The Master's Degree in Biochemistry has, as a main objective, to provide advanced training in Biochemistry, allowing students to develop skills and knowledge in one of three areas of Biochemistry: Biomolecular Methods; Food Biochemistry; Clinical Biochemistry.

Biochemistry students may, in the second year, conduct their dissertation in a University environment or in a business internship. The Chemistry Department has contacts with a number of companies and institutions from which the student can choose to carry out their work. This annual internship is carried out in co-supervision between the University and the company/institution, allowing the student close contact with a business environment.

Why the Master’s of Science in Biochemistry? The discipline aims to define and characterise all biomolecules, analysing their structural and functional properties and their interconversions and interactions. It seeks to understand and integrate all biological process along the scale of increasing complexity. Thus, it has always been a thoroughly interdisciplinary science. Biochemists are indispensible is the following productive proccesses: providing insight into division and cellular differentiation at the molecular level (phenomena with implications spanning oncology to tissue engineering); manipulating molecules and cells in order to achieve the optimisation/production of biologically active substances (such as in the development of novel drugs); developing strategies for the systhesis and purification of biological substances; and monitoring all the processes mentioned above and more. Thus it is logical that a qualified workforce must be trained, particularly in the areas of critical analysis and the resolution of biochemical issues at the molecular and cellular levels.

The course aims to train qualified professionals with specific assets in the areas of analysis, characterization and intelligent development of new drugs and biomaterials, streamlining the interaction of drugs with biological systems, and design of new materials and more efficient and sustainable synthetic methodologies.

Students will have an interdisciplinary training, particularly in the following areas:

• Organic synthesis of bioactive compounds
• Medicinal chemistry
• Computational chemistry
• Forensic Chemistry
• Supramolecular chemistry and nanochemistry
• Radical chemistry
• Chemical catalysis
• Structural analysis and analytical techniques

The Master’s Program in Biotechnology at FCT NOVA provides the ideal training for the development of a successful career in the field of Biotechnology. It offers a multidisciplinary curriculum, which is essential for the development of solutions for complex, real-world problems, covering both established and emerging scientific areas, as well as knowledge of business development and skills for science-based innovation.

The offer of electives, adjusted every year, lends flexibility to the training profiles provided, which can be directed to biopharmaceuticals, the food industry, nanobiotechnology, marine biotechnology, environmental biotechnology, or technology transfer and innovation.

This MSc course is addressed to students holding the first cycle in Chemistry or related areas, and features a sound chemistry education at the second cycle level, with continuity, scientific and pedagogic consistency and with a curriculum structure flexible to be adapted to the evolution of the market needs. The objectives of this Master are:

·       To provide a solid background in new and key fields of Chemistry, namely Nanochemistry and Biomolecular Chemistry;

·       To provide an advanced theoretical background and practical training in techniques for separation and spectroscopic characterization;

·       To introduce students into specific areas such as Macromolecular Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Computational Chemistry or Metrology and Accreditation in Chemistry, which are optional courses;

·       To provide advanced training in a specific area of Specialization which must be chosen by the student. 

The Master in Conservation and Restoration must be autonomous and apply the fundamentals of preventive conservation as well as performing curative intervention in the Piece he will intervene. The competence to carry out a restoration intervention implies a critical attitude and a thorough diagnosis allowing proposing intervention, preventive or curative measures. For that critical attitude development disciplines as history and art production techniques and methods of examination and analysis in Art and Archaeology are particularly relevant.

During the trainee period, with a duration of 1 year, students will continue increasing knowledge in their specialization area. Trained professionals will know how to innovate, how to update in permanence and how to compete internationally.

The Master in Food Science and Technology was created on the joint initiative of the University of Porto, through the Faculty of Sciences (FC), and the University of Minho (UMinho), through the Department of Biological Engineering at the School of Engineering (DEB-EEUM).
This master presents a solution-oriented training of problems linked to the agro-food process industries, as well as to the sector of services for the agro-alimentary industry. Considers as major goals:

• To supplement the training of graduates in sciences of biological engineering, sciences of food engineering, chemistry or related, providing specialized training, advanced, in areas related to the agro-industries: dairy products, wines, beer, meat products, cereals and derivatives, growers, etc.
• Provide technology transfer on issues relating to the processing and the quality of food, the development of new products, taking into account the nutritional and sensory aspects, as well as the certification of food safety management system.
• Supporting R&D around the agro-industrial sector, promoting product quality, strengthening food safety and quality.

