CIS-Iscte researcher discusses ageism at the GIMM Festival

Sibila Marques, a researcher at the Center for Psychological Research and Social Intervention (CIS-Iscte), attended the first edition of the GIMM Festival on Saturday, September 6, 2025. The festival is an initiative organized by the Gulbenkian Institute of Molecular Science (GIMM) that aims to bring science closer to society.

The festival, which lasted three days, devoted the first two days to academic debates and reserved the last day—open to the general public—for sessions of sharing and reflection on topics of great social relevance.

The session, held in partnership with the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation and entitled “What are the impacts of aging on the economy and society?”, discussed one of the greatest challenges of the future: population aging. The discussion focused on the need for long-term public policies capable of preparing Portuguese society for the social and economic transformations that this reality implies.

The panel included Amílcar Moreira (ISEG-ULisboa and Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation), Sibila Marques (CIS-Iscte), and Alexandra Lopes (Faculty of Arts, University of Porto), moderated by Ana Markl.

In her intervention, Sibila Marques highlighted the perspective of social psychology, emphasizing the effects of ageism—discrimination based on age—and its impacts not only on individuals but also collectively, in terms of how aging and longevity are viewed.