Universidade do Porto

The University of Porto (U.Porto) was founded in 1911 and is today among the top 100 universities in Europe and the top 350 in the world in the leading rankings.

In addition to excellence in education, U.Porto is also the largest producer of science in the country, with over 23% of Portuguese scientific articles indexed in the Web of Science (2015-2019). It also leads European patent applications and manages one of the most dynamic national innovation ecosystems: UPTEC.

The U.Porto campus integrates 14 colleges, a business school, 48 R&D units (43 evaluated “Excellent” or “Very Good”) and nine interface institutes. Over 30 thousand students attend the approximately 290 courses available, benefiting from the pedagogical and scientific skills of a highly qualified faculty (90% Ph.Ds).

The University has modern educational and research facilities, a network of 18 libraries and 12 museums, four sports complexes, 20 canteens and cafeterias, two e-learning cafés, and nine student residences. These infrastructures are framed by a green park, in Asprela, or near historic and very pleasant gardens.

U.Porto has been increasing its levels of internationalization. International students already account for about 20% of the student community, a fact not unrelated to the 168 Erasmus+ projects in which the University was involved between 2014 and 2020. Furthermore, U.Porto has strengthened its participation in international knowledge networks, being one of the founding institutions of the consortium EUGLOH – European University Alliance for Global Health, which comprises the Universities of Porto, Paris-Saclay, Lund, Ludwig-Maximilians of Munich and Szegued.

The increasing role of U.Porto in the promotion of culture, preservation and enhancement of heritage and support for artistic creation should also be noted. Due to its dynamism and scope, the Casa Comum project has placed the University among the most relevant cultural institutions in the city of Porto.

Rector’s Message

It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to U.Porto. We are a European research university, whose campus establishes a synergistic relationship between the teaching-learning process and the production of technical and scientific knowledge.

Downstream, this relationship allows us to fulfill our third mission: the creation of economic, social, and cultural value through knowledge. Furthermore, our education/training, research and innovation activities benefit from the close connection of the University to the business world, to public and private laboratories, to health institutions, to associations and foundations, and to the cultural and artistic community.

Education at the U.Porto is supported by R&D activities, so that the student is not a mere passive recipient of pedagogical content, but an active element in the discovery and production of knowledge. This implies the adoption of innovative pedagogical models, from which project-work methodology and self-learning are developed.

Our campus operates as an ecosystem where education and research, innovation and technology, thought and culture complement each other at all levels. The University has been promoting curricular interdisciplinarity, offering multi-titling courses (study cycles involving several organic units ) and curricular units of cross-sectional skills in cultural areas. This allows combining different scientific disciplines with artistic-cultural subjects, providing students with an eminently multidisciplinary education, which meets the needs of the labor market.

U.Porto is committed to developing the talent of its students, as part of a training that focuses on technical and scientific skills but also on intellectual and civic growth. To this end, we ensure not only education and research excellence, but also opportunities for international mobility, incentives for innovation and entrepreneurship, employability programs, access to networks and digital technologies, cultural offerings, sports activities and social support.

There are plenty of good reasons to attend or visit our University. Come and meet us: Porto knows how to welcome you, but if you wish you can find all the information at www.up.pt.

Ph. D. António de Sousa Pereira