The University of Lisbon (ULisboa) ranks first in Portugal in the Industry Collaboration Index (ICI) 2026, by Global Research Partnerships. Globally, it ranks 275th out of 1,038 institutions and, in Europe, 119th out of 388 universities evaluated. The index analyzes collaboration between universities and companies based on joint scientific output and documented research relationships between academic institutions and business groups.
Between 2021 and 2025, ULisboa registered 1,097 scientific publications co-authored with companies, involving 544 business groups. Of these, 187 collaborated with the University on at least two works, and 44 maintained particularly consistent relationships throughout the period. One of the identified strengths is the diversity of partnerships, placing the University in the 89th percentile, complemented by the scale of its business collaboration network, in the 79th percentile.
ULisboa's presence stands out in strategic areas such as climate, environment, and sustainability (99th position out of 373 institutions), the transition to clean energy (136th out of 295), and agriculture and food technology (112th out of 194). In health, collaboration spans the pharmaceutical and therapeutic industry, with 128 identified works, and medical technology and digital health, with 35 works, alongside other domains of biotechnology and life sciences.
Partners with the highest number of joint works include Portuguese companies such as Bial, Hovione, PLUX, Terraprima, and NZYTech, and international groups like AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Novartis, and Johnson & Johnson. Approximately 24% of the works involve organizations based in Portugal, highlighting the University's role in connecting academic research with the national business sector. The identified works cover topics as varied as Huntington's disease, hydrogen production from offshore wind energy, thermal management of hybrid aircraft, and electricity consumption forecasting.
These results align with ULisboa's institutional strategy to enhance innovation, knowledge valorization, and research impact. Collaboration with companies allows for the identification of common challenges, development of joint projects, training of human resources, and bringing scientific output closer to contexts where it can be applied. The index also points to opportunities for intensifying some of these relationships and consolidating long-term collaborations, strengthening the transition of research results to economic and social application.
