The CMU Portugal Program hosted an Info Session on April 23rd to guide potential candidates to apply to the Open Calls for Mobility Programs “Visiting Students” and “Visiting Faculty & Researchers”, which is open until May 14th.
To date, the CMU Portugal Program has supported 76 Visiting Students and 100 Faculty and Researchers’ visits to Carnegie Mellon University.
João Magalhães, the National Co-director, welcomed the participants to the session, which was moderated by the Program’s Executive Director, Silvia Castro.
João Fumega, CMU Portugal’s Education Officer, gave an overview of both CMU Portugal Mobility initiatives, focusing on the application process and main requirements. Megan Berty, CMU Portugal Associate Director at CMU, spoke next on the CMU requirements and the support available from the Coordination Office in Pittsburgh.
The session also featured insights from André Clérigo, a Master’s graduate in Computer Engineering and Telematics currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the Universidade de Aveiro and conducting research at Instituto de Telecomunicações. André shared his experience as a 2025 Visiting Student, during which he was hosted by Professor Peter Steenkiste in the Computer Science Department. His research focuses on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), specifically developing solutions to improve the safety of Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) within the framework of smart cities.
Christof Torres, Assistant Professor at Técnico and researcher at INESC-ID, also participated as a guest speaker to share his experience as a 2025 Visiting Faculty and Researcher. At CMU he was hosted at the Software and Societal Systems Department and the CyLab, by Professor Nicolas Christin. During his time at CMU, they worked on a research paper on detection and analysis of data obfuscation techniques employed by users within smart contracts deployed on the Ethereum blockchain.
Both guests characterized the application process as simple and efficient. . André highlighted the benefit of connecting early on with other visiting students for advice on accommodation and other logistical details, allowing an easier adaptation at CMU.
When asked to summarize their experience, both guests stressed the impact of the people, beyond scientific outcomes. André continues to collaborate with his supervisor on his thesis while Christof valued the integration with faculty and the exchange of ideas in the labs, highlighting how the university’s resources and support systems positively shaped his experience.
Both guests found that the CMU experience offered more than just scientific outcomes, allowing them to benefit from campus life, sports, and cultural activities.
Finally, to wrap up the session, there was a 15-minute Q&A, which allowed the participants to ask questions to the panelists.
The CMU Portugal online Info Session “How to apply to a CMU Portugal Affiliated Ph.D. Program Scholarship” was held online on April 21st, gathering potential candidates willing to know more about the available 2026 scholarships.
The event gathered potential candidates interested in learning more about the 12 scholarships currently available for the 2026/2027 academic year. These scholarships support cutting-edge research in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) within the scope of the CMU Portugal Program.
The Session was moderated by Mariana Carmo, CMU Portugal’s Communications and Events Manager , who began by introducing CMU Portugal National Co-Director Inês Lynce for the opening remarks.
João Fumega, CMU Portugal’s Education Officer, provided an overview of the program and detailed the main requirements and application guidelines. Megan Berty, CMU Portugal’s Associate Director at CMU, then discussed the research period at CMU, highlighting the support offered by the Pittsburgh coordination office.
The session also featured first-hand insights from Tamás Karácsony, an Affiliated Ph.D. student in the area of Electrical and Computer Engineering at FEUP and researcher at INESC TEC. Tamás who joined the program in the 2021/2022 academic year shared his experience from the initial application process to his research period at CMU in the 2023/2024 academic year.
Tamás’ primary advice was simple: candidates should start the transfer process as early as possible. Some steps – particularly visa applications and finding housing – often take longer than expected, and starting mid‑academic year can make the transfer process even more challenging.
As a reflection on his research period at CMU, he shared that the true value of the experience comes from getting involved with the CMU faculty, connecting with other students, and collaborating across labs or departments. He emphasized that networking is one of the biggest advantages of the whole experience and that the combination of CMU’s immersive research environment and having the co‑supervision of a CMU faculty is what makes the visit more impactful.
The session concluded with a 20-minute Q&A, which provided all participants with the opportunity to clarify their doubts directly with the panelists.
