Fernando Pacheco Torgal

Principal Investigator at C-TAC Research Centre, University of Minho, holding the title of Counsellor (Top 0.5%) from the Portuguese Engineers Association. He authored over 300 publications, with 191 already indexed in Scopus (and by 2029, his retirement year, it will have more than 200 indexed publications). His publications, have garnered nearly 1.1 million views or downloads and by 2029, this figure is expected to soar to almost 2 million.

His Scopus record reflects sustained and rapidly growing scientific impact: over the past five years, his h-index has risen by more than 50%, accompanied by nearly a 100% increase in citations, totaling more than 10,700 cumulative citations and an h-index of 51.

He has been cited by leading scientists with SCI h-indices above 80, in flagship journals such as Nature Reviews Materials (IF = 83), Nature Energy (IF = 67), and Nature Climate Change (IF = 28).

Recognized as a Scopus Highly Cited Scientist (Top 0.5%) in the Stanford University global ranking for seven consecutive years (2019–2025).

His Scopus h-index is estimated to reach 60 by 2029. Scopus citations are expected to reach approximately 15.000, with current metrics showing over 12.000 MR. With a Platinum SCI-h of 230, he stands among the Top 10 Platinum SCI h-index holders globally in the field of construction and building materials. He has a K-index SCI of 219. In the last five years his K-index has increased by more than 150%.

A recipient of the Top Peer Reviewer badge from Web of Science since 2015, he has carried out in-depth evaluations of 1,919 scientific papers—1,695 of them pre-publication (averaging 90 per year) and 224 post-publication.

He serves on the editorial boards of nine international journals. His latest editorial role is with "Case Studies in Construction Materials" (IF=6.2) since the start of 2023, being the only member from Portugal. Over the last decade, he has participated in editorial decisions for 719 papers.

He served as a grant assessor for scientific institutions in 15 countries, UK, US, Netherlands, China, France, Australia, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Spain, Czech Republic, Chile, Saudi Arabia, UA.Emirates, Croatia, Poland and also the EU Commission. Over the past decade, he has reviewed close to 90 research proposals, predominantly for the European Commission.

He acted as a Foreign Expert in the assessment of 41 PhD theses in the last decade. Additionally, he has been an integral part of the Scientific Committees of almost 60 conferences, mostly in Asian countries. Between Jan. 2016 and Dec. 2019, he served as a member of the Advisory Committee of the Green Concrete Research Center at Sungkyunkwan University. Since February 2026, he serves as an Advisory Member of the newly established Centre for Resilience and Sustainability within the Department of Civil Engineering at Kumaraguru College of Technology, India.

In 2017, he made it to the shortlist for a Full Professor position at Uppsala University but he decided not to participate in the final selection process. In 2021 he declined an invitation to become professor in a Saudi University. In 2022 he was invited to become professor and research centre director at a UK university. He declined that invitation. In 2025 he was selected by the University of Minho to serve as the institution’s sole and officially endorsed candidate in the highly competitive application process for the AXA Chair 2026 program.

Lead Editor of 33 international books. Some of these books are available in the libraries of Harvard University, MIT, Stanford University and others. By 2029 he will have edited almost 40 books.

His initial blog attracted one million visitors within its first two years, hailing from nearly one hundred countries. The subsequent blog extended its reach to 160 countries. Analyzing ratios (visitors per million inhabitants per country), Finland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Norway and Austria rank as the top five countries.

World records in the field of civil engineering:

- Highest number of edited Scopus-indexed books

- Highest ratio confirmed revisions/(years since PhD)

- Most cited book in the field of alkali-activated binder-based materials

- Most cited book in the field of recycling construction and demolition wastes

- Most cited book in the field of bio-based construction and building materials

- Researcher in alkali-activated binder-based materials with the highest K-index per year