The University of Minho (UMinho), founded in 1973, began its academic activity in 1975/76. UMinho is renowned for the quality of its teaching, the quality of its students, the public recognition given to its Alumni, and for its intervention and strong links with the local community and the surrounding region.

UMinho has a student population of 16.000, out of which 1.900 are postgraduate students. The University has 1.200 teaching staff, of whom 850 hold a PhD, and 600 administrative and technical staff.

Throughout the years the University has achieved a high reputation as an institution of learning and leadership, combining strategic vision with a capacity to innovate, and rigorous scientific, academic, administrative and financial management.

The University of Minho is organised in Schools and Institutes. These permanent organic units assure teaching, research and other specialised services in their respective field of scientific knowledge.

The research is strategically planned with the surrounding socio-economic environment in mind. Research programmes are organised in Research Centres, Institutes and Groups, and the University is committed to several projects in purely national programmes – POCTI, POSI, AGRO, PRIME, etc - and to many projects supported by international frameworks, namely the European Union’s.

The University is located in the Minho region of Northern Portugal, a region with an extremely strong tradition of vibrant enterprise, essentially of small and medium-sized businesses. UMinho has two campi located 20 km apart: one in Braga and the other in Guimarães.

The city of Braga has a centuries-old affiliation with Culture and the Arts, and is firmly established in the service industry sector. It is here, in this city, that the following institutes and schools are installed: the Institutes of Arts and Humanities; Social Sciences; and Child Studies; the Schools of Sciences; Health Sciences; Nursing; and Law, as well as some Engineering areas.

The Rectorate is located in the heart of historical Braga, at Largo do Paço.

Guimarães, often referred to as the birth place of the nation, is dominated by the manufacturing sector with a strong investment in the Textile and Clothing, Metallurgy and Shoemaking Industries. The campus of Azurém, Guimarães, is home to the School of Engineering, and the courses of Architecture, Fashion Design and Marketing, Geography and Planning, and Applied Mathematics.