ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa

About ISCTE-IUL

ISCTE - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL) is a public university established in 1972. Pursuing teaching, research and community service activities, it plays a major role in educating qualified specialists and personnel, whose cultural, scientific and technical skills enable them to contribute to sustainable development both at the national and the global level. The strategic objectives of ISCTE-IUL are: innovation, quality, internationalization and development of an entrepreneurial culture.

While preserving its public university nature, ISCTE-IUL is currently one of the three Portuguese universities (along with the University of Porto and the University of Aveiro) which adopted the Foundation Regime, the latter prescribing management according to private law.

With approximately 9000 students enrolled in undergraduate (46%) and postgraduate (54%) programs, 450 teachers and 220 non-teaching staff, ISCTE-IUL is proud to be one of the most dynamic and innovative universities in the country. Facing high demand, the student vacancies at the ISCTE-IUL have always been fully occupied.

ISCTE-IUL encourages students to fully exploit their potential, to develop their capability for initiative and flexibility and to complement their academic education with international experience, enabling them with the necessary skills to adapt to the needs of the global labour market. ISCTE-IUL demonstrates a high rate of graduates’ employability and achieves the 100% rate in most of the courses. Its former students currently occupy positions of high responsibility in private companies, public institutions and governmental entities, which confirms not only the prestige of our institution, but also its teaching quality.

ISCTE-IUL is a research university, with eight units performing high-quality research, recognized in periodical assessments by the Foundation for Science and Technology.

At community service level, the scholars and graduates of the ISCTE-IUL have contributed to establishing multiple connections with private companies and public and civil society organizations. One of the most outstanding examples is the Institute for Management Development (INDEG), which employs activities of strong public recognition in the domains of education, postgraduate studies and research and community service in the areas of its jurisdiction.

In the domain of entrepreneurship, AUDAX-IUL is nowadays a national reference as it has developed partnerships with various local authorities, business associations, COTEC and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Mission and Vision

The mission of ISCTE-IUL is to create and convey scientific knowledge according to the best international standards, training highly skilled professionals, mainly at the postgraduate level, in the areas of management, information technology and architecture, social sciences and public policy, for the advancement of society.

This mission is achieved by improving the research-teaching nexus with a strong applied focus, by fostering multidisciplinary learning, and by maximizing the interplay between entrepreneurship, technology and innovation to prepare competent professionals able to deal effectively with the forthcoming challenges of society, within profit and non-profit organizations.

The three main vectors of this mission - research, teaching and learning, and service provided to community - embody the vision of ISCTE-IUL as a research university focused on continuous improvement dynamics of the institution in the various fields of its management and activity, such as:

• A board of highly skilled faculty and researchers representing the best international standards;
• The internationalization of research, teaching and knowledge transfer, and the academic mobility of faculty members and students, which fulfills the integration of ISCTE-IUL in international research and education networks;
• The transfer and exchange of the produced scientific and technological knowledge, particularly through development of products, provision of services to society, lifelong education and promotion of entrepreneurship and employability;
• The implementation and promotion of activities that grant access and fruition of cultural and scientific goods to individual users and groups inside and outside ISCTE-IUL;
• The continuous interaction with society, contributing to the analysis and resolution of problems at national and local levels, as well as establishment of partnerships with organizations committed to the cultural, social and economic development of the country;
• The professionalization of infrastructure management and qualification by means of creating a culture of excellence that provides effective support to research, teaching and knowledge transfer activities in order to ensure institutional sustainability.

In ISCTE-IUL there is a strong commitment with quality. Bellow you can learn more about Quality Assurance by ISCTE-IUL, which is based on our the Quality Manual.