The Course in Gastronomical Sciences aims to meet the needs resulting from a profound change in the relationship of consumers with food and in the process of food production on a small scale that occurred in the last decade. The evolution of cuisine in its many forms, as well as that of restoration, requires a change in work processes and level of expertise.

The aim of this Course is to provide thorough scientific and technical training in the field of food science. It should also give students an overview all issues related with gastronomy, which involve other technical and cultural aspects in order to allow a more comprehensive approach to the issues and/or create a bridge between the world of knowledge and the real world of various economic and cultural activities related with gastronomy.

 The Erasmus Mundus Master in Membrane Engineering EM3E offers an advanced education programme related to membrane science and engineering at the interface between material science and chemical engineering and focused on specific applicative fields.

It involves 6 High Education Institutions of 5 European countries: University of Twente (Netherlands), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal), Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain), Institute of Chemical Technology Prague (Czech Republic), Université Paul Sabatier (Toulouse, France) and Université Montpellier 2 (France, coordinating organisation). Associated partners are the Universitat della Calabria (Italy), the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) and the Université Hassan II of Mohammedia (Morocco).

The Faculty of Pharmacy, holder of a well-established and acknowledged experience in the subjects of physical, chemical, pharmacological, biological and toxicological analysis of medicines, cosmetic products and body hygiene products, offers a Masters Degree in Quality Control. This aims to satisfy the real needs of the business community as far as Products Quality Control (Total Quality) is concerned and to promote the scientific and technical development of the professionals and youngsters who have a vocation in this area.

The Community’s orientations and directives in matters of security and control of the environment and products demand measures that can only be carried out by specialised and competent technicians. In the presence of a market becoming increasingly more demanding, the FFUP aims to help promote competitiveness of companies by guaranteeing the quality of the products they produce.

The PhD in Sustainable Chemistry is a multidisciplinary program in the central/broad area of chemistry, aiming at providing new focus on sustainable research strategies towards the development of new chemical, processes and products in line with current needs of the Chemical Industry and the demands of society. It aims at attracting back to Chemistry the young talents lost during the last two decades, since it plans to play a pivotal role in solving many of the current and future societal problems.

This PhD program aims to provide specialized training with high quality standards in basic and applied areas Conservation and the Conservation-Restoration Sciences. The doctoral degree in Conservation and Restoration is given in the specialties of "Conservation Sciences" and "Theory, History and Techniques". Based on individual supervision, where each doctoral student has a scientific advisor, is intended to provide doctoral students: ability to carry out research respecting the requirements imposed by the academic quality and integrity; leadership in conservation of cultural property; communicate with their peers, the academic community and society in general on the area of specialization; to promote the academic and or professional contexts, technological, social or cultural progress.

The program aims to train a new generation of highly qualified professionals to carry out high-value interventions in academia, industry and other actors in the current food system.
Students trained in this program will be able to occupy positions in industry, consultancy, services, official bodies, research and academia. This doctoral program will follow the highest quality international standards and its graduates will be prepared to work anywhere in the world, as demonstrated by the competencies of the institutions involved.
The program lasts for 4 years. In the first year, students, in addition to attending the CU Planning Thesis, Thesis and Seminar, must attend 4 optional CUs from a wide range of CUs offered by the three higher education institutions - University of Minho, University of Aveiro, Catholic University Portuguese and University of Porto - involved in the program. The remaining 3 years are used for the preparation of the thesis.

The aim of the PTNMR doctoral training program is to foster the development of NMR spectroscopy in Portugal by training students within a specific research plan, to take the maximum advantage of this powerful technique in a variety of key research areas:

• Structural Biology,
• Material Sciences,
• Small Molecules,
• Metabolomics and Metabonomics

The PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (DCF) is an accredited course awarded in 2018 by the A3ES, which aims to prepare highly qualified professionals with skills for implementation, rational use and management of innovative high added value products and services with direct social benefit in terms of health, training, research and development.

