Universidade de Lisboa

About Universidade de Lisboa

The present Universidade de Lisboa was formed in July 2013 through the merger of two public universities: the former University of Lisbon, founded in 1911, and the Technical University of Lisbon, founded in 1930. The institution also places itself within a longer Lisbon university tradition extending to the medieval Portuguese university established in the city in 1288. For database purposes, 2013 is the founding year of the current legal and organizational institution, rather than 1288 or the founding dates of its predecessors. ULisboa is a decentralized university. Its faculties and institutes retain distinct academic identities and administer many practical aspects of study, including course-level admissions, calendars, fees, academic services, and student support. This structure gives students access to a broad university network but makes school-specific research essential. An applicant to engineering at Técnico Lisboa, for example, should not assume that procedures or costs shown by another constituent school apply to that program. The official 2026/27 advanced-education portal reports teaching and research across 19 schools and ten campuses. The Directorate-General for Higher Education separately records ULisboa at institution level and identifies active registered degrees within its constituent units. These sources establish that the record is an operating, independent, degree-granting public university rather than a department, training provider, or research project.

Undergraduate admission depends on the applicant’s legal category and chosen course. For 2026/27, Portuguese applicants and applicants from European Union countries seeking a first-cycle degree or integrated master’s normally use Portugal’s National Competition for Access and Admission to Higher Education. Course pages specify required entrance examinations, minimum marks, prerequisites, places, and prior placement information. Separate routes exist for categories such as applicants over 23 and holders of previous higher-education qualifications. Eligible non-EU applicants may apply through the special international-student competition. The university’s 2026/27 international calendar set two main university-wide application windows: 2 January to 6 February 2026 and 6 April to 22 May 2026. Those rounds have passed as of 20 August 2026, although the university guidance also refers to later school-dependent activity between 14 August and 2 October 2026. Availability must therefore be checked directly with the responsible school; a date shown by one faculty should not be generalized to another. International undergraduate candidates generally need a qualification granting higher-education access in the country where it was earned and evidence satisfying course-specific entrance requirements. Document legalization, translations, language evidence, and accepted examinations vary. Master’s and doctoral candidates apply under separate school or program notices, which assess prior degrees and other academic criteria. Admission is never determined by a single university-wide GPA, SAT, ACT, IELTS, or TOEFL threshold.

ULisboa offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral education across a notably wide disciplinary range. The official course catalogue includes fields spanning public administration, arts and humanities, natural sciences, engineering, architecture, law, health disciplines, economics and management, education, psychology, geography, agriculture, veterinary medicine, and social and political sciences. Some professionally oriented subjects use integrated master’s structures, while other students progress through separate first-, second-, and third-cycle degrees. The 2026/27 advanced-education portal lists 226 master’s and 134 doctoral offerings, alongside non-degree postgraduate education. Its description of master’s study emphasizes academic specialization, research, innovation, and professional development, while doctoral education centers on advanced research training. Because programs belong to different schools, delivery format, prerequisites, thesis expectations, application periods, and teaching language are not uniform across the university. Applicants should use the university-wide catalogue to identify options, then consult the responsible school’s current course page and formal admission notice. This is particularly important for jointly delivered or inter-school programs, regulated professions, and courses where prerequisites or language requirements apply. Portuguese is the database-recorded general language of instruction, but that should not be treated as a guarantee for every course or module; some programs may publish different language arrangements. Degree availability is supported by both the official university catalogue and active registrations in the national DGES system.

Key Highlights

• Current university created in July 2013 through a merger of two predecessor universities
• Public degree-granting institution recognized by Portugal’s Directorate-General for Higher Education
• Organized across 19 schools and ten campuses as of the official 2026/27 advanced-study portal
• Applicants normally deal with the faculty or institute responsible for their chosen course

Student Life & Environment

Student experience varies by campus and school, but ULisboa provides university-wide social, cultural, health, well-being, and sports infrastructure. Its student guide directs students to the Social Action Services for scholarship support, affordable meals, university residences, and other forms of assistance. It also describes access to university sport, health and well-being services, cultural activities, museums, gardens, exhibitions, visits, and conferences. Housing is not automatically included with admission. University residences require an application, capacity is limited, and applicable charges are set separately. International mobility students are advised to request a place through the international-relations office of their host school after acceptance. Students without a university place may need to use Lisbon’s private rental market, so housing plans should begin early and be budgeted independently from tuition. Campus life can include student associations, academic music groups, sports representation, and school-based activities. The ten-campus structure means there is no single residential-campus experience: a student’s daily community is likely to center on the relevant faculty or institute. Before enrolling, students should check that school’s orientation, accessibility, counseling, student society, dining, and timetable information.

Location & Surroundings

ULisboa is distributed across ten campuses rather than concentrated at one site. Official locations include Cidade Universitária, Ajuda, Alameda, Chiado, and other sites in and around Lisbon; the campus directory identifies the schools present at each location and provides public-transport information. Cidade Universitária contains the rectorate and several faculties, while Técnico Lisboa’s Alameda campus, the Ajuda cluster, and the central Chiado site create substantially different commutes and local settings. Students should identify the actual teaching location of their program before choosing accommodation. Travel between schools may be necessary for inter-school study, but most daily journeys will depend on the home campus. The network uses Lisbon metro, rail, tram, and bus connections, with options varying by site. Campus services commonly include Eduroam, libraries or study rooms, and dining facilities, although the exact provision differs. Living in Portugal’s capital provides access to government, cultural institutions, museums, businesses, hospitals, and research organizations. The tradeoff is that housing availability and travel time require practical planning, especially when a program is not based at Cidade Universitária.

Costs & Career Outcomes

ULisboa does not publish one tuition figure that safely represents every student. The official tuition page states that international-student charges are set by the General Council and displayed for each course. Values can differ by school, degree, subject, year of entry, and legal fee status. Applicants should use the 2026/27 course or school fee table and include application, enrollment, insurance, and other administrative charges where applicable. Housing, meals, transport, books, visa costs, and health coverage are separate. This variation is material. For example, official 2026/27 information from different schools shows that international tuition is not uniform across ULisboa, so no constituent-school amount should be presented as the university-wide price. Domestic or equivalent students may fall under regulated or separately approved schedules. Scholarships and subsidized social services may be available through the Social Action Services, but eligibility and residence placement require separate applications and should not be assumed. For career planning, ULisboa surveys graduates after at least 12 months of contact with the labor market. Its latest detailed university-wide table currently displayed is the 2024 survey of 2021/22 bachelor’s and master’s graduates: 88% of respondents reported paid employment, 58% worked in their field, and 75% had paid work within six months. These are historical survey results, not placement guarantees. Some schools also operate their own internship, career-guidance, and employer-contact services.