The Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC) is the students' union of the University of Coimbra. Founded on November 3, 1887, it is the oldest students' union in Portugal.

The AAC is governed by a "Direcção Geral" (General Direction) composed exclusively by students of the University of Coimbra, who are democratically elected through yearly elections open to all students.

The modern complex which houses the Academic Association was inaugurated in 1961 and includes a building where the offices of many sports (football, rugby, handball, badminton, basketball, roller hockey, canoing , competitive swimming, volleyball, tennis, judo, karate, baseball, sport fishing, chess, etc.) and cultural sections (theatre, cinema, radio - Rádio Universidade de Coimbra, choral music, fado music, journalism, philately, etc.) are to be found, as well as rehearsal halls, a medical centre, academic services, extensive gardens in the interior, a theatre-cinema (of approximately 1,000 seats) and a restaurant area serving a large part of the student population. Many sport teams and athletes of the AAC sport sections have a great competitiveness and are present regularly in some of the main sport leagues and tournaments in the country and abroad.

The AAC is responsible for the organization of the Queima das Fitas, one of the biggest student parties in Europe.

The main football team of the AAC, usually known as "Académica" or "Briosa", plays in the top Portuguese football leagues. Nowadays, it is an autonomous football club, born within the AAC, but whose formal connection with it is loose. It was the first winner in the history of the Portuguese Football Cup , in 1939.

See also

• University of Coimbra
• Queima das Fitas
• Académica
• Fado de Coimbra
• Rádio Universidade de Coimbra (RUC)
• Coimbra

External links

• Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC) (in Portuguese)
• Rádio Universidade de Coimbra (RUC) (in Portuguese)
• Universidade de Coimbra