José Miguel Ferreira‘s doctoral thesis, “As novas conquistas: agricultura, florestas e colonialismo em Goa (c. 1763-1912)” [The new conquests: agriculture, forests and colonialism in Goa (c. 1763-1912)], received an Honourable Mention from the jury of the 32nd edition of the Victor Sá Award for Contemporary History, awarded by the Cultural Council of the University of Minho.

In his doctoral research, carried out at the University of Lisbon, José Miguel Ferreira focused on the relationship between agriculture, forestry policies and colonialism in Goa in the 19th century. His thesis analysed “the diversity of government and colonisation projects in the area known as the New Conquests in Goa between the end of the 18th century and the first years of the 20th century”.

The 32nd Victor de Sá Award for Contemporary History was awarded, ex-aequo, to Bernardo Luís Campos Pinto da Cruz, with his thesis, “As origens institucionais da moderação da violência: regedorias e políticas de concentração em Angola ( 1914-1974)” [The institutional origins of the moderation of violence: regiments and concentration policies in Angola (1914-1974)], and to João Carlos dos Santos Moreira, with his thesis, “Intelectuais portugueses e a ideia de esquerda num tempo de transição (1968-1986) – Os casos de António José Saraiva, Eduardo Prado Coelho e João Martins Pereira” [Portuguese intellectuals and the idea of the left in a time of transition (1968-1986) – The cases of António José Saraiva, Eduardo Prado Coelho and João Martins Pereira].

In 2022, Marta Silva, also an IHC researcher, was the winner of this award with her doctoral thesis “O auxílio à emigração irregular para França e a figura do intermediário no interior rural português (1957-1974)” [Aid for irregular emigration to France and the figure of the middleman in the Portuguese rural interior (1957-1974)]. In fact, the list of winners of this award includes several IHC researchers, such as Patrícia Lucas, Cláudia Ninhos and Aurora Almada e Santos, just to name a few.