CISTER (Research Centre in Real-Time and Embedded Computing Systems) is a Research Unit based at the School of Engineering (ISEP) of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto (IPP), Portugal.

Since it was created, CISTER has grown to become one of the leading European research units, contributing with seminal research works in a number of subjects, namely: real-time communication networks and protocols; wireless sensor networks (WSN); cyber-physical systems (CPS); real-time programming paradigms and operating systems; distributed embedded systems; cooperative computing and QoS-aware applications; scheduling and schedulability analysis (including multiprocessor systems).

CISTER has a strong and solid international reputation, built upon a robust track record of publications and a continuous presence on program and organising committees of international top conferences.

Currently, there are around 60 people involved in CISTER, where half of them are PhDs, and encompassing more than 20 nationalities.

Notably, CISTER was, in 2004, 2007 and 2017, awarded the classification of Excellent in FCT evaluations..