This public university specialises in undergraduate programs, though it does also offer some graduate studies, and its business school has a practical approach with concepts such as its own nano-incubator to encourage students to dip their toes into the pool of entrepreneurship as early on as possible.

It is now home to 18,000 students and 141 degrees (offered in 11 faculties and five departments). The main departments include Business and Finance, Computing and Technology, Health Services, Justice, and Tourism and Hospitality Management. They also offer an English preparatory program for people who are not confident in their English but desire to attend a university instructed in this language.

This public research university was only recently founded, but came from the merging of two famous institutions, the former University of Lisbon and the Technical University of Lisbon, each with its own storied history. There has been some kind of university existing in Lisbon since the 13th century, so it is a city with a long academic pedigree.