NOVA Medical School is hosting a new edition of the Nutrition Shark Tank, an event that transforms the classroom into a stage of opportunities by challenging final-year students from the BSc in Nutritional Sciences to pitch innovative projects to a panel of business leaders — the so-called “sharks.”
Inspired by the acclaimed Shark Tank television format, this dynamic initiative has been specially adapted to an academic context in partnership with the Nova SBE Health Economics & Management Knowledge Center. The goal is to bring emerging talent closer to the job market by allowing students to demonstrate, in practice, their entrepreneurial mindset and their ability to turn scientific knowledge into concrete solutions for real-world challenges in healthcare.
The project is, once again, coordinated by Mariana Nóbrega, who serves as Project Manager and in this 2025 edition, five teams — comprising 28 finalists — will present their proposals to a panel of professionals from renowned companies such as CUF, Nestlé, AGEAS, Multicare, Eurest, Jerónimo Martins, SUCH, Sumol Compal, Sonae, FIPA, Gel Peixe, and Sport Lisboa e Benfica, among others. The invited experts — the “sharks” — will challenge the ideas, and the audience will have the opportunity to vote for the best project. This format allows ideas to evolve into real initiatives with the potential to impact the lives of Portuguese citizens — particularly in an area where prevention is still often overlooked in political debate: nutrition.
The opening moment will feature an inspiring conversation between two leading voices in the sector: Pedro Pita Barros (health economist at Nova SBE and a prominent figure in public health policy in Portugal and Europe) and Francisco Goiana da Silva (physician, professor, and currently a commentator at SIC), under the theme: “Frontline Talk – The Future of Health.”
“With the Nutrition Shark Tank, we strengthen the connection between NOVA Medical School and Nova SBE by offering students tools that enable them to apply classroom knowledge in the creation of concrete solutions. This partnership reinforces the bridge between academic training and market needs, preparing future nutritionists to take an active role in transforming the health sector,” says Nádia Ahmad, Executive Director of the Health Economics & Management Knowledge Center at Nova SBE.
Conceição Calhau, Full Professor and Coordinator of the BSc in Nutritional Sciences at NOVA Medical School, adds:
“This initiative reflects our commitment to academic excellence and the development of socially conscious professionals, ready to actively contribute to society. As a public institution, we aim to educate and return to the community more human, better prepared, and more committed citizens, capable of driving solutions for a better world.”
The event — hosted by Conceição Calhau (NOVA Medical School) and Pedro Pita Barros (Nova SBE) — will take place on June 24, 2025, at 10:00 AM, at Teatro Thalia in Lisbon.
Both lead this initiative with a clear goal: to show students — and society — how science can break through the walls of academia and help transform the country.