The new University of Lisbon came second in the Ibero-American ranking that evaluates the scientific output of higher education institutions, ahead of all its Spanish counterparts.

The result achieved by the University of Lisbon is mostly an outcome of the merger between the Classical and Technical Universities, which were already two of the best national universities in the SCImago list (26th and 14th, respectively, in the 2013 ranking). Moreover, the integration process of the teams of the two institutions is not yet very visible, given that the reorganization process with regard to research is “still at an early stage”, according to the rector of ULisboa, António Cruz Serra.

However, the fact that a large university was created is not enough to justify this good result, since there are much larger universities, such as the main Spanish universities, which are behind ULisboa. Accordingly, this “is a very positive and satisfactory result that fills us with pride”, noted Cruz Serra. The rector hopes that these results will be maintained in coming years, since research will continue to be a priority for the institution. As he points out, “one can only teach well what one knows well”.

Source: Newspaper Público

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