Science And Technology In Portugal
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Science and technology in Portugal is mainly conducted within a network of
research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...
(R&D) units belonging to
public universities A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...
and state-managed autonomous research institutions. There are also non-state-run research institutions and some private R&D projects developed by companies.


History

The first university of Portugal was founded in 1290 as a
Studium Generale is the old customary name for a medieval university in medieval Europe. Overview There is no official definition for the term . The term ' first appeared at the beginning of the 13th century out of customary usage, and meant a place where stud ...
in
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
. It was focused on
the arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of m ...
and
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...
, but also included a
medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...
since its foundation. During the 16th century, in the
Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which Seamanship, seafarers fro ...
, a more
mathematical Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
educational approach flourished in this university with the creation of specialized courses and classes in the field. This included the appointment of
Pedro Nunes Pedro Nunes (; Latin: ''Petrus Nonius''; 1502 – 11 August 1578) was a Portuguese mathematician, cosmographer, and professor, probably from a New Christian (of Jewish origin) family.Leitão, Henrique, "Para uma biografia de Pedro Nunes: O ...
as mathematics teacher, in 1537, when the Portuguese university located in Lisbon was relocated back to Coimbra, and Nunes moved to the re-founded
University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; , ) is a Public university, 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 ...
to teach mathematics, a post he held until 1562. This was a new post in the University of Coimbra and it was established to provide instruction in the technical requirements for navigation: clearly a topic of great importance in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
at this period, when control of sea trade was the primary source of Portuguese wealth. Mathematics became an independent post in 1544. Pedro Nunes Salaciense
/ref> In the 17th century, military engineering teaching was also established in the Fortification, Artillery and Drawing Royal Academy of Lisbon. By the 18th century, under the enlightened political leadership of the
Marquis of Pombal A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or widow) ...
, the University of Coimbra was modernized with the appointment of new professors, both Portuguese and foreigners, and the establishment of several facilities directed towards the teaching of the
natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...
s. Also in the 18th century, one of the oldest learned societies of Portugal, the
Lisbon Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of Lisbon () is Portugal's national academy dedicated to the advancement of sciences and learning, with the goal of promoting academic progress and prosperity in Portugal. It is one of Portugal's most prestigious scientif ...
, was founded in 1779. Historically, within the scope of the now defunct
Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...
, the Portuguese founded in 1792 the oldest engineering school of
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
(the
Real Academia de Artilharia, Fortificação e Desenho The ''Instituto Militar de Engenharia'' (IME; ) is an engineering institute maintained by the Brazilian Army with federal support. IME is the oldest and one of the best ranked engineering schools in Brazil, according to the Brazilian Ministry ...
), as well as one of the oldest medical colleges of
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
(the
Escola Médico-Cirúrgica de Goa Goa Medical College (GMC) is a public medical college and hospital located in Goa, India. It is one of the oldest medical colleges in Asia. The medical college is affiliated to the Goa University (GU), being its oldest unit. History Since ...
) in 1842. In 1911, the oldest non-military Portuguese university degree-conferring institution of engineering was founded - it was the
Instituto Superior Técnico The Instituto Superior Técnico (IST, also known as Técnico, and stylized TÉCNICO LISBOA; English: ) is the school of engineering and technology of the University of Lisbon. It was founded as an autonomous school in 1911, and was integrated in ...
, in Lisbon, as well as new Science Faculties in the newly founded
University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public university, public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former Universit ...
and
Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...
.


