Venue

The 5th International Conference on the History of Physics will take place at the Physics Department of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra, from 5-7th June 2025.

Address: Department of Physics, Rua Larga, Universidade de Coimbra,

P-3004 516 Coimbra

GPS coordinates: 40.207844, -8.424558

The University of Coimbra

The University of Coimbra is the oldest university in Portugal and one of the oldest in Europe, having been founded in 1290. Its campus dates back to the 16th century and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. This classification was attributed due to its central role in the production of knowledge and dissemination of culture in the Portuguese language throughout the world, as well as the universal value of its campus, which currently consists of three university centers. The UNESCO-listed complex is made up of 32 buildings divided into two areas: Alta and Sofia. These buildings are of different architectural styles, reflecting different educational reforms.

In Paço das Escolas, the main and oldest building complex of the University of Coimbra, lived D. Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal. There you will find the university "room of great acts", a chapel, a prison, an old library with a colony of bats that holds more than 56 thousand books and a first edition of the Lusíadas, and the tower clock with bells that in the student slang is called "Goat", playing to mark the beginning and end of daily classes.

Paço das Escolas, Universidade de Coimbra, @créditos fotográficos: Joaquim Alves Gaspar

The 'Cabinet of Physics' of the University of Coimbra

The Physics Museum is located in the former Colégio de Jesus, in the Marquês de Pombal square, opposite the Chimico Laboratory, in the rooms originally intended for the "Gabinete de Fysica Experimental", created in 1772.

This Museum has a valuable collection of scientific and educational physics instruments from the 18th and 19th centuries, one of the most remarkable and rare in the world. The Museum assets consist exclusively of instruments used in the mentioned Cabinet of Physics of the University of Coimbra, since its origin in 1772.

The 18th century instruments, which gave rise to one of the most complete cabinets for the study of Experimental Physics, are today considered true works of art. The instruments of the 19th century are well representative of the great development of Experimental Physics throughout that century. The collection has more than three thousand objects, including about five hundred old books.

A part of these instruments is on permanent display in the original rooms of the Cabinet of Physics, whose characteristics are still those they originally had when the Cabinet of Physics was created. The permanent exhibition therefore shows the instruments in the context of their time, in fact portraying a Physics Cabinet as it was in the second half of the 18th century. This permanent exhibition also includes some instruments from the 19th century.

The Physics Museum as a representation of the former Cabinet of Experimental Physics of the University of Coimbra was awarded the status of European Historic Site (EPS Historic Site) by the European Physical Society (EPS), in recognition of its role and importance in the history of physics.

The Physics Museum is currently integrated into the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra.