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Centre for Geophysics of the University of Coimbra - CGUC
The Centre
The Geophysical Institute of the University of Coimbra (Instituto Geofísico
da Universidade de Coimbra - IGUC) was founded in 1864, when the first
climatological measurements began. Shortly after, in 1866, the geomagnetic
observatory was installed (it is still the only one in Portugal and the European
westernmost), and in 1907 the seismic station recorded the first seismograms.
The data-series are uninterrupted until today and, in these 140 years, have been
the support for countless research studies, both in Portugal and abroad. A group
of researchers gathered and decided that it was time to begin working within the
framework of a formally organised and funded research centre: the Centre for
Geophysics of the University of Coimbra (CGUC), taking advantage of the
infrastructural facilities that are granted by IGUC. The creation of this centre
enabled:
![bullet](_themes/zero/zerbul1a.gif) | To integrate common efforts, preventing dispersion and optimising
resources. |
![bullet](_themes/zero/zerbul1a.gif) | To work within a multidisciplinary environment, as the team comes from
different backgrounds: Geology, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering and
Planetary Science. |
![bullet](_themes/zero/zerbul1a.gif) | To bring the present orientations of masters (8), doctorate (1) and
postdoc (2) work into a common scientific and logistic framework. |
![bullet](_themes/zero/zerbul1a.gif) | To integrate national and international scientific relations in a common
institutional framework. |
![bullet](_themes/zero/zerbul1a.gif) | To prevent the termination of such long data-series - a certain fate, in
the near future, due to the aging of the equipments and to the increasing
cultural noise. |
Work in the new Centre, will be developed along three research lines:
A. Solid Planet - whose present work
themes includes:
- Numerical modelling of seismicity.
- Seismotectonic characterisation of the Portuguese Mainland.
- To enable a continued access of the scientific community to the records of
the geomagnetic observatory.
- Support for graduate students research in Geophysics.
B. Atmosphere/Lithosphere Interface
- whose present work themes includes:
- Environmental monitoring and identification of patterns in climatic
variations.
- Hydrology and environmental susceptibility.
- Support for graduate students research in Geophysics.
C. Planetary Science - whose present work
themes includes:
- Thematic mapping of terrestrial planets.
- Automatic mapping.
- Support for graduate students research in Planetary Science.
IGUC was granted the statute of Recognized Collaborating Laboratory (RCL) by
the European Space Agency (ESA) for the Mars Express Mission. The Centre's members
will cooperate actively in the formation of young scientists, not only by
tutoring postgraduate students but also by lecturing specialisation courses. The
first course on geophysical logging was held in 2002, in collaboration with
Pedro Nunes Institute, three short courses on teaching geophysics were held in
the same year and the first advanced course on planetary imaging was held in
2003.
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