many.*
Mission and Organizational Values
ESCS’s mission is to create and impart applied scientific knowledge, training highly qualified professionals at graduate and postgraduate levels in the areas of Audiovisual and Multimedia, Journalism, Advertising and Marketing, and Public Relations and Corporate Communication. The tools and ability with provide our students with enable them to go on to have a positive impact on organizations and society in a multicultural and globalized world.
The threefold purpose of our mission (research; teaching and learning; service and value to the community) translates into a vision of ESCS as a leading Communication School in Portugal. Both our stakeholders and the international community acknowledge the quality of our teaching, the excellence of the learning experience we provide, our academic rigor, the relevance of our research, the reputation of our graduates and lecturers, and their contribution to the building of a model of society based on humanistic principles, underpinned by knowledge, creativity and innovation.
ESCS’s organizational culture is grounded in the following values, which should be communicated and shared by all the students, teachers and collaborators of the institution:
Rigor, Quality, and Continuous Improvement
Trust, Cooperation, and Collaboration
Social and Entrepreneurship Relevance
Diversity and Multiculturalism
Social Responsibility and Ethical Behaviour
Message from the Dean
The School of Communication and Media Studies (ESCS-IPL) has always been much more than a place where communication is taught. It is a place to understand the world, to question it, and ultimately, to shape it.
We live in a time when communication plays a decisive role in strengthening democratic societies, fostering innovation, advancing science, promoting culture, and transforming the way we connect with one another. Preparing graduates to meet these challenges requires an education that is rigorous, creative, critical, and firmly connected to the realities of a rapidly changing world.
At ESCS, we believe that knowledge has its greatest impact when it serves people and society. This is why we promote an educational experience that combines academic excellence with hands-on learning, critical thinking with professional practice, creativity with responsibility, and innovation with a strong sense of civic engagement.
We want every student to find here far more than a degree at ESCS. We want them to discover a community where they can grow, find their voice, develop their talents, and build the future they aspire to create.
We are equally committed to strengthening research that is internationally recognised, socially relevant, and capable of addressing the major challenges facing contemporary communication. Producing knowledge is one of the pillars of our mission and an essential contribution to understanding the profound transformations taking place across journalism, media, artificial intelligence, advertising, audiovisual communication, digital platforms, and organisations.
ESCS will continue to strengthen its position as an open, internationally engaged institution, working closely with industry partners, public organisations, cultural institutions, and society. We are committed to fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, inclusion, and social responsibility that prepares our community not only to respond to change, but to lead it.
As President, I firmly believe that the future is built through people. They are the School's greatest strength and its most valuable asset. Together with our students, faculty, researchers, professional staff, alumni, and partners, we will continue building an ESCS that is increasingly innovative, international, inclusive, and prepared to anticipate the opportunities and challenges of tomorrow.
Education is about more than preparing students for successful careers.
It is about empowering people.
And empowered people have the ability to change the world.
Welcome to ESCS.
Prof. PhD Sandra Miranda
Dean of ESCS
* António Pinto Leite, Chairman of the ESCS Setting-up Committee, on the occasion of the inauguration of the School building.