The Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa (FFUL) is a Portuguese public institution of higher education dedicated to education, research, knowledge transfer and continuing education in the fields of pharmacy, medicine, and pharmaceutical sciences.
The FFUL is a recognized institution at the national and international level. The courses that grant an academic degree are accredited by the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education (A3ES) and the Integrated Master in Pharmaceutical Sciences is also accredited by the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society (Ordem dos Farmacêuticos) for professional practice.
With the motto, "By knowledge, by innovation," the FFUL takes an active role in the dissemination within the field of Pharmaceutical Sciences and further activities addressed to the community regarding public health. Promoting a culture of internationalization, it is associated to many of its academic counterparts and other relevant national and international institutions, in educational and scientific projects, exchange programs and other partnerships.
The Faculty of Pharmacy of the Universidade de Lisboa was born in 1836 as a School of Pharmacy integrated in the Medical-Surgical School of Lisbon, in which the teaching in the field of pharmacy was assumed by the apothecary of St Joseph's Hospital. With the establishment of the Universidade de Lisboa in March 1911, the School of Pharmacy remained attached to the same institution, now known as the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidade de Lisboa.
By Decree No. 4653 of July 14, 1918, it gained autonomy and was named as the Pharmacy School of the University of Lisbon. It continued, however, to share the facilities of the Faculty of Medicine, in a precarious and inadequate situation. Quinta da Torrinha was bought in 1920 to resolve this situation and to build its own facilities. It would be from this former farm that later the Campus (Cidade Universitária) would be created.
In 1921, by Decree No. 7238 of January 18, the School gets the status of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon and assigns bachelor and doctoral degrees in pharmacy. In 1932, it was extinguished along with its counterpart of Coimbra, giving way again to a Superior School of Pharmacy, which only granted a bachelor's degree; only in the University of Porto the Faculty of Pharmacy has remained, where were also given the degrees of graduate ("licenciado") and doctor. This would only be reversed in 1968, when it was restored the Pharmacy Faculties of Coimbra and Lisbon, placing them on an equal footing with the Porto academy.
Today, the FFUL teaches various curricular units, some of them in hospital environment. Through these, and project curricular units, students are offered a direct relationship interaction with the pharmaceutical profession as well as with the scientific research that is carried out at the faculty's Research Units.
FFUL provides courses covering all higher education cycles by integrating different areas associated with the professional performance of pharmacists and scientific development in the field of pharmaceutical sciences.
This course enables the Master in pharmaceutical sciences for qualified professional practice, recognized by the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society, including the following activities:
Course outline:
The Integrated Master in Pharmaceutical Sciences of FFUL is accredited by the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education and the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society, enabling the practice in Europe.
Supported by several doctoral programmes, such as:
Since 2021, the FFUL includes the following departments in its organizational structure:
Scientific research in FFUL is ensured by the Research Institute for Medicines, which integrates more than 200 researchers, focusing its activity in four main areas, the so-called 3DU:
The researchers are in about 15 groups working on basic and translational research in the area of therapeutic innovation. This research institute encourages research across the spectrum of drug development, from laboratory to pre-clinical studies, promoting a response to scientific challenges in emerging areas, such as aging and related diseases, diabetes, cancer, neurodegeneration, osteoarticular degeneration, inflammatory, infectious and metabolic diseases.
The research involves collaborations with various universities, research centers, hospitals, pharmaceutical industry, national and international regulatory agencies in the Medicines area. It has been fostering the realization of scientific projects, financially supported at national and international level. The results and the teams have been internationally recognized and awarded.
In the context of research and teaching, FFUL invests in interdisciplinary partnerships with other Schools of ULisboa in order to develop new cross-cutting areas of knowledge, participating in important networks, such as:
The FFUL provides to the general public, as well as public and private entities, a number of specialized services that result from the application of translational research performed at the school in the clinical, instrumental and industrial context, including:
The FFUL has been awarded in 2013 with the Medal of Honor of the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society.
To strengthen the internationalization of teaching and scientific research, FFUL cooperates with similar institutions and various agencies and entities in the mobility and training of students, teachers and researchers.
In the context of an international scientific policy, FFUL maintains partnerships with foreign consortiums to attract graduate students and get competitive funding.
Strategic cooperation encourages the development, innovation, internationalization and the attractiveness of the institution with students, teachers and international researchers. The FFUL participates in international programs and integrates international research networks.