NOVA Medical School is, for the second consecutive year, the Portuguese medical school with the greatest scientific impact. This finding is revealed in an analysis based on Scopus data (from 2021 to 2025), which reinforces the school’s leadership in scientific impact and ranks the institution 4th nationally in terms of the volume of scientific publications.
With a consistent upward trajectory, NOVA Medical School has, for the second consecutive year, confirmed its leadership in the indicator that measures citations received by publications at the international level (Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI)), rising from 2.79 (in 2024) to 2.84 (in 2025)—an achievement earned by work that is cited, on average, nearly three times more than the global average: the 2,635 publications between 2021 and 2025 resulted in 63,978 citations.
The results obtained over the five-year period analyzed not only highlight the international relevance of NOVA Medical School’s work but also place the medical school of NOVA University ahead of comparable institutions of national renown.
According to the analysis, the impact of research at NOVA Medical School is particularly notable in fields such as Medicine, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Immunology and Microbiology, and Neuroscience.
“Leading in scientific impact means that the research conducted at NOVA Medical School is among the most influential for scientists around the world. It’s not a matter of publishing more, but of publishing science that matters and makes a difference for medicine and for patients,” says Pedro Póvoa, Dean of NOVA Medical School, adding, “We are very pleased with these results, which consolidate NOVA Medical School’s position as a leading institution in biomedical and clinical research, with high-quality scientific output and international recognition.”
“These results reflect the work of our researchers and a consistent commitment to quality and international collaboration. “We don’t look at the number of publications, but at the impact each one makes, and an FWCI nearly three times higher than the global average shows that the science produced at NOVA Medical School is seen, used, and valued by the global scientific community,” says Maria Paula Macedo, Vice-Dean for Research at NOVA Medical School.