The IPLeiria is a public institution of higher education, at the service of society, dedicated to the production and diffusion of knowledge, creation, transmission and diffusion of culture, science, technology and arts, applied research and experimental development. IPLeiria develops its activities in the aim of education and training, research, provision of services to the community and extending cooperation in educational, cultural and technical areas. IPLeiria has invested in modern and well-equipped facilities, which provide support services with excellent quality.

Presently, IPLeiria has approximately 1.200 workers, of which about 900 are teachers (60% with doctoral degrees), and has more than 11.500 students, distributed mainly in postsecondary education, degree and master courses. The IPLeiria is present in the region of Leiria and West through higher education schools and research units located in Leiria.

IPLeiria is an innovative and entrepreneur Higher Education Institution with a dynamic and robust ecosystem of Research and Innovation (R&D+i) strongly orientated to the economy, agriculture and society. This R&D+i ecosystem is composed by five higher schools, one Knowledge Transfer Centre, more than 130 laboratories and nineteen research centres, of which two are scientific infrastructures linked both to the Science and Maritime Technology and Industry. IPLeiria also participates actively in three business incubators, one business association, one technological centre, one technological park, four competitiveness (competitive) and technology (technological) clusters, one business school, two regional energy agencies and one centre for scientific dissemination.