Post-World War II

In 1949, the Portuguese neurologist
António Egas Moniz António Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas Moniz (29 November 1874 – 13 December 1955), known as Egas Moniz (), was a Portuguese neurologist and the developer of cerebral angiography. He is regarded as one of the founders of modern psychosurgery, ...
, an early developer of the
cerebral angiography Cerebral angiography is a form of angiography which provides images of blood vessels in and around the brain, thereby allowing detection of abnormalities such as arteriovenous malformations and aneurysms. It was pioneered in 1927 by the Portugues ...
, was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single ...
. The
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência The Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) was an international centre for biological and biomedical research and graduate training based in Oeiras, Portugal. Founded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (FCG) in 1961, and was supported by the Fo ...
(IGC) an international centre for biomedical research and graduate education, located in Oeiras,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
, was founded by the
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of the wealthiest charitable founda ...
(FCG) in 1961. Its campus includes other research institutes in
biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
,
biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...
and
chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
, with complementary research interests and facilities: protein structure and design, synthesis and theory of chemicals with biological interest, molecular microbiology, plant biotechnology, biotechnology, downstream processing, etc. The excellence of the IGC was attested by rankings published in 2010 and 2011, when the IGC was ranked as one of the Top Ten best Places for
post-doc A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...
s, by The Scientist - Faculty of 1000. The
Champalimaud Foundation The Champalimaud Foundation MHM () is a private biomedical research foundation. It was created according to the will of the late entrepreneur António de Sommer Champalimaud, in 2004. The complete name of the foundation honors the mother and f ...
, based in Lisbon, Portugal, was created at the bequest of the late Portuguese industrialist and entrepreneur,
António de Sommer Champalimaud Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ...
. At the end of 2004 it was officially incorporated as the Anna de Sommer Champalimaud and Dr. Carlos Montez Champalimaud Foundation, in honour of the benefactor's parents. The Champalimaud Foundation's focus is on the fields of
neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...
and
oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's Etymology, etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγ ...
. On October 5, 2010 the Foundation inaugurated a clinical and research centre in Lisbon - the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown. In November 19, 2005, the
International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), in Braga, Portugal, a fully international research organization in Europe in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology. INL is the result of a joint decision of the Governments of Portugal ...
to be built in
Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...
, was announced by the head of Government of Spain and the Prime Minister of Portugal at the end of the XXI Portugal-Spain Summit that took place in Évora.


