Research on the study of excellence
have been pointing out that superior performance in different domains are related to different factors and these occurs simultaneously. In this context the contextual factors in academic excellence are emphasized particularly, teachers’ role during academic career. The present paper is based in a qualitative study of five excellent engineering students of minho university. Teachers’ role was specifically analysed in the academic development of these students The results shows that affective elements of in the teacherstudent relationship, teaching skills and motivational factors are the most important factors considered by the students in relation with their own performance. Finally, some considerations are presented on the role of the teacher in the promoting students’ potentia
