TheInstituto Superior Técnico (IST, also known asTécnico, and stylizedTÉCNICO LISBOA; English:Higher Technical Institute) is the school of engineering and technology of theUniversity of Lisbon. It was founded as an autonomous school in 1911, and was integrated into theTechnical University of Lisbon (now part of the University of Lisbon) in 1930. IST is the largest school of engineering inPortugal by number of enrolled students, faculty size, scientific production and patents.[2]
IST has threecampuses, all located in theLisbon metropolitan area: the Alameda campus inLisbon, theTaguspark campus in theOeiras municipality, and theTecnológico e Nuclear campus in theLoures municipality. The school is divided in 11 departments that are responsible for teaching undergraduate and postgraduate programs. Each department is organized in sections, which group together specific subjects within its scientific area. In addition, the laboratories of the several departments support the teaching and research activities carried out at IST.
TheInstituto Superior Técnico (IST) was created from the split of theLisbon Commercial and Industrial Institute (IICL) into two schools. Following theimplantation of the Republic in Portugal in 1910, Alfredo Bensaúde, a professor ofMineralogy andGeology at the IICL, was invited by Manuel de Brito Camacho, Minister of Development in the Provisional Government, to create and lead a new technical school, as part of nationwideeducation reforms. Adecree approved on 23 May 1911 and published in theDiário do Governo declared that the IICL would be split into two schools: theInstituto Superior do Comércio (current Lisbon School of Economics and Management) and theInstituto Superior Técnico.[4][5]
Bust of Alfredo Bensaúde, first director of IST, in the Central Pavilion
Alfredo Bensaúde was the first director of IST, a position he held from 1911 to 1920. He implemented its firstpedagogical program, which had five engineering courses:mining engineering,civil engineering,mechanical engineering,electrical engineering, andchemical-industrial engineering.[5] Under his direction, there was an investment in theoretical-practical teaching where workshops and laboratories, as well as the library, played an essential role.[6] He also noted for recruiting foreign teachers, which he considered to have an essential role in organizing some of the courses.[7]
The first facilities of IST were located in the Rua da Boavista inLisbon.[8] In 1927,Duarte Pacheco became director of IST and started the project for a newcampus for the school. He requested the design to architect Porfírio Pardal Monteiro, who counted with the collaboration of Luís Benavente, a fellow architect, in the project. The construction of the Alameda campus started in 1928 and was finished in 1935, with the inauguration happening the following year.[8][9] IST became the first academic institution in Portugal with its own campus.[9] In the meantime, in 1930, IST became part of the newly createdTechnical University of Lisbon.
Central Pavilion of the Alameda campus, the main building of IST
In 1948, IST hosted the "Fifteen Years of Public Works" exhibition, an event organized by the Portuguese State to exhibit the new infrastructures built in the first 15 years of theEstado Novo. The statue of a woman holding asquare and compass, by Salvador Barata Feyo, placed in the northern side of the campus, is a sculpture from this exhibition that was permanently added to the Alameda campus.[10]
Between 1952 and 1972, 12 study centres were established in Portugal, three of them at IST, in the fields of Chemistry, Geology and Mineralogy, and Electronics. These centres were responsible for promoting faculty training and scientific qualification through doctoral studies in universities and research centres abroad.[11]
In 1970, the minimum period for obtaining abachelor's degree decreased from six to five years, and the number of students enrolled at IST significantly increased. During the 1970s, scientific research at IST also has a major increase, through the creation of the Interdisciplinary Complex building in 1973, which gathered together various autonomous research units.[11]
During the 1990s, more engineering courses, including Master and PhD degrees, were added to IST's curricular offer.[11] The facilities in the Alameda campus had the greatest expansion in this decade, with the construction of the Civil Engineering and Architecture Pavilion and the North and South towers.[9]
In 2000, IST inaugurated a new campus in the municipality ofOeiras, specifically in theTaguspark, the first Portuguesescience and technology park.[12] In the academic year 2006–2007, theDeclaration of Bologna was successfully implemented for all IST programmes, reducing the time to obtain a bachelor's degree to three years. In 2012, theTecnológico e Nuclear campus was added to IST, following the discontinuation of the Technological and Nuclear Institute.[13]
Today IST is involved with several of Portugal's research, development and technology transfer institutions and offers a vast number of degrees in science and engineering areas, at undergraduate, master and doctoral levels. IST is also part of several networks and international programmes to promote student mobility, both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
The Alameda campus is the primary location of IST. It was inaugurated in 1936 as the first dedicateduniversity campus in Portugal.[9] It is located in thefreguesia ofAreeiro, in Lisbon.