Research and development

In
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
, a network of research and development units belonging to
public universities A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...
and state-managed autonomous research institutions like the INETI - Instituto Nacional de Engenharia, Tecnologia e Inovação, the ITN - Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear, the INRB - Instituto Nacional dos Recursos Biológicos, the INSA - Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge, the IPO - Instituto Português de Oncologia, the LNEC - Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil and the LIP - Laboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas, makes the core of Portugal's science and technology research output. The funding of this research system is mainly conducted under the authority of the
Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education The Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education ( or ''MCTES'') was a Portuguese government ministry dedicated to the design, development, execution and assessment of the science, technology and higher education national policy. Its off ...
, namely through its foundation for science and technology, the FCT -
Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia The Foundation for Science and Technology (; FCT) is an organization within the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education in Portugal which evaluates and funds scientific research activities, in particular in the areas of natural scie ...
. The largest R&D units of the public universities (over 380 units in total which are distributed across 14 public universities) by number of peer-reviewed publications and research grants, include the IPATIMUP, the
Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular The Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular) in Porto, Portugal, was founded in the 1990s as a multidisciplinary research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the ...
and the
Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute The Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (Portuguese: ''Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar''), also known for its acronym ICBAS, is a medical and life sciences graduate school of the University of Porto, named after the Port ...
, all of them at the
University of Porto The University of Porto (''Universidade do Porto'') is a Portuguese public research university located in Porto, and founded on 22 March 1911. It is the second largest Portuguese university by number of enrolled students, after the University ...
; the Instituto de Medicina Molecular at the
University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public university, public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former Universit ...
; or the
Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology The Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC) is a nonprofit research institute founded in 1990, aiming to foster research in biomedicine and biotechnology and multidisciplinary graduate teaching at the University of Coimbra. CNC was the fi ...
at the
University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; , ) is a Public university, 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 ...
, among others. Private universities have a lower research output, however, there are a number of research units accredited by the Ministry and the FCT, these include the Facial Emotion Expression Lab at the
University Fernando Pessoa Fernando Pessoa University (UFP; Portuguese: ''Universidade Fernando Pessoa'') is a private university located in Porto and Ponte de Lima, Portugal. It was founded in 1996 and named after Fernando Pessoa, a Portuguese writer and poet. Courses ...
. Although smaller and generally with less resources devoted to investigation than the universities, since after the
Bologna Process file:Bologna-Prozess-Logo.svg, 96px, alt=Logo with stylized stars, Logo file:Bologna zone.svg, alt=Map of Europe, encompassing the entire Bologna zone, 256px, Bologna zone The Bologna Process is a series of ministerial meetings and agreements b ...
(2006/2007) which allowed the polytechnical institutions to award masters' degrees and required the admission of doctorate-level staff, an increasingly large number of Portuguese polytechnical institutions have also established and expanded their own research facilities. However, polytechnic's limited research activities are very small when compared to the state-run universities due to both a lack of research budget and doctorate-level teaching staff and investigators.Portugal é o país da UE onde despesa em investigação e desenvolvimento mais cresceu
Público (December 13, 2008)
Several other scientific fields are covered by specialized research organizations which are noted for their role as technology
business incubator A business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services, starting with management training and office space, and ending with venture ...
s, like the
International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), in Braga, Portugal, a fully international research organization in Europe in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology. INL is the result of a joint decision of the Governments of Portugal ...
, the
Instituto Pedro Nunes Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) is a non-profit private organization for innovation and technology transfer based in Coimbra, Portugal. It is named after the Portuguese 16th century mathematician and professor Pedro Nunes, who lived in the city of Co ...
and
Taguspark Taguspark is a science and technology park located in the municipality of Oeiras, Greater Lisbon subregion, Portugal. The Park covers an area of approximately 150 acres, and accommodates several research and development labs, innovative start ...
, a
science park A science park (also called a "university research park", "technology park", "technopark", "technopolis", "technopole", or a "science and technology park" TP is defined as being a property-based development that accommodates and fosters ...
. The largest non-state-run research institutions in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
, include the
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência The Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) was an international centre for biological and biomedical research and graduate training based in Oeiras, Portugal. Founded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (FCG) in 1961, and was supported by the Fo ...
and the
Champalimaud Foundation The Champalimaud Foundation MHM () is a private biomedical research foundation. It was created according to the will of the late entrepreneur António de Sommer Champalimaud, in 2004. The complete name of the foundation honors the mother and f ...
which recognises outstanding contributions to research in vision and associated areas through a major annual award. The Champalimaud Foundation's research center at the mouth of the
River Tagus The Tagus ( ; ; ) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales between Cuenca and Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally westward, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon. Name The ...
in
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
, opened in 2010 with diagnostic and treatment units for cancer patients on the lower floors and research labs above. The Ibercivis, a
distributed computing Distributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems, defined as computer systems whose inter-communicating components are located on different networked computers. The components of a distributed system commu ...
platform, based on
BOINC The Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC, pronounced rhymes with "oink") is an open-source middleware system for volunteer computing (a type of distributed computing). Developed originally to support SETI@home, it became the ...
, that allows all ordinary citizens to participate on scientific research in a direct way and in real time as volunteer donors of unused computer cycles is a joint scientific collaboration of the Portuguese and
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
governments. The Bial Foundation (''Fundação Bial''), named after a Portuguese pharmaceutical company, awards one of Portugal's most noted prizes for scientific research in the area of health. A number of both national and multinational high-tech and industrial companies present in Portugal, are also responsible for research and development projects in different fields. The
Academia das Ciências de Lisboa The Academy of Sciences of Lisbon () is Portugal's national academy dedicated to the advancement of sciences and learning, with the goal of promoting academic progress and prosperity in Portugal. It is one of Portugal's most prestigious scientif ...
(Academy of Sciences of Lisbon), created in 1779, is one of the oldest
learned societies A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...
in Portugal. The sole Portuguese science-related Laureate, having been awarded the
Nobel Prize in Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single ...
in 1949, was Egas Moniz.


Research and development output

In 2001 Portugal was ranked 28th among countries that contributed to the top 1% of the world's highly cited publications. Accounting for 0.25% of these publications, Portugal ranked above South Africa (0.21%) and Iran (0.04%), but below Spain (2.08%), Ireland (0.36%), and Greece (0.3%). Portugal was ranked 31st in the
Global Innovation Index The Global Innovation Index is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity for and success in innovation, published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It was started in 2007 by INSEAD and ''World Business'', a Britis ...
in 2024.


