The Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) is opening applications for up to 12 Dual Degree Ph.D. scholarships. Available for the 2027/2028 academic year, the funding supports research across cutting-edge fields in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).
Through the Dual Degree Ph.D. scholarships, students spend three years in Portugal and two years in Pittsburgh, enrolled as regular Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) students. After successfully completing the doctorate, graduates earn two diplomas, one from the selected Portuguese university and one from CMU.
The two-year period at CMU is one of the Program’s most distinctive features, allowing students to immerse themselves in CMU’s scientific community and be part of the ecosystem of one of the most prestigious Universities in ICT.
Applications must be submitted online directly at CMU. Specific application phases for each one of the eleven available Ph.D. programs are the following:
- Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences – September 23rd 2026 to December 1st 2026 (11:59 p.m., EST)
- Cognitive Neuroscience (PCN)
- Neural Computation (PNC)
- School of Computer Science – September 23rd 2026 to December 9th 2026 (03:00 p.m., EST):
- Computer Science (CS)
- Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
- Language Technologies (LTI)
- Machine Learning (ML)
- Robotics
- Societal Computing (SC)
- Software Engineering (SE)
- College of Engineering:
- Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) – October 1st to December 15th (11:59 p.m., EST)
- Engineering and Public Policy (EPP) October 15th 2026 to December 15th 2026 (11:59 p.m., EST)
All Ph.D. courses are conducted in English, both in Portugal and at CMU.
On October 14th (4 p.m. Portugal / 11 a.m. Pittsburgh) the CMU Portugal Coordination Office will hold an online Info Session to clarify all doubts about this call for applications.
Since its launch in 2006, the CMU Portugal Program has awarded 184 Dual Degree Ph.D. scholarships, and 104 students have successfully completed their doctorates.
Luís Gomes, who recently concluded his Ph.D. in Software Engineering highlighted “The Dual-PhD pushed me to grow faster, connect with leading experts, and pursue research with real impact. It broadened my perspective, challenged how I think, and opened doors I never imagined.”
The success of the Program is demonstrated by our alumni network. Many alumni are working in renowned companies in the US within their respective fields, such as IBM, Apple, Google, Meta, Amazon, as well as top-tier universities such as Carnegie Mellon University, University of California Berkeley or John Hopkins University. In Portugal many are working in leading Portuguese ICT-related companies such as Feedzai, Unbabel, and Cloudflare. In other European countries, some hold positions in institutions such as ETH Zürich, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Eindhoven University, as well as in companies like Google, Huawei, Amazon, and the European Commission.
For additional information about our Ph.D. programs and application process please visit our Admissions and Scholarships page.
