University of Beira Interior is a public university established in 1973 as the Instituto Politécnico da Covilhã (IPC), in the city of Covilha, otherwise referred to as the Manchester of Portugal. The university is internationally recognised for offering undergraduate and graduate programs ranging from medicine and biomedical sciences to mathematics to aeronautical engineering to both national as well as international students. This wide range of courses are delivered under 5 faculties namely The Faculty of Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Faculty of Arts and Letters and the Faculty of Health Sciences. At present, UBI has 20 bachelor’s, 40 master’s and 25 PhD level courses to around 7000 students. Located conveniently in the inner regions of Portugal, Covilha has an aura of absolute tranquillity and safety and being away from the central part of Portugal, accommodation is much more economical here. International students need to enrol into 2 preparatory semi-annual course units of the Portuguese language (12 ECTS) and additionally they have the opportunity to choose among 3 optional course units (18 ECTS) from their chosen course for application. The university has a students' union offering a wide range of sports activities like chess meetings, volleyball, basketball, badminton, table tennis and climbing.