Mission

The Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon is an institution of creation, transmission and diffusion of scientific and technological knowledge that promotes a culture of permanent learning, valuing critical thinking and intellectual autonomy.

Its mission is research and teaching, and the transfer of knowledge and innovation in the areas of exact and natural sciences and techno-sciences, as well as the dissemination and sharing of cultures, stimulating a permanent opening to civil society.

Motto

What we do not know today, we will know tomorrow (Garcia de Orta, 1563).

Video and Leaflet

History

The Faculty was created by Decree on 19 April 1911

Since its creation and until 1985, when it was transferred to its new facilities in Campo Grande, the Faculty of Sciences facilities were in the building that used to hold the Polytechnic School (Escola Politécnica), and before that, other key cultural and scientific institutes. In addition to this shared background, the Faculty of Sciences also takes on the historical, cultural and scientific heritage of its ancestors:

• Noviciado da Cotovia (1619-1759);
• Real Colégio dos Nobres (1761-1837);
• Escola Politécnica (1837-1911).

As an integral unit of the University of Lisbon, the Faculty of Sciences also belongs to this institution's founding history. Neither should we forget the turbulent beginnings of the University of Lisbon. In the words of A. Moreira Sá: 

"The Portuguese University was founded by King Dinis on March 1, 1290, and was transferred to Coimbra in 1308; thirty years later it was transferred back to Lisbon and then, in 1354, it was moved once again to Coimbra. However, King Fernando ordered, on June 3, 1377, its transferral back to Lisbon, where it stayed for 160 years without interruption - more precisely during the Discoveries, a period which greatly benefitted from the contributions of several of its students and teachers (among many others, the sailor Gil Eanes and two key scientific figures: Pedro Nunes and Garcia de Orta)."

The building on Rua da Escola Politécnica currently houses the University of Lisbon Museum (Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência) - a set of important and rare museological installations and a forum for scientific activities.