Under this Call, selected candidates will be hosted at a Portuguese University and benefit from a research period of up to 12 months at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Between April and May 2026, the CMU Portugal Program will launch a brand-new series of Talks: “Research Unplugged @CMUPortugal”.
Hosted by National Co-Directors Inês Lynce and João Magalhães, these 30-minute talks feature conversations with faculty and researchers from both sides of the Atlantic. Each session showcases CMU Portugal’s collaborative initiatives, exploring how cutting-edge research addresses emerging challenges and delivers real-world impact.
Sessions will take place on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. (Lisbon) / noon (Pittsburgh) livestreamed on CMU Portugal YouTube.
The Line-up:
29 April: Alexandre Ferreira da Silva (UMinho)
Alexandre Ferreira da Silva is a Professor in the Department of Industrial Electronics at the University of Minho and currently serves as the National Co-Director of the MIT Portugal Program. Under the CMU Portugal Program, he served as the Principal Investigator for the 2022 exploratory research project “PROMETHEUS“. This initiative led to the development of Prometheus-1, a Rubik’s Cube-sized satellite launched to space in January 2025. The satellite was built at the University of Minho in collaboration with Instituto Superior Técnico and Carnegie Mellon University.
13 May: Paulo Dimas (Center for Responsible AI | Halo NeuroAI)
Paulo Dimas is the CEO of theCenter for Responsible AI, one of the world’s leading consortia dedicated to ethical artificial intelligence. This center brings together top startups, research centers, and global partners to develop the next generation of AI products rooted in transparency and accountability. With a career defined by technological entrepreneurship, Paulo previously served as VP of Product Innovation at Unbabel, where he played a key role in building the world’s first Language Operations platform. Today, he is a leading voice in the debate on AI’s impact on society and the economy.
Justine Sherry is an Associate Professor at CMU’s School of Computer Science. Her recent research focuses on new opportunities and challenges arising from the deployment of middleboxes — such as firewalls and proxies — as services offered by clouds and ISPs. Her work has earned her the VMware Systems Research Award and the SIGCOMM doctoral dissertation award, among other honors from Google and the NSF. As a key collaborator in the CMU Portugal Program, Justine has served as a Principal Investigator for exploratory projects and mentored both Dual Degree and Affiliated Ph.D. candidates.
Building on a strategic meeting held in November 2025, PLANAPP, the CMU Portugal Program, and the Carnegie Mellon University Department of Engineering and Public Policy (CMU EPP) hosted a one-day hybrid workshop on March 26th at INESC TEC to bridge the gap between scientific research and public policy.
The event represented another major milestone in the ongoing collaboration between these institutions, focusing on three strategic pillars:
Artificial Intelligence and Public Policy
Clean Energy Technologies and Sustainability Transitions
Critical and Emerging Technologies
Bringing together over 30 participants, from CMU faculty members to PLANAPP experts and key government stakeholders, the workshop was designed to establish detailed, operational agendas that translate technological knowledge into policy implementation and evaluation within Portugal.
Credits: INESC TEC
The delegation from PLANAPP (the Centre for Planning, Evaluation, Strategy and Strategy for Public Policies) was represented onsite by Carolina Nogueira, Gabriel Osório de Barros, Tiago Louro, Elsa Picão, Sofia Carvalho, Carlos Ferreira, and Hugo Moreira. CMU Portugal was represented by Inês Lynce and João Magalhães, co-directors of the CMU Portugal Program, Joe deCarolis, Director of the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at CMU, and Lia Patrício, Scientific Director of the Engineering and Public Policy area at CMU Portugal. The workshop also involved multiple academic experts from both Portuguese universities and CMU, namely Carlos Soares, Ricardo Bessa and José Coelho Rodrigues from FEUP, João Magalhães, CMU Portugal Co-Director from NOVA FCT, Carlos Silva and Yasser Omar from the Instituto Superior Técnico, as well as Ramteen Sioshansi and Afonso Amaral from CMU .
