In 2025, CMU Portugal will host 12 visiting research scholars from Portuguese Institutions at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) field: 5 faculty & researchers and 7 master’s students & recent master’s graduates. The CMU Portugal’s Mobility initiatives “Visiting Students” and “Visiting Faculty & Researchers” are supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).
The 5 selected candidates under the Visiting Faculty & Researchers Program will have the opportunity to spend up to 2 months engaging in ICT research, education, and innovation. They will collaborate with peers at Carnegie Mellon University, gaining valuable insights into the university’s culture and best practices. The new cohort of 5 scholars is affiliated with the following academic and research institutions: Associação Fraunhofer Portugal Research, CISTER- Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, INESC-ID – Instituto Superior Técnico, INESC-TEC- Universidade do Minho, and Universidade Lusófona.
They will be hosted in 3 CMU Departments: Electrical and Computer Engineering (2), Human-Computer Interaction Institute (1), and Software and Societal Systems (2). With the 2025 cohort, this program will have supported 101 participants from Portuguese universities and research centers.
The CMU Portugal Visiting Students Program will support 7 visits to CMU in 2025. The participants, current Master’s students or recent graduates, will have the opportunity to spend up to 2 months working in research in ICT at CMU, mentored by leading faculty and researchers and fully immersing themselves in Carnegie Mellon’s culture. These selected candidates represent 3 academic Institutions: Instituto Superior Técnico (5), Universidade de Aveiro (1), and Universidade do Porto (1).
They will be hosted in 4 CMU Departments: Robotics Institute (3), Computer Science (2), Psychology (1), and Software and Societal Systems (1). The Visiting Students initiative will have supported 76 students or recent graduates with the 2025 visitors.
2025 Visiting Faculty & Researchers:
- Ana Correia de Barros, Head of Human-Centred Design and Senior Scientist at Fraunhofer Portugal AICOS, hosted at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute by Jodi Forlizzi.
Research Topic: Participatory Speculative Design - Christof Ferreira Torres, Assistant Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico and researcher at INESC-ID, hosted at the Software and Societal Systems department by Nicolas Christin.
Research topic: Automated detection of data obfuscation techniques in Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-based smart contracts - Dushantha Nalin Jayakody, Assistant Professor at Universidade Lusófona, hosted at the Electrical and Computer Engineering department by Jon Peha.
Research topic: Exploring Terahertz Communication and Massive MIMO Integration for Future Terrestrial Wireless Systems - Kai Li, Senior Research Scientist at Research Centre in Real-Time and Embedded Computing Systems (CISTER), hosted at the Electrical and Computer Engineering department by Carlee Joe-Wong.
Research topic: Exploring Resilient Multi-Modal and Multi-Agent Federated Large Language Models in CyberEdge Networks - Manuel Alcino Pereira da Cunha, Associate Professor (with Aggregation) at Universidade do Minho, hosted at the Software and Societal Systems department, by Eunsuk Kang.
Research topic: Formal method for distributed systems, focus on the Alloy formal method.
2025 Visiting Students:
- André Clérigo, Master alum at Universidade de Aveiro, hosted at the Computer Science Department, by Peter Steenkiste.
Research topic:Exploring Emerging Intelligent Transport System Applications Focused on Vulnerable Road Users - Beatriz Matos, Master alum at Universidade do Porto, hosted at the Software and Societal Systems Department, by Mayank Goel.
Research topic: Integration of Machine Learning in oncology research, with a focus on improving the health-related quality of life for Breast Cancer Survivors (BCS).
- Duarte Silva, Master alum at Instituto Superior Técnico, hosted at the Robotics Institute, by Shubham Tulsiani.
Research topic: Depth-Aware Unposed Latent Diffusion (DAULD): generative diffusion models for the synthesis and manipulation of 3D-aware imagery. - João Marafuz Gaspar, Master student at Instituto Superior Técnico, hosted at the Robotics Institute, by Zachary Manchester.
Research topic: Orbit Propagation and Uncertainty Estimation using the Kustaanheimo-Stiefel Transformation. - José João Ferreira, Master student at Instituto Superior Técnico, hosted at the Robotics Institute, by Ruben Martins.
Research topic: Optimization and Analysis of Temporal Logic Specifications in Cyber-Physical Systems. - Lucas Piper, Master alum at Instituto Superior Técnico, hosted at the Psychology Department, by Margaret M. Henderson.
Research topic: The Role of Spectral Constraints in Neurally-Aligned Vision.
- Maria Rita Verdelho, Master alum at Instituto Superior Técnico, hosted at the Robotics Institute, by Artur Dubrawski.
Research topic: Development of AI methods for personalized medicine, with particular focus on survival prediction.