The Portuguese Paradox: Achieving Superior Performance to Germany’s Top Universities with Minimal Resources

The recent 2025 Shanghai Ranking by subject area reveals striking and unexpected patterns. In several disciplines, Portuguese institutions outperform multiple top German universities. In Civil Engineering, three Portuguese universities surpass the highest-ranked German institutions; in Food Science & Technology, three Portuguese universities again exceed their top German counterparts; and in Textile Science & Engineering, one Portuguese university ranks within the global top 25, while no German institution appears. These examples are not isolated—Portugal surpasses Germany in several other scientific fields as well.

These findings reveal a striking and thought-provoking paradox: Portugal ranks among the European countries investing the least in research—public spending per capita is 600% lower than in Germany, according to EUROSTAT—yet its universities, operating with far fewer financial, infrastructural, and human resources than even Germany’s top institutions, achieve markedly higher efficiency and impact in these fields. How can such exceptional research performance emerge under such severe and enduring resource constraints?

PS - Particularly striking is the performance in Textile Science & Engineering, where the University of Minho, through the work of its research centre 2C2T, has established itself as the leading institution in Europe.

Update after 1 day — The highest interest in this post comes from Hong Kong (31%), Singapore (27%), and Portugal (20%).