Universidade NOVA de Lisboa was founded on the 11th of August 1973, and is the youngest of Lisbon’s three state Universities. Integrated within a framework of expansion and diversification of higher education, the University adopted a new model within the Portuguese system that stressed interdisciplinary approaches, technological developments while, at the same time, safeguarding offerings in traditional academic domains including medicine, sciences and humanities.

Research at NOVA has been growing and developing, both at quantitative and qualitative levels. Universidade NOVA de Lisboa hosts 41 Research and Development Units (R&D Units), 15 of which are research partnerships between NOVA and other national institutions.