The campus originally had 7 buildings.[8] Throughout the years, new buildings were constructed inside the campus, expanding the facilities of IST. Some of the buildings added after 1936 include:
The Interdisciplinary Complex, opened in 1973;[14]
The Civil Engineering and Architecture Pavilion, opened in 1993;[9]
Civil Engineering and Architecture Pavilion, in the Alameda campus
Currently the campus has a total of 26 buildings.[16] Apart from lecture and research buildings, it includes a dedicatedcanteen building, a building for the students' association,playing fields for sports, an indoorswimming pool, and akindergarten.[16]
Taguspark is located about 14 km to the west of the Alameda campus. A freeshuttle bus service connecting the Alameda and Taguspark campuses is available for exclusive use of the IST community.[17]
TheTecnológico e Nuclear campus was added to IST in 2012. It is located in Bobadela, in the municipality of Loures, about 9 km northeast of the Alamada campus. Prior to its addition to IST, the campus belonged to the Technological and Nuclear Institute (Portuguese:Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear), which was extinguished in December 2011 by governmental decree.[13]
The campus contained the onlynuclear reactor in Portugal, which was used for more than 50 years for scientific research. The reactor was stopped on 11 May 2016 and dismantled in 2019.[20]
As of the academic year 2023–2024, twomaster's degree programmes use the facilities in this campus: Radiation Protection and Safety, and Science and Technology for the Cultural Heritage.[19]
IST is also actively involved in several networks and international programs to promote student mobility, both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Through a large number of agreements with other institutions worldwide, IST students can join double degree programmes and joint PhD programmes with universities inEurope, theUnited States,Brazil, andIsrael.[22]
Sino-European Engineering Education Platform (SEEEP), a collaboration between the members of CLUSTER and Chinese universities in the areas of science, technology and engineering[29]
Thestudents' association of the Instituto Superior Técnico (AEIST, Portuguese:Associação dos Estudantes do Instituto Superior Técnico) is the organization that represents and supports the students of IST. It was established on 11 December 1911, when IST was just 8 months old.[31]
IST and its students' association are represented in various sports.
The most notable sports team from IST is theClube de Rugby do Técnico, arugby union club founded in 1963. The club has become three-times champion of thetop-tier rugby league in Portugal (most recently in the 2020–2021 season), four-times winner of thePortuguese Rugby Cup, and winner of the Portuguese Super Cup in 1994.[32]
Núcleo de Arte Fotográfica (NAF),artistic photography group of IST, established in the 1950s[45]
Projecto de Sustentabilidade Energética Móvel (PSEM), an engineering team that designs and buildselectric vehicles to compete in theGreenpower racing competitions, established in 2013[46]
TheUniversity of Lisbon, which IST is part of, is the institution represented in globaluniversity rankings. Nevertheless, IST is represented indirectly in the rankings for the specific subjects of engineering and technology.
In asurvey conducted in 2022 to 1450 IST postgraduates who graduated during the year 2020, 96.7% of the inquired indicated that they were employed, 80.4% reported that they got employed within 6 months of their graduation, and 73.6% indicated that they are working in their field of study.[54]
IST has a reputation for the high level of difficulty of its courses, which results in a considerable number ofdropouts in the undergraduate courses.[55][56][57] Students and graduates have criticized some of the courses' programmes for being too focused on theory and lacking practical training.[58]
A 2021 survey to IST students, which gathered 1987 responses, revealed that 16% of the students felt that they had been target of moral harassment and 5% had been target ofsexual harassment.[59]
Maria Amélia Chaves (Lic. civil engineering, 1937)[61] – first femalecivil engineer to graduate from IST, first Portuguese woman to graduate and then work in civil engineering, and the first Portuguese female engineer to work in the field.
Mário A. T. Figueiredo (electrical and computer engineering, Lic. 1986, M.Sc. 1989, Ph.D. 1994) – academic and researcher, Distinguished Professor at IST
Isabel Gago (Lic. in chemical engineering, 1939)[64] – second woman to study engineering in Portugal and first woman to teach chemical engineering in Portugal
João Pavão Martins (Lic. mechanical engineering, 1976; M.Sc. computer science, 1979)[66] – co-founder ofSISCOG, researcher inartificial intelligence and full professor of Computer Science and Engineering at IST
Arlindo Oliveira (electrical and computer engineering, Lic. 1986, M.Sc. 1989)[69] – current president of INESC, former president of IST (2012–2019), former director of theINESC-ID (2000–2009)
José Tribolet (Lic. electrical engineering, 1971)[70] – retired full professor of Information Systems at IST, co-founder and chairman of INESC-ID
Ernesto Morgado (Lic. mechanical engineering, 1976; M.Sc. computer science, 1981) – co-founder of SISCOG, president of Ernesto Morgado S.A., retired professor at IST's Computer Engineering department
Isabel Vaz (Lic. chemical-industrial engineering, 1990), executive chair ofLuz Saúde [pt], one of the largest healthcare companies in Portugal.
Politicians and diplomats
Álvaro Barreto (Lic. civil engineering, 1959)[78] – various ministerial roles between 1978 and 1990, and Minister of the Economy from 2004 to 2005
Maria da Graça Carvalho (Lic. mechanical engineering, 1978)[79] – Minister of the Environment and Energy since 2024, former Minister of Science and Higher Education (2003–2005)
Ângelo Correia (Lic. chemical-industrial engineering, 1968)[80] – Minister of Internal Administration (1981–1983)
Miguel Pinto Luz (Lic. electrical and computer engineering, 2000)[88] – Minister of Infrastructure and Housing since 2024
Carlos Moedas (Lic. civil engineering, 1993)[89] – Mayor of Lisbon since 2021
Duarte Pacheco (Lic. electrical engineering, 1926) – various ministerial roles between 1928 and 1943, director of IST (1929–1932, 1936–1937)
Dulce Pássaro (Lic. chemical engineering, 1976)[90] – Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning (2009–2011)
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo (Lic. chemical-industrial engineering, 1953)[91] – first woman to serve as Prime Minister of Portugal (1979–1980)
João de Deus Pinheiro (Lic. chemical-industrial engineering, 1970)[92] – Minister of Education and Culture (1985–1987), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1987–1992), European Commissioner between 1993 and 1999
João Fraústo da Silva (Lic. chemical-industrial engineering, 1958)[93] – Minister of Education (1982–1983), director of IST (1970–1972)
^Instituto Superior Técnico."1911 — A fundação do IST".alumni.100.ist.utl.pt (in Portuguese). Archived fromthe original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved31 August 2023.
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