The Faculty of Psychology at the University of Coimbra now figures in the Group of Excellence of the CHE - Excellence Ranking 2009, predicated on criteria such as research and post-graduate studies.

Just over 100 Higher Education Institutions Europe wide that offer students excellent prospects in their Master and Doctoral studies are part of the CHE- Excellence Ranking Group of Excellence, published by the German weekly DIE ZEIT. This year, just one Portuguese University figured on the list, the University of Coimbra, for its Faculty of Psychology has been outstanding in terms of its scientific relevance, international brand and teacher and student mobility.

This underscores the work done by the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, in particular, the large number of publications in scientific journals, teacher and student mobility and joining the Erasmus Mundus Master’s  programme in Organizational , Labour and Human Resources Psychology – the only Master’s in Psychology out of the 57 Master’s courses backed by this programme. Furthermore, it offers a double diploma from two European Universities.

Psychology was taught as a subject at the University of Coimbra first in 1911, although only in 1976, aware of the needs felt by society in this area that the Higher Course in Psychology was created. In 1980, with Psychology deemed to be a science, the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences was instituted, which albeit recent, is already quite a reference in the field of teaching in Portugal.

Even quite recently, the ranking by another newspaper of repute, The Times, in Britain, indicated the University of Coimbra as the only institution to represent the Portuguese System of Higher Education, placing it amongst 400 top universities world wide and amongst 200 top European institutions.

The Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) is an independent public utility entity with its head office in Gütersloh, Germany, devoted to introducing reforms in the system of Higher Education. The CHE-Excellence Ranking makes it possible to make a comparison of the best universities and research centres in Europe, especially meant for future students in Master or Doctoral studies.