BiotechHealth aims to provide excellence in doctoral training in Molecular and Cellular Biotechnology applied to Health Sciences, in an interdisciplinary and international environment, fostering collaboration with internationally recognized research groups, hospitals and industrial companies, both from Portugal and other countries. The programme combines cellular and molecular biotechnologies that are crucial for clinical and industrial application. Molecular Biotechnology (or Molecular Bioengineering) is a new interdisciplinary field, encompassing a new combination of several disciplines, including (Micro)Biology, Biochemistry, Biophysics, Materials Science, Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Bioinformatics and Nanotechnology. An essential component of BiotechHealth concerns the collaboration with international reference institutions (research centers, hospitals or industries), where students should spend a minimum of 6 months.

The PhD Programme in Engineering of Refining, Petrochemistry and Chemistry (EngIQ) is performed within a partnership between five Portuguese universities (University of Aveiro, Faculty of Science and Technology - University of Coimbra, Faculty of Science and Technology - Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculty of Engineering -University of Porto and Instituto Superior Técnico - Universidade Técnica de Lisboa), in close collaboration with member companies of AIPQR (Association of Petrochemical Industries, Chemical and Refining). The program has three modes: (i) PhD in Business Environment; (ii) Advanced Training Course ;(iii) Modules made to measure.

The Ph.D. program aims to train highly qualified professionals, able to play a major role in research, technological development and adaptation, entrepreneurship and leadership in Refining, Petrochemical and Chemical Engineering.

The Erasmus Mundus Doctorate in Membrane Engineering (EUDIME) is designed to implement - at international level - excellence, innovation, mobility and multidisciplinarity in investigation approaches related to membrane science and technology. 

The SANFEED Programme (Sustainable Animal Nutrition and Feeding) is a Doctoral ANIMAL SCIENCE Programme in an industrial setting funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) that started in the academic year of 2014/2015.

The programme is organised in the following four workpackages (WP):

• WP1: Increase livestock sector efficiency
• WP2: Decrease the environmental impact of animal production
• WP3: Promote health and animal welfare
• WP4: Assure product quality and food safety

The Doctoral Program in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering (PDEQB) aims to be an excellence project at the 3rd Study Cycle level , which is strongly oriented towards research, supported on the proven expertise of teachers and researchers of the Chemical and Biochemistry Engineering Section of FCT- NOVA’s Chemistry Department and the associated R & D Laboratories.

The PDEQB aims to train highly qualified professionals able to play a major role in terms of research, education, entrepreneurship and leadership in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering and horizontally in related fields such as environment, energy and materials.

The Doctoral Program in Food Sciences is in line with the growing relevance of the food sector, coupled with the challenges of climate change, future prospects for sustainable global food needs as well as environmental constraints. It is therefore important to develop knowledge and skills to enable professionals to anticipate global challenges in upstream and downstream of the food sector (from producer to consumer) and to improve the performance and competitiveness of their products through innovative, intelligent processes promoting sustainable development.

ChemMat addresses the challenges of modern materials chemistry, with the aim of educating a new generation of researchers in Chemistry, able to prepare and process nanostructured materials with optical, electric and magnetic functionalities, which are at the root of many important applications in fields of high economic impact such as electronic, spintronic and photonic devices, solar cells, sensors, data storage, etc.

The Doctoral program in Chemistry has as main objectives:

1. Provide doctoral competencies, skills and advanced research tools in the specialties of Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry;

2. Develop skills to conceive, design, adapt and carry out original research, respecting standards of quality, integrity and academic ethics and worthy of international dissemination evaluated in peer publications;

3. To enable doctoral students a multidisciplinary training to complete a synergistic and comprehensive knowledge gained in their respective specialties in a perspective of their integration into the labor market.

The Doctoral Program in Chemistry aims to offer advanced education and training in all areas of Chemistry by promoting excellence in research, pushing forward the limits of scientific knowledge.

It is also desirable that part of the future Doctor's degrees in Chemistry have professional success outside the academic environment. Thus the program permanent aim, throughout the training cycle, is to promote the development of other skills beyond the training in chemistry. The program is therefore designed to create opportunities for the education of the doctoral student, particularly regarding the development of soft skills of communication, scientific ethics, innovation and entrepreneurship.

This cycle of studies, been a postgraduate course leading to a doctorate degree, aims to train high-level researchers, that are supposed to be able to work autonomously in different sectors of consumer sciences, showing systematic understanding, skills and research method and being able to critically analyze, evaluate and synthesize new and complex ideas, create and manage solutions and know them communicate in the academic and non academic community in order to promote technological, social and cultural process and taking responsibility for their actions, in particular the consequences of ethical issues that they will bring.