The LE@D – Laboratory of Distance Education and eLearning (Laboratório de Educação a Distância e eLearning) – is the R&D unit for Education, specialising particularly in Distance Education, at Universidade Aberta.

The R&D unit’s primary goal is innovation and leadership in research on Open and Distance Education in the digital society.

LE@D conducts research and knowledge transfer in three strategic areas: Theories and Practices in Open and Distance Education; Education and Sustainability; Educational Issues in the Postdigital Era.

The research unit is part of the network of national research centres registered with the Foundation for Science and Technology (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia FCT) (no. 4372).