The winning thesis, titled "The tensions between the informative and political perspectives of risk and crisis communication: The communication of Portuguese public organizations regarding forest fires", was developed within the scope of the Doctorate in Communication Sciences at UBI. The research, conducted at LabCom – Communication Laboratory, a research unit of the Faculty of Arts and Letters, was funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).
The work analyzes the risk and crisis communication of Portuguese public organizations concerning forest fires, seeking to understand the tensions between the responsibility to inform and protect populations and the need to preserve organizational reputation.
The Paquete de Oliveira Award recognizes excellence in Communication Sciences research at Portuguese universities and includes the publication of the winning thesis by the publisher Sistema Solar. In the 2026 edition, 17 doctoral theses defended between 2023 and 2025 competed.
The jury also awarded honorable mentions to Sara Filipa Monteiro Machado, from the University of Porto, with the thesis “The relationship between social media use and the electoral participation of young Portuguese people”, and to Susana Ferrador, also from the University of Porto, with “Proximity cyberjournalism: mapping and analysis of online media in Trás-os-Montes”. Susana Ferrador was co-supervised by Pedro Jerónimo, a researcher at LabCom.
Bianca Persici Toniolo's distinction is a recognition of the quality of research developed at UBI and LabCom, particularly in strategic, risk, and crisis communication, reinforcing the social relevance of the University's scientific output.
