The University of Lisbon has overtaken the University of Porto in the QS World University Rankings (SUR) 2025, an annual assessment of the higher education sector by Quaccarelli Symonds (QS), a British analysis and services company. Ranking of the world’s best higher education institutions, according to criteria defined by them.
Last year, the University of Lisbon ranked 266th and was behind the University of Porto, which ranked 253rd. However, this latest edition’s ranking has moved Lisbon up six places (260th) as Portugal’s best university. The University of Porto is now second after falling to 278th place.
As in previous years, the University of Coimbra (355th place), University of Aveiro (359th), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (388th), University of Minho (611-620th), ISCTE – Instituto Universitario de Lisboa (661- 670º) and Universidade Católica Portuguesa (901 -950º) are also listed.
The Portuguese Catholic University and the University of Minho maintained their positions in relation to the previous year, while the universities of Coimbra (351st place) and Aveiro (344th) fell slightly in the list. On the other hand, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (ranked 400) and ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ranked between 751 and 760) moved up a few places, compared to the previous year’s edition.
Anglo-Saxon rule
In this edition, 1500 universities from 105 higher education institutions appeared in the international rankings, with 197 institutions from the United States ranked, the United Kingdom at 90 and China at 71.
The US leads the podium, with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) topping the list for the 13th time in a row, followed by the United Kingdom in second and third place, Imperial College London and the University of Oxford respectively.
Although the United States has led for thirteen consecutive years and has four of its universities in the top 10, this dominance is contested in an arm-wrestling competition with the United Kingdom, which also has four higher education institutions in the group. This means that Imperial College has moved up four places from the last edition and is now in the second position.
Switzerland and Singapore are the other two countries with universities in the top ten of the global rankings.
Still inside Top 10Entering the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) account confirms that, according to employers and academics, the American higher education system is one of the most respected in the world.
In the Americas, Canada also stands out, largely because of its performance in terms of sustainability, which has earned the University of Toronto the title of world’s most sustainable institution.
In China, out of 71 institutions classified, only five stood out and were included in the world’s top 100 higher education institutions. Fudan University improved significantly compared to the previous edition after moving up 11 places to rank 39th. Chinese Capital University, however, moved up three places to 14th overall and ranked 1st in the country.
India also delivers remarkable results, with 28 of its top 30 ranked companies moving up more than ten places. On the African continent, it goes to South Africa, which occupies the top four spots in the region, namely the University of Cape Town, which has risen two places to find itself at 171 on the list.
Dominating international research in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia saw three of its institutions in the world’s top 20.
Latin America is represented by four institutions in the top 100: the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) in Argentina, the University of São Paulo in Brazil, the Pontifical Catholic University (UC) of Chile and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), in Mexico.
In the Arab region, King Fahd Petroleum and Minerals Company in Saudi Arabia ranked 101st, 79 places higher than Saudi King Abdulaziz University (149th) and Qatar University (122nd).
Text by Ana Raquel Pinto, edited by Jono Pedro Barros.
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