Portugal

Basic Information about Portugal

Portugal is situated in the south-western extremity of Europe, occupying the western littoral of the Iberian Peninsula. The territory also includes the Azores, Madeira and Porto Santo Islands. It is bound to the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The capital of the country is Lisbon. The population of the country is 10.4 million the official language is Portuguese, which is spoken by the entire population.

The Higher Education System

Higher education in Portugal is divided into two subsystems: university education and non-university higher education (polytechnic education), and it is provided in autonomous public universities, private universities, polytechnic institutions and private higher educational institutions of other types. The two systems of higher education are linked and it is possible to transfer from one to the other. It is also possible to transfer from a public institution to a private one and vice-versa. University institutions may award “Licenciado”, “Mestre” and “Doutor” degrees while Polytechnic institutions award 1st cycle – “Licenciado” and 2nd cycle – “Mestre” degrees.

Scholarships

The Portuguese agency Foundation for Science and Technology (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior) promotes national scientific research and technological development by providing different types of grants, e.g. Master grants (MA), Doctorate grants, Post-doctorate grants, Sabbatical grants, Grants for scientific career development, Enterprise doctorate grants, Training grants at scientific and technological international organisations, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

Camões Institute

Acting under the oversight of Portugal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Camões Institute (ICA) is the Portuguese institution responsible for promoting both the teaching of Portuguese language and culture at foreign higher educational establishments and Portuguese culture abroad in general. In order to pursue these objectives, within the context of a variety of cooperation programmes with foreign higher educational institutions, ICA has a range of Scholarship Programmes for Portuguese and foreign students, e.g. The Portuguese Language and Culture Summer Courses Programme, The Annual Portuguese Language and Culture Courses Programme, The Fernão Mendes Pinto Programme, Research Programme, The Pessoa Programme, The Vieira Programme, Protocol between the Camões Institute and the Eça de Queiroz Foundation, Protocol between the Camões Institute and the National Cultural Centre (CNC). The rules and deadlines for applications will be published each year on the Camões Institute’s website: www.instituto-camoes.pt.