The University of Minho recently obtained full institutional accreditation, until 2028, for its quality in teaching, research and management. The distinction was awarded by the Higher Education Assessment and Accreditation Agency (A3ES).
This classification is contributing to decisions on the maximum accreditation (six years) of UMinho’s courses, through the application of a special simplified evaluation regime (‘via verde’), which does not require an external evaluation commission for each process.
In the case of the bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees and doctorates in operation at our university, we have already had 36 favourable decisions for six years and one for four years. And of the 28 proposals for new study programmes submitted by UMinho, 25 were accredited for six years and two were given conditional accreditation. These results stand out at a national level, given that A3ES has rejected four out of every ten new higher education courses, as quoted by the ‘JN’.
UMinho’s good practices in terms of the quality of the reports submitted for accreditation of its study programmes have led to excellent results in the evaluation processes and also confirm our commitment to responding to training needs and new societal challenges,’ says the Vice-Rector for Education and Academic Mobility, Hernâni Gerós.
Training for new societal challenges
The new courses include, for example, master’s degrees in Advanced Computing, in Child and Paediatric Health Nursing and in Sustainable and Resilient Pavement Engineering, as well as doctorates in Biomedicine and Health Sciences, in Criminal Sciences and in Medicinal and Food Plant Resources, among others.
UMinho offers more than 200 courses, and is the university in the north of Portugal with the largest offer in the 1st cycle, with 59 bachelor’s and integrated master’s degrees. Its Aerospace Engineering and Medicine programmes are in the top 10 nationally for highest access scores. In this context, promoting pedagogical innovation and linking teaching to research are distinctive features that promote excellence within our community.
UMinho is promoting its educational offer in dozens of schools and secondary schools, as well as taking part in the Unlimited Future fairs (January to April, in ten cities), Qualifica (12 to 15 March, Matosinhos), Futurália (25 to 29 March, Lisbon) and UPA – UMinho de Portas Abertas (3 to 5 April, at the Gualtar campus, Braga).
It also hosts regular visits by groups of primary and secondary school students at its campuses in Braga and Guimarães, as well as promoting actions with municipalities or companies and specialised programmes such as sou.UMinho 5.0, Verão no Campus, VEM – Vamos Experimentar a UMinho, Liga-te à UMinho and Portas Abertas para o Ensino Superior, thus contributing to the academic and professional development of thousands of young people and adults.