European Innovation Scoreboard


=2010 report

= According to the European Innovation Scoreboard 2010, Portugal is one of the moderate innovators with a below average performance. Relative strengths are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support and innovators. Relative weaknesses are in firm investments, intellectual assets and outputs. Positive growth is observed for most indicators, and in particular for business R&D expenditure, PCT patent applications in societal challenges and community designs. A substantial decline can be observed for venture capital and non-R&D innovation expenditure over the 5-year reference period, although venture capital has almost doubled in 2009 with respect to 2008. Growth performance in open, excellent and attractive research systems, linkages & entrepreneurship and intellectual assets is above average. In the other dimensions it is below average.


=2011 report

= The European Innovation Scoreboard 2011, placed Portugal-based innovation in the 15th position, with an impressive increase in innovation expenditure and output.


Accredited R&D centers belonging to higher learning institutions

Research centers belonging to higher learning institutions accredited by ''FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia'', as of 2004:


Portugal's European integration in science and technology

Within
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
and the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
(EU), Portugal has full membership into several pan-European scientific organizations like the
European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...
(ESA), the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN),
ITER ITER (initially the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ''iter'' meaning "the way" or "the path" in Latin) is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject aimed at creating energy through a fusion process s ...
, and the
European Southern Observatory The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 m ...
(ESO). Portuguese scientists and technicians work in all of those organizations. In the period 2005-2007, Portugal was the EU member state with the highest growth rate in
research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...
(R&D) investment as a percentage of the
GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...
- a 46% growth. Portugal's R&D investment equals 1.2% of Portuguese
GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...
. This was the 15th largest allocation of funds as a percentage of the GDP for R&D, among the 27 EU member states in 2007.


Science museums, exhibits and divulgation

Notable organizations focused on science-related exhibits and divulgation, include the state agency ''Ciência Viva'', a programme of the Portuguese Ministry of Science and Technology to the promotion of a scientific and technological culture among the Portuguese population, the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra, the
Museum of Natural History A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...
at the University of Lisbon, the Visionarium and the
Lisbon Oceanarium The Lisbon Oceanarium (, ) is an oceanarium in Lisbon, Portugal. It is located in the ''Parque das Nações'', which was the exhibition grounds for the Expo '98. It is one of the largest indoor aquariums in Europe and approximately 1 million peop ...
.


Science parks

With the emergence and growth of several
science park A science park (also called a "university research park", "technology park", "technopark", "technopolis", "technopole", or a "science and technology park" TP is defined as being a property-based development that accommodates and fosters ...
s throughout the world which helped create many thousands of scientific, technological and knowledge-based businesses, Portugal started to develop several science parks across the country. These include the
Taguspark Taguspark is a science and technology park located in the municipality of Oeiras, Greater Lisbon subregion, Portugal. The Park covers an area of approximately 150 acres, and accommodates several research and development labs, innovative start ...
(in Oeiras), the Coimbra inovação Parque (in
Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...
), the Biocant park (in Cantanhede), the Tecmaia (in
Maia Maia (; Ancient Greek: Μαῖα; also spelled Maie, ; ), in ancient Greek religion and mythology, is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes, one of the major Greek gods, by Zeus, the king of Olympus. Family Maia is the daughter of A ...
), the Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia do Porto (in
Santa Maria da Feira Santa Maria da Feira () is a city and a concelho, municipality in Aveiro District in Portugal, 23 km from central Porto. The population in 2011 was 139,309,Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved ...
), the
Madeira Tecnopolo Madeira Tecnopolo is a science park in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, . ICEC Centre Within the Tecnopolo park is the ICEC Exhibition and Congress Centre, the largest indoor arena on the island. As well as various conferences and exhibitions, includi ...
(in
Funchal Funchal () officially Funchal City (), is the capital, largest city and a Municipality (Portugal), municipality in Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it ...
), Sines Tecnopolo (in
Sines Sines () is a town and a municipality in Portugal. The municipality, divided into two parishes, has around 14,214 inhabitants (2021) in an area of . Sines holds an important oil refinery and several petrochemical industries. It is also a popular ...
) and
Parkurbis Parkurbis is a Portuguese science park in Covilhã Covilhã (), officially Covilhã City (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in the Centro, Portugal, Centro region, Portugal. The city proper had 33,691 inhabitants in 2021. The municipalit ...
Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia da Covilhã (Parkurbis)
/ref> (in
Covilhã Covilhã (), officially Covilhã City (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in the Centro, Portugal, Centro region, Portugal. The city proper had 33,691 inhabitants in 2021. The municipality population in 2021 was 46,455 in an area of . It is ...
). Companies locate in the Portuguese science parks to take advantage of a variety of services ranging from financial and legal advice through to marketing and technological support.


