On this date, the third Rector of the institution, Professor João António de Sampaio Rodrigues Queiroz, takes office, whose mandate ended on September 5, 2013.

The UNITA Consortium has six institutions of higher education of five countries: The UNITA Consortium is based on the concepts of European identity, inter-comprehension, multiculturalism, and sustainability, and aims to develop a European Research Area focusing on three pillars: i) cultural heritage, ii) renewable energies, and iii) circular economy.

The rise in the number of institutions, however, did not jeopardize the position of UBI among the elite of the youngest universities from 66 countries on five continents.

Compared to 2019, UBI improved its final score in four of the five major missions of universities, used for the construction of the study: "Teaching", "Research", "Knowledge Transfer" and "Internationalization".

Universities are evaluated on their main missions - teaching, research, knowledge transfer and internationalization - to allow the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons possible.

In THE-YUR the weighting elements are calibrated to reflect the missions of young universities, with less emphasis on reputation surveys and more on factors such as research productivity, staff-to-student ratios and doctoral training, among others.

Students coming from other European Union member-states and PALOP (Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa) countries accounts for nearly 200.

Over the years, the UBI had a remarkable evolution and nowadays it is a modern university full of well-equipped laboratories, ateliers, libraries, computer rooms, research centres, and offering a wide range of activities through the students' union (Associação Académica da Universidade da Beira Interior) and university social services.

The university academic campus is well integrated in the city urban network and it has unique characteristics based on Covilhã industrial roots.

Some of their former buildings, after being renovated by the University of Beira Interior, started the 21st century serving the purpose of educating the Portuguese society.

During the whole year there are many indoor events such like chess meetings or activities in sports halls as climbing, volleyball, basketball, football, badminton and table tennis.

A freshman reception week, organised by the students' union of the University of Beira Interior, takes place in November and includes a parade through town (the Latada) and several concerts.

Competitive varsity sports teams of UBI include badminton, basketball, futsal, handball, rugby union and volleyball.

According to the museum's educational role, the discovered structures are helping to portray the dyeing processes used in Portugal in the second half of the 18th century.