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With the provocative and challenging spirit that has always been the hallmark of young people from all epochs, the students of Coimbra have inherited the unique traditions that are handed down from generation to generation.

Many of the students live together in residences known as Repúblicas, sometimes with links to the places where the students were born.
Their origin dates back to a royal charter issued by Dom Dinis in 1309, which promoted the building of houses in the area of Almedina destined for the use of students.

Life in the Repúblicas is governed by democratically imposed rules, with all decisions being taken unanimously and with all members being made responsible for the running of the house.
Names such as "República do Baco" (the Republic of Bacchus), "República dos Kágados" (the Republic of the Tortoises), "Palácio da Loucura" (the Palace of Madness), "Ninho dos Matulões" (the Nest of the Hunks) illustrate the sense of humour of their occupants, reflecting a period in their lives that will always be fondly remembered.

At the beginning of the academic year (normally between 24 and 31 October) the Latadas are held. These are parades in which the freshmen (first-year students) also take part, walking through the streets of Coimbra and dragging along the ground behind them tins that are tied together with wire and which make an enormously loud noise. The procession ends by the banks of the River Mondego, where the "godfathers" baptise their chosen fresher with the use of a chamber pot.
The latadas, which originated in the 19th century, were first organised by the students from the Faculties of Law and Theology, who used to end the academic year earlier than the students of other faculties and made this tremendous noise in order to disturb them just as they were getting ready to take their exams.

Student life in Coimbra includes a wide range of Praxes(traditional ordeals) designed to test the powers of resistance of the freshmen. One of the places where the rituals of these academic tests were carried out, always being directed at those just starting their courses, was the Porta Férrea. The veteran students formed two columns in the corridor between the two porticoes and lay in wait for the freshmen, shouting at them, pushing them and kicking them on the shins.
Another of the customs peculiar to Coimbra was the Tourada (literally meaning "bullfight"), a noisy demonstration made by the students and directed against new teachers lecturing at the University for the first time.

At the end of the academic year, the Queima das Fitas (literally the "burning of the ribbons") is held. Final-year students symbolically hand over their brief-cases to those students who will themselves be completing their courses the following year, whilst the traditional academic costume (cloak and gown) is torn to shreds, in a symbolic gesture that marks the end of academic life. This is followed by a brightly-coloured procession of allegorical floats, in which there is no shortage of ironic references to the University masters.

As different collective forms of artistic expression, mention should also be made of the Orfeão de Coimbra, the famous choral group founded in 1880 by João Arroio, which still exists today, performing in many different countries, and the Fado or Canção de Coimbra.