Noted contributors to science and technology

Some examples of notable Portuguese people who had made important contributions to science and technology, becoming in their time internationally known within their respective field, include: *
Corino Andrade Mário Corino da Costa Andrade (10 June 1906 in Moura – 16 June 2005 in Porto) was a leading twentieth century Portuguese neurologist and researcher who first described the familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) syndrome that later cam ...
- 20th century researcher who first described the familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy * António Damásio - 20th/21st century researcher in several areas of the neurology, and a best-selling author of books which describe his scientific thinking * Elvira Fortunato - Born in 1964, a professor, scientist and innovator in the field of paper electronics, including transistors, memories, sensors, batteries, displays, antennas, and solar cells *
Amato Lusitano João Rodrigues de Castelo Branco, better known as Amato Lusitano and Amatus Lusitanus (1511–1568), was a notable Portuguese Jewish physician of the 16th century. Like Herophilus, Galen, Ibn al-Nafis, Michael Servetus, Realdo Colombo and ...
- 16th century physician, discovered the circulation of the blood, was one of the first to observe and speculate about the venous valves found in the
azygos vein The azygos vein (from Ancient Greek ἄζυγος (ázugos), meaning 'unwedded' or 'unpaired') is a vein running up the right side of the thoracic vertebral column draining itself towards the superior vena cava. It connects the systems of superio ...
*
Froilano de Mello Indalencio Pascoal Froilano de Mello (17 May 1887 – 9 January 1955) was a Portuguese microbiologist, medical scientist, professor, author and an independent MP in the Portuguese parliament. During his scientific career, Mello was responsible ...
- 20th century microbiologist and medical scientist * Egas Moniz - 20th century Nobel Prize in Medicine "for his discovery of the therapeutic value of leucotomy in certain psychoses", he also was a pioneer in the development of cerebral angiography *
Pedro Nunes Pedro Nunes (; Latin: ''Petrus Nonius''; 1502 – 11 August 1578) was a Portuguese mathematician, cosmographer, and professor, probably from a New Christian (of Jewish origin) family.Leitão, Henrique, "Para uma biografia de Pedro Nunes: O ...
- 16th century mathematician, one of the greatest of his time, he is best known for his contributions in the technical field of navigation *
Garcia de Orta Garcia de Orta (or Garcia d'Orta; 1501–1568) was a Portuguese physician, herbalist, and naturalist, who worked primarily in Goa and Bombay in Portuguese India. A pioneer of tropical medicine, pharmacognosy, and ethnobotany, Garcia used an e ...
- 16th century physician and naturalist, he was a pioneer of tropical medicine


See also

* Agência de Inovação *
Higher education in Portugal Higher education in Portugal is divided into two main subsystems: university and polytechnic education. It is provided in autonomous public and private universities, university institutes, polytechnic institutes and higher education institutio ...
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Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia The Foundation for Science and Technology (; FCT) is an organization within the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education in Portugal which evaluates and funds scientific research activities, in particular in the areas of natural scie ...
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Open access in Portugal In Portugal, the first open access initiatives were carried out by the University of Minho with the creation of RepositóriUM in 2003 and the definition of an institutional policy of self-archiving in 2004. In the following years began SciELO Port ...


References


External links


FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia
{{Portugal topics