University of Lisbon

The University of Lisbon (Universidade de Lisboa; latin Universitas Olisiponensis) is a leading public university in Lisbon, Portugal, and is composed by eight faculties. It was founded in 1911 after the fall of the Portuguese monarchy regime, but the history of a university in Lisbon backs to the 13th century.

The current Rector of the University is António Sampaio da Nóvoa.

Their motto is ad lucem ("to the light").

History

The first Portuguese university school was founded in 1290 by King Dinis in Lisbon, and was called Studium Generale (Estudo Geral). In the following 247 years, this first university school was moved several times between Lisbon and Coimbra. In 1537, during the reign of João III, the university moved definitively to Coimbra. The entire university institution, including the teaching staff and all the books from its library, were moved to Coimbra where the University of Coimbra was definitively installed. Lisbon became an university city again in 1911 when the current University of Lisbon was founded.

Faculties

Faculty of Law

The Faculty of Law (Portuguese: Faculdade de Direito) ^* was officially created by a Decree of March 22, 1911 as Faculdade de Ciências Económicas e Políticas, but was only installed in 1913, and was given its current designation later in 1918. It was originally located at the Valmor Building (Edifício Valmor) at the Campo dos Mártires da Pátria. It was transferred to its current campus at the University City (Cidade Universitária) in 1957-1958. A new building, housing the Faculty's library, was built in the late 1990's.

The only graduation given is Law, and the specialized post-graduate studies available include several branches of the same area.

Among the many distinguished graduates from the Faculty of Law are the former President of Portugal Jorge Sampaio, former President Mário Soares and the President of the European Commission José Manuel Durão Barroso, or businessman and former prime-minister Francisco Pinto Balsemão. First Republic political leader and several times Prime Minister Afonso Costa was a teacher at the Faculty.

Faculty of Sciences

The Faculty of Sciences (Portuguese: Faculdade de Ciências, usually abbreviated FCUL) ^* was created on April 19, 1911. From that date until 1985 (when it moved to its current grounds, at Campo Grande) it was established on the former Politechnical School (Escola Politécnica) building. Those former installations are now used as museum, now and then.

Its current grounds comprise a built area of 75662 square meters, corresponding to 8 buildings (labeled C1 through C8, where C stands for Ciências --- Science) which host the classrooms, offices, cafeterias, libraries, book shop and leisure areas. The faculty population, as of the 2004/2005 school year, consisted of:

4284 graduation students (4500);
866 M.Sc. students (600);
651 Ph.D. students (700);
470 teachers, about 80% with a Ph.D. (same);
229 workers (same).

(in parentheses, the approximate numbers as of mid-2004).

The faculty's campus also comprises the Instituto de Biofísica e Engenharia Biomédica (IBEB), the Instituto de Oceanografia and the Instituto de Ciência Aplicada e Tecnologia (ICAT).

There are 21 graduations available, in the following areas:

Faculty of Medicine

The Faculty of Medicine is a leading medical school, having its origins in the 19th century when the Real Escola Médico-Cirúrgica de Lisboa was founded in the city.

António Damásio studied at this faculty, and Egas Moniz (a Nobel prize winner) was professor there.

There are 3 graduations available:

Faculty of Letters

The Faculty of Letters (Portuguese: Faculdade de Letras) ^* was created in 1911, although it's predated by the Superior Studies in Letters (Curso Superior de Letras), created in 1859 by King Pedro V, from which all students and professors were transferred.

It remained on the grounds of the Superior Studies, an annex to the Academy of Science until 1957, when it changed to the current building, in the University City (Cidade Universitária). In 1975, a new pavilion was built to accommodate the large influx of students who arrived after the democratization of Superior Education in Portugal, a consequence of the Carnation Revolution. The pavilion, theoretically provisional, still stands today. In 2001, two new buildings were finished: one to accommodate new classrooms and the Computer Room, and the Library Building, which is now the second biggest library in Portugal.

Although the faculty's graduation with most studies is Modern Languages and Literatures (Línguas e Literaturas Modernas) (which has a number of variants, including studies in Portuguese, Spanish, English, French, German and Italian), it also offers Geography, Philosophy, History (and Archeology), African Studies, European Studies and Classical Studies (the graduation itself is named Classic Languages and Literatures). It is also the former home of the graduation in Psychology. In the mid-80's a new Faculty of Psychology ^* was created to accommodate it.

Famous professors at the Faculty include the First President of the Portuguese Republic, Teófilo Braga and writers Vitorino Nemésio and Urbano Tavares Rodrigues.

External links

University of Lisbon Home Page
University of Lisbon - Faculty of Law Home Page of the Faculty of Law
University of Lisbon - Faculty of Sciences Home Page of the Faculty of Sciences
University of Lisbon - Faculty of Medicine Home Page of the Faculty of Medicine
University of Lisbon - Faculty of Letters Home Page of the Faculty of Letters
University of Lisbon - Faculty of Pharmacy Home Page of the Faculty of Pharmacy

Universities and colleges in Portugal | Education in Lisbon | Universität Lissabon | Universidade de Lisboa | Lissabonin yliopisto

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