Research at UAb
Open, Innovative, Sustainable,
Recognized and Valued Worldwide
UAb, as the single public Distance Education university in Portugal, develops cutting-edge research in distance education, in strong articulation with the pedagogical offer of UAb, in its various scientific fields, based on solid institutional cooperation. Its RESEARCH POLICY (in Portuguese) is based on transparency, credibility, ethics, openness and innovation.
Objectives of UAb’s RESEARCH POLICY:
- Attract and value the best researchers;
- Valuing the UAb researcher;
- Promote the internationalization of research;
- Stimulating and valuing research activities in articulation with teaching;
- Promote greater articulation between the Research Units and UAb;
- Increase the visibility of research developed at UAb;
- Strengthen ethical principles and transparency in research;
- Promote the monitoring of the quantity and quality of research;
- Promote open and transparent research practices;
- Consolidate the transparency of knowledge anchored in the investigation carried out.
In the context of the Internal Quality Assurance System, UAb has a Research and Development Assessment and Improvement Committee (CAMID) whose competences are directly linked to compliance, monitoring and review of UAb’s research policy.
Within the scope of the principles of ethics in research, UAb has a Code of Ethics (in Portuguese) and an Ethics Committee (in Portuguese), to which opinions regarding research activities must be submitted, in accordance with the respective Regulations (in Portuguese). According to Article 3, No. 5, of the Ethics Committee Regulations, questions and requests for opinions from members of the UAb community for analysis by the Ethics Committee must be addressed to the Rector and sent to the Rector’s office email (reitoria@uab.pt).
SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION
An important part of the commitment to Research is the dissemination of the knowledge generated, namely through publication in UAb’s institutional repository, the REPOSITÓRIO ABERTO. As part of its academic and scientific production, almost 3,000 publications by UAb researchers are also referenced in the ISI Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases.
UAb, in line with its mission of open and networked education in the digital society and the promotion of open science, has an Open Access Policy regarding the scientific output of all collaborators, teachers and researchers. All information about Open Science and its publication can be found here.
RESEARCH WITH VALUE
Universidade Aberta (in Portuguese) is among the 16 Portuguese Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that best meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to the 2025 Times Higher Education Impact ranking, published in June 2025.
According to the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Ranking 2025, UAb registered an improvement of approximately 3% in its overall score compared to the previous year, rising from 61.6 to 63.6 (out of 100).
As in 2024, UAb participated in six SDGs:
- SDG 4 – Quality Education,
- SDG 5 – Gender Equality,
- SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation,
- SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth,
- SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities,
- SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals.
Of particular note is the performance in SDG 5 – Gender Equality, with UAb positioned among the 101–200 best institutions (out of a total of 1559 institutions), and in SDG 4 – Quality Education, with a ranking between positions 401–600 (out of 1975 institutions).
Regarding the metrics with the greatest growth compared to 2024, the results of the 2 metrics in SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals stand out, namely:
- The metric “Partnerships to Support Goals”, with a score of 94.4/100;
- The metric “Education for the SDGs”, with a score of 91.7/100.
The improvement in UAb’s overall score demonstrates its continued commitment to promoting Sustainable Development in its multiple dimensions, reinforcing the institution’s role as an active agent in social, environmental, and economic transformation.