Public administration and government agencies were represented by Manuel Casquiço and Madalena Santos from ADENE, Cláudia Barroso from the Agência para a Reforma Tecnológica do Estado (ARTE), and Maria João Jacinto from the State Secretariat for Science and Innovation (SECI). The inter-ministerial dimension was supported by representatives from various departments within the Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation (MECI), including Bruno Teixeira and José Cardoso from ANI, Daniel Ferreira from DGEPA, and Marta Norton from FCT. Additionally, the Ministry of Economy was represented by Pedro Esteves via DGE, while Carlos Gandarez represented the Ministry of Justice.
Joining online throughout the discussions were Granger Morgan, Baruch Fischhoff, Joseph Calandrino, Sarah Cen and Jon Peha (CMU); Pedro Esteves (DGE); Yasser Omar (Técnico); João Peças Lopes and Alexandra Mendes (FEUP), Patrícia Fortes (Ministério do Ambiente e Energia / LNEG).
The meeting promoted an open dialogue among all participants, both onsite and remotely, to ensure that international research effectively supports evidence-informed policymaking for Portugal’s major national initiatives, such as the Portugal 2030 Strategy and other digital and environmental sectoral policies.
This joint initiative also aligns with the latest phase of Portugal’s partnerships with U.S. universities, which focuses on turning research excellence into tangible societal and economic value.
The morning started with a welcome by João Claro, President of INESC TEC, and José Manuel Mendonça representing the US International Partnerships. This was followed by Inês Lynce, Co-Director of the CMU Portugal Program providing the context and overview of the meetings’ mission.
Carolina Nogueira, Deputy Director at PLANAPP, presented the center’s vision for evidence-informed policymaking, followed by an overview of the Engineering and Public Policy area at CMU, by Joe de Carolis, and at CMU Portugal Program, by Lia Patrício. To set the stage for deeper discussion, faculty members Afonso Amaral, José Coelho Rodrigues, Carlos Santos Silva, and João Magalhães, provided inputs on the three thematic pillars of the collaboration.
The event followed with parallel breakout sessions where experts and government stakeholders discussed specific national challenges and explored opportunities for collaboration in three focus areas.
In Energy and Clean Tech, Patrícia Fortes from LNEG discussed climate neutrality, while Manuel Casquiço of ADENE addressed energy poverty and João Peças Lopes of INESC TEC explored network resilience, complemented by Ramteen Sioshansi’s perspective on U.S. policy design.
In the Artificial Intelligence and Policy Session, Tiago Louro from PLANAPP outlined how the agency is using AI to solve complex public policy issues , while Carlos Soares and João Magalhães provided a diagnosis of AI adoption in the public sector and the concerns related with its large scale usage, alongside André Carreiro (Fraunhofer Portugal) insights on responsible AI implementation. Sarah Cen and Joe Calandrino also shared specific examples of how CMU research can directly inform these policy decisions.
The third breakout session on Emerging Technologies involved presentations from Afonso Amaral and from Sofia Carvalho (PLANAPP), Yasser Omar (Técnico), Jon Peha (CMU and José Rodrigues (INESC TEC). This session enabled the identification of opportunities for international alliances and the analysis of different methodologies for identifying emerging and critical technology areas. This initial presentation set the basis for an open discussion among the group on common ideas to face the emerging technological challenges.
The afternoon focused on action, with participants identifying specific funding instruments and pilot projects to operationalize joint research.
This culminated in a plenary session where groups shared their findings to build a unified strategy for each thematic area.
To wrap up the day, Lia Patrício presented a roadmap for sustained engagement between academia and public administration, ensuring that Portugal’s macro-policies – including the Portugal 2030 Strategy – are based on world-class scientific expertise.
Credits: INESC TEC
Building on the success of the previous two meetings, plans are underway for a follow-up session. This gathering will allow teams from all three areas to share their final conclusions and propose concrete initiatives to put these collaborations into practice.
Read the PLANAPP & CMU Portugal 2025 meeting here.
The CMU Portugal Program and PLANAPP held a joint meeting on November 24th, 2025, to explore new opportunities for collaboration in public policy, technology, and innovation. PLANAPP, Centre for Planning and Evaluation of Public Policies, is Portugal’s state body for public policy analysis and planning agency, responsible for supporting evidence-based policymaking across government sectors.
