Coimbra, Portugal's University City
Coimbra is a district capital, the largest city of the Centre Region of Portugal with around 150,000 inhabitants. Coimbra has remnants of 2,000 years of history. Roman Empire constructions coexist with internationally renowned modern buildings. Capital of the Portuguese Kingdom in bygone ages and meeting point of several cultures, Coimbra combines a rich architectonic and historical heritage with modern facilities for the arts and sports and green, open-air spaces. The city and the university are classified as World Heritage since June 2013 and have a thriving cultural life offering a great diversity of literary talks, exhibitions, cinema cycles, music and dance shows, theatre plays and other performances.
Coimbra is the main University City in Portugal, with good transports, several accommodation options and an excellent public network of health care services.
The University of Coimbra (UC) is a Portuguese public higher education institution with more than 700 years of experience in education, training and research. The first and the only Portuguese-speaking university until the early 20th century, UC has affirmed its position over the years with a unique mix of tradition, modernity and innovation.
UC was classified as World Heritage by the UNESCO in 2013 for its central role in the production of knowledge and dissemination of culture in Portuguese language in the world, as well as for the universal value of its campus, which dates back to the 16th century.
UC is a world leading university that offers education and research in all study levels and in nearly all study fields. It participates in joint programmes with some of the best universities in the world. Erasmus Mundus, MIT Portugal, CMU Portugal, Harvard-Portugal Clinical Scholars Research Training Program and UT Austin Portugal are examples of such excellence partnerships to name just a few.
UC is part of the Shangai Ranking of the best 500 universities in the world. In June 2013, it was classified as a 5-stars top university by the QS Stars University Ratings in the areas of innovation, research, internationalisation, facilities and access. UC is also among the best 200 universities in the world in the areas of Civil Engineering, Law and Environment.