The Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra (ESAC), in English the Agrarian School of Coimbra, is a state-run

polytechnic Polytechnic is most commonly used to refer to schools, colleges, or universities that qualify as an institute of technology or vocational university also sometimes called universities of applied sciences. Polytechnic may also refer to: Educatio ...

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

school of

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

, based in

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. The oldest of the

Coimbra Polytechnical Institute The Polytechnical Institute of Coimbra (IPC - Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra) is a public polytechnic institute of higher education in Coimbra, Portugal. It was created by decree of 1979, but its effective start up was only in 1988 through the cr ...

's (IPC) autonomous institutions, it has also IPC's largest campus.

History

The ESAC has a long history in

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an ind ...

and provision of services to the community started in the nineteenth century as the National School of Agriculture (1899), renamed the Regents School of Agriculture (1950), and finally in the 1970s, the Higher Agrarian School of Coimbra (Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra), a state-run

school of agriculture. It was incorporated into the Polytechnical Institute of Coimbra in the 1980s but preserved wide technical, pedagogical and financial autonomy. It conferred the ''bacharelato'' degree and the ''Diploma de Estudos Especializados'' (DESE) diploma. In the late 1990s, after the upgrading of the Portuguese polytechnical institutions to

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

-conferring institutions (the Portuguese ''licenciatura''), the differences between this polytechnical school and the university institutions were drastically reduced, an achievement that would fully materialize after the Bologna Process in 2006/2007. Currently, the ESAC awards a 3-year 1st cycle

(''licenciatura''); and a 2-year 2nd cycle

masters' degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in several fields including

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

, food engineering,

organic farming Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...

, and

forest engineering Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

. In addition, ESAC has developed and expanded its own research units and programs.

The campus

The ESAC is located in the urban area of the city of

, on a campus with strong rural characteristics, with a significant area of farmland, pasture, forest and infrastructure support for a total of 140 ha. It has a vast architectural heritage, architecture typical of the traditional rural location, including a listed building. The natural heritage of ESAC is also known for its quality and diversity: the region's largest

camphor tree ''Camphora officinarum'' is a species of evergreen tree that is commonly known under the names camphor tree, camphorwood or camphor laurel. Description ''Camphora officinarum'' is native to China south of the Yangtze River, Taiwan, southern ...

, a forest of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

s, and woody teixos, a tash, a Sequoia and species protected by the Habitats Directive. There is also a great faunal diversity including amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, which have been identified as species of community interest. This set of semi-natural areas, infrastructure and equipment can be used in training activities,

environmental education Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating discip ...

and recreation service to the community as the main activities of ESAC focus in teaching, research and services in the areas of

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

, agro-industries and eco-

agritourism Agritourism or agrotourism involves any agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. Types A 2018 article published in the ''Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development'' classified a ...

Research and services to the community

The Centro de Estudos de Recursos Naturais, Ambiente e Sociedade (CERNAS) is ESAC's

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

centre. CERNAS develops scientific and technological knowledge in the areas of

natural resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. O ...

food science Food science is the basic science and applied science of food; its scope starts at overlap with agricultural science and nutritional science and leads through the scientific aspects of food safety and food processing, informing the developm ...

, environment and

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

, based on multidisciplinary, cross sectoral and horizontal development, promoting research, dissemination of knowledge, training, scientific qualification and technology.

Sports and student life

The Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra has a notable

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

department, usually known as Agrária. The rugby team has played in the main Portuguese leagues. The students' union is the Associação de Estudantes da Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra (AE ESAC) which was founded in 1982 by students.Associação de Estudantes da Escola Superior Agraria de Coimbra
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Students' Association

The Student Association at ESAC was created in 1982 when a group of students of the school decided to form the Association of Students of the Higher School of Agrarian of Coimbra (AE ESAC). Since then, AE ESAC has never stopped. There have been a number of conferences, conferences, meetings, fairs and exhibitions that have taken place, in addition to the nuclei that he has formed, and which demonstrate the openness that the Association has always had in welcoming new ideas and new projects. The Association of Students is elected annually among one or more candidate lists, which must obey two rules: to be students of this school and to be members of AE ESAC. At present, the ESAC Student Association is made up of 25 students from all courses. Throughout the year it is the duty of AE ESAC to receive all students and, above all, to defend their rights, both at the level of the Board of Directors, the Pedagogical Council and the Assembly of Representatives, and the teachers, without, however, making them forget their duties.

Notable personalities

Luís de Matos Luis de Matos (born 23 August 1970, full name Luis Manuel Curcialeiro Godinho de Matos) is a Portuguese magician. He has been called “the best known illusionist in Portugal” and was the co-winner of the "Golden Grolla" in 2013 alongside L ...

, (born 23 August 1970), a Portuguese magician. Alumni and former teacher at ESAC.

References

External links

Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra
(Portuguese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Escola Superior Agraria de Coimbra Agricultural universities and colleges Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra Buildings and structures in Coimbra