The research architecture of the Faculty of Sciences has a complex structure, both in what regards the relationship between FCUL units and departments and the participation of many other faculties and research institutes.
Research is organised in R&D multi-departmental units, with different names: centres, laboratories and institutes. These units join researchers from different Faculty departments and also include many researchers (about 30%) from other Portuguese and international universities.
The majority of these units are part of the system of R&D centres that are funded and assessed by the FCT.
Several FCUL researchers are also part of R&D units that are associated with other faculties and institutions, although - in most cases - they carry out their research at FCUL premises. Such is the case of the units GREEN-IT, IGC, MOSTMICRO and IMM.
Some research units are part of FCUL: such as 'Laboratório de Óptica, Lasers e Sistemas' (LOLS), 'Laboratório de Isótopos Estáveis' (LIE-SIIAF) - established as Knowledge and Technology Transfer Units - and 'Laboratório de Linguagem Natural' (NLX).
FCUL R&D units operate in different subject areas and are interdisciplinary in nature. Nevertheless, they may be grouped into main areas of knowledge:
- Chemical Sciences and Technologies
- Life Sciences
- Earth Sciences
- Physical Sciences and Engineering
- Mathematical Sciences
- Computer Science and Engineering
- History and Philosophy of Sciences