Concept
The University of Coimbra (UC; Universidade de Coimbra, univɨɾsiˈðaðɨ ðɨ kuˈĩbɾɐ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The university is among the oldest universities in continuous operation in the world, the oldest in Portugal, and played an influential role in the development of higher education in the Portuguese-speaking world. In 2013, UNESCO declared the university a World Heritage Site, noting its architecture, unique culture and traditions, and historical role. The contemporary university is organized into eight faculties, granting bachelor's (licenciado), master's (mestre) and doctorate (doutor) degrees in nearly all major fields. It lends its name to the Coimbra Group of European research universities founded in 1985, of which it was a founding member. Enrolling over 20,000 students, more than 15% of whom are international, it is one of Portugal's most cosmopolitan universities. Coimbra's alumni over the centuries include Portugal's national poet Luís de Camões, the mathematician Pedro Nunes, many statesmen, prime ministers and presidents of Portugal, and Nobel Prize laureate António Egaz Moniz. The university was founded, or ratified, in 1290 by King Dinis, having begun its existence in Lisbon with the name Studium Generale (Estudo Geral). Scientiae thesaurus mirabilis, the royal charter announcing the institution of the university was dated 1 March of that year, although efforts had been made at least since 1288 to create this first University in Portugal; it is thus the second oldest of such establishments in the Iberian Peninsula. The papal confirmation was also given in 1290 (on 9 August of that year), during the papacy of Nicholas IV. In accordance with the papal bull, all the "licit" faculties, with the exception of that of Theology, could be established. Thus the Faculties of Arts, Law, Canon Law and Medicine were the first to be created.
