The University of Coimbra is one of the oldest in the world. It was created in 1290 by king D. Dinis. The Department of Mathematics of the Faculty of Science and Technology, in its present form, was created in 1972. It is the successor of the Faculty of Mathematics created in 1772 by the Marquês de Pombal, which existed until 1911, when it was merged with the Faculty of Philosophy to create the Faculty of Science.
The faculty of the Department of Mathematics maintains a high quality research activity, well established in terms of international cooperation, mostly developed in the framework of the Centre for Mathematics of the University of Coimbra (CMUC). The Centre was ranked as Excellent (the best mark) in the last evaluation conducted by the funding agency, the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).
The Department of Mathematics has one of the best mathematical libraries in the Iberian Peninsula, holding more than 26 000 books and a large collection of scientific journals. It also offers online access to several mathematical publications. Students have easy acess to computer facilities and to the wireless network of the University.