Your well-being platform
The Bridge is a website created to optimize and facilitate the NOVA community’s access to resources that promote well-being and mental health. It emerged after students themselves identified difficulties in accessing psychological support services and reliable information, and took action to address this gap.
It is a co-creation between NOVA students, psychologists from various academic units, and a multimedia designer, with contributions from professionals in Sports, Human Development, Nutrition, and Communication departments at NOVA. Together, they developed four Design Thinking workshops, which resulted in this platform.
Four years later, Bandua was born – a project framed within the National Program for the Promotion of Mental Health and Well-being in Higher Education, developed by the NOVA Saúde platform, aiming to strengthen the well-being of the entire academic community. As part of its mission to enhance mental health literacy, it incorporated The Bridge, transforming it into “Bandua – A Bridge to Mental Health” – with a new life, style, and the same seal of quality.
OUR TEAM
OLGA CUNHA
BIO
Management Committee | Executive Committee
Educational Psychologist, PhD in Community Psychology. Coordinator of BANDUA – NOVA’s Mental Health Promotion Programme in Higher Education, and of the Office for Personal Development and Social Inclusion – NOVA FCSH. Main areas of interest: education, higher education, gender, psychoanalysis, human rights, volunteering.
Daniela JESUS
BIO
Management Committee | Executive Committee
Community Psychologist. Manager of BANDUA – NOVA’s Mental Health Promotion Programme in Higher Education. Areas of interest: well-being within the academic community, mental health, and social integration of minorities.
Alexandra NepomucEno
BIO
Management Committee | Executive Committee
With a degree in Anthropology and a Master’s in Management and Cultural Studies from ISCTE, she worked in the Rector’s Support Unit and is currently Advisor to NOVA Saúde.
Sandra Ferro
BIO
Management Committee
Forensic and Social Exclusion Psychologist, Psychological Support and Vocational Counselling Office at NOVA FCT. Experience: assessment, support, and psychological intervention with children, adolescents, and adults.
Soraya Morais
BIO
Management Committee
Clinical Psychologist at the Office for Personal Development and Social Inclusion – NOVA FCSH. Focus areas: depression, grief, sleep, and adaptation to Higher Education.
Sofia Cília
BIO
Management Committee | Executive Committee
Clinical Psychologist and Director of the Life at Nova SBE area. Responsible for student integration and well-being. Areas of interest: management, leadership, psychological coaching, and career guidance.
Susana Reis
BIO
Management Committee
Director of the Academic Services Office at NOVA Medical School.
Areas of expertise: customer experience, internationalisation, institutional relations, strategic change management, and operational efficiency and effectiveness.
Carolina Champalimaud
BIO
Management Committee | Executive Committee
Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist, Well-being Team Leader at Nova SBE. Areas of interest: cognitive, behavioral, and integrative therapy; neurodivergence; Specific Educational Needs; anxiety; grief; psychological crisis intervention.
Bárbara Martins
BIO
Management Committee
Well-being and Student Support Officer, NOVA Medical School. Focused on student support and communication, contributing to the promotion of well-being, integration, and guidance in higher education.
Ana costa
BIO
Management Committee
Director of Academic Services at NOVA School of Law. Areas of interest: internationalization, student support and inclusion, entrepreneurship, and employability.
Cristiana Rosa
BIO
Management Committee
PRR project manager at NOVA School of Law. Interest areas: Internationalization, Research Support, Project Management.
Ana Varão
BIO
Management Committee
Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, with a focus on Cognitive and Behavioral Psychology. Head of the Academic Division at the Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (IHMT NOVA).
Sara Ribeiro
BIO
Management Committee
Education Program Manager, part of the Student Support Office at NOVA IMS. PhD in Information Management from NOVA IMS, specializing in Geographic Information Systems.
Dalila Farinha
BIO
Management Committee
Executive Administrator at ITQB NOVA, with a background in Economics. Areas of interest: well-being, physical activity and sports, behavioral psychology in the workplace.
Ana Rita Goes
BIO
Management Committee
Psychologist, PhD in Health Psychology, and Assistant Professor at NOVA ENSP. Her research and teaching focus on health promotion, using a socio-behavioral sciences approach.
Catarina pedro
BIO
Management Committee
Educational Psychologist, Health Office, SASNOVA. Main areas of interest: stress, anxiety, family intervention, hyperactivity, and attention deficit.
Paulo Reynaud Silva
BIO
Management Committee
Coordinator of the Physical Activity and Sports Office, SASNOVA. Main areas of interest: physical activity and health, nature-based contact sports, and training in the field of rugby.
Sandra Mateus
BIO
Management Committee | Executive Committee
Clinical and Health Psychologist, SASNOVA Areas of interest: E-Mental Health; Coaching; Community intervention through Playback Theatre and Improvisation; Body psychotherapy and communication tools.
Teresa Tudella
BIO
Management Committee
Educational and Counseling Psychologist, Human Development Office, SASNOVA. Main areas of interest: psychopedagogical support, interventions on well-being and mental health, mental health prevention and promotion, and Special Educational Needs.
MEMBRA PRIORA
Cláudio soares
Soraia Chôcho
STUDENTS
Inês Palma (NOVA IMS)
Member of the BANDUA Management Committee from 2023 to 2025
Mel Sandim (NOVA FCSH)
Member of the social media management group for BANDUA in 2025
Where are we based?
We are based in Campolide, one of Lisbon’s seven hills
The mission of the Social Welfare Services of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa is to guarantee that no student is excluded from the university due to financial difficulties. This is done through support, benefits and services, so as to better the students’ possibility for educational success.