General 

Universidad de Madeira (UMa)

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The University of Madeira (UMa) is a Portuguese public university. It is located in the city of Funchal, in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, and was established on September 13, 1988. It comprises 4 Faculties and 2 Schools—Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Engineering, Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, School of Health Sciences, and School of Technologies and Management.

UMa’s academic offerings are constantly updated, developed, and critically evaluated with the active participation of the academic community and society, particularly represented in the Employment and Professional Training Observatory. The aim is to ensure excellence and suitability to job opportunities, thus ensuring dynamism, flexibility, timeliness, coherence, and relevance. It seeks to prepare its students for the challenges of global society and lifelong learning by imparting scientific knowledge, technical competence, and interdisciplinary education.

The curricula offered are designed considering the educational objectives to be achieved, aiming for a balance between foundational education, transversal skills, and specific knowledge and skills in certain disciplinary areas. These include short-term non-graduate higher education (Higher Technical Professional Courses—18 courses), undergraduate education (1st cycle of studies—21 courses), graduate education (2nd and 3rd cycles of studies—33 courses), as well as non-degree postgraduate education (Postgraduate Studies—3 courses).

The University is committed to conducting scientific research activities, promoting the dissemination and social and economic valorization of knowledge and technological innovation. Research at UMa prioritizes the continuous and rigorous expansion of the frontier of knowledge, based on the establishment and development of projects, groups, lines, and research centers. It promotes and fosters collaboration among research groups with the national and international scientific community, thereby contributing to addressing issues in the globalized world. UMa promotes the convergence of research and teaching, especially in its 2nd and 3rd cycles of studies in all areas of knowledge, based on methodological rigor, critical analysis, argumentative depth, and intellectual freedom.

The University of Madeira has two research units funded by strategic projects (the Madeira Chemistry Center and the University of Madeira Education Research Center) and seven research centers/FCT Shared Poles (Atlantic Applied Economics Studies Center; Tourism Research, Development and Innovation Center; Research Center in Sports, Health, and Human Development; Research Center in Mathematics and Applications; Research Center in Health Technologies and Services; and Institute of Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion; Madeira N-Lincs).

UMa plays a role in the cultural projection of the region where it is located, assuming itself as an essential factor for cultural development, based on the promotion of traditions and heritage, and raising awareness of globalization processes in real and virtual contexts.