Three research projects coordinated by LIACOM researchers have been approved in the 10th edition of the Research, Development, Innovation and Artistic Creation (IDI&CA) funding programme of the Lisbon Polytechnic University (UPL). The proposals cover areas such as media literacy, marketing communication and consumer well-being on social media, as well as communication strategies to promote healthy eating habits in schools.

Among the approved projects is “LIDERA – Reading Daily News to Choose, Reflect and Act”, coordinated by Fernanda Bonacho. Developed within the framework of the UNESCO Chair on Communication, Media Literacy and Citizenship, the project aims to assess the impact of an approach designed to promote media literacy and news-reading habits in Portugal. The initiative is based on the creation of guided discussion groups in school, higher education and public libraries, involving librarians and teacher-librarians as facilitators, as well as students and library users. Following an initial pilot edition, carried out during the 2025/2026 academic year, this new phase will allow the methodology to be consolidated and its results to be systematically assessed.

The second approved project, “When the Algorithm ‘Knows Me’: Brand Relationships and Well-being on Social Media”, is coordinated by João Rosário. The research seeks to understand how consumers’ perceptions that social media algorithms know and understand them influence their relationships with brands and their well-being. Taking as its starting point the ambivalent nature of algorithmic personalisation — which can make digital experiences more relevant and convenient, but can also generate feelings of intrusion, surveillance or loss of control — the study aims to identify the conditions under which these perceptions produce positive or negative effects.

Finally, Sandra Pereira coordinates the project “COM.NUTRI – Communication for Social and Behavioural Change in Promoting Healthy Eating in Schools”. This multidisciplinary research, which brings together the fields of Communication and Community Nutrition, aims to analyse the communication strategies used in programmes promoting healthy eating among children from kindergarten to the first cycle of basic education.

The approval of these three projects represents important recognition of the research conducted at LIACOM and its contribution to addressing contemporary challenges in the fields of communication, media, consumption and social change. It also highlights the thematic diversity and the scientific and social relevance of the research carried out by its researchers.