The collaborative meeting brought together twenty-three experts from Portuguese institutions associated with the CMU Portugal Program, PLANAPP representatives, and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) faculty members, who joined remotely, to discuss shared interests in AI, energy systems, critical technologies, space technologies, and science-based policymaking.
In Lisbon, the gathering took place at INESC-ID headquarters and was led by the Program’s Scientific Director, Lia Patrício, joined by Program Co-Director Inês Lynce, Executive Director Sílvia Castro, and José Manuel Mendonça, coordinator of the mission structure for the partnerships with the US universities. Onsite participants also included Joana Mendonça (Instituto Superior Técnico), Joana Almodovar (INESC TEC), Pedro Sebastião (ISCTE), Vasco Amaral (FCT NOVA) , PLANAPP representatives Pedro Saraiva, Elsa Picão, Carolina Nogueira, Susana Sobral, Tiago Louro, and Henrique Pereira and CMU Portugal coordination office Mariana Carmo and João Fumega.
Remote participants from Portugal included the new Chair of the Mission Structure for Portugal’s international partnerships, José Manuel Mendonça (FEUP | INESC TEC), as well as Rui Baptista (Instituto Superior Técnico), José Coelho Rodrigues (FEUP | INESC TEC), Carlos Henggeler Antunes (Universidade de Coimbra), and Jorge Teixeira (FEUP).
From CMU, participants included the Program’s Associate Director, Megan Berty, CMU Portugal EPP alumnus Afonso Amaral, and faculty and researchers Jon Peha, Granger Morgan, Doron Cohen, Joseph DeCaroli, Baruch Fischhoff, and Ramteen Sioshansi.
Throughout the meeting, participants exchanged insights on current initiatives in energy legislation, community studies, supply chain resilience, digital policy, and public sector innovation.
CMU Portugal presented an overview of the Program’s evolution since 2006, and its research-funded projects, Ph.D. programs, and new initiatives. The CMU Portugal EPP area helped establish Engineering and Public Policy as a new academic field in Portugal, leading to the launch of dual-degree PhD programs at Técnicoand FEUP. It has also enabled unprecedented collaboration with industry, bringing Portuguese universities and CMU together with leading companies in the telecom, energy, and medical sectors.
This is the result of the participation of 35 Portuguese faculty and 18 CMU EPP faculty involved in advising joint CMU-Portugal EPP students and who have participated as visiting researchers and collaborative research projects. The EPP Ph.D. program now registers 21 EPP alumni and 15 in Technological Change and Entrepreneurship (TCE), 47% of them working in industry, 42% in academia and the others in government or nonprofit institutions. Currently, there are 8 Ph.D. candidates enrolled to pursue their Ph.D. in the The
The meeting also offered a broad overview of ongoing research and initiatives at CMU, with faculty from the Engineering and Public Policy department presenting work on energy innovation, critical materials, dark web analysis, satellite technology, and digital transformation. It highlighted Nicolas Christian’s work on measuring dark web activities providing insights for U.S. and EU policymakers, while John Peha discussed satellite technology, spectrum policy, and AI’s role in law enforcement. The Scott Institute for Energy Innovation and Laboratory for Energy and Organizations were introduced as key resources for energy system development and decarbonization efforts. Granger Morgan emphasized the importance of expanding transmission capacity for a sustainable energy future, and Jeremy Mihalik introduced his research on supply chain resilience for critical materials.
PLANAPP Director, Pedro Saraiva, presented the main goals of the agency and highlighted their mission to contribute to better public policy decisions, particularly in areas like climate change and health, where policy impacts can be significant. The organization, which reports directly to the Minister of the Presidency, works across various domains including agriculture, science, and technology, and is organized in multidisciplinary teams rather than traditional departments. They also highlighted their recent work on megatrends analysis and monitoring progress towards the 2030 sustainability agenda.
To conclude the meeting, participants highlighted Portugal’s emerging priorities in AI for public policy, renewable energy, clean technologies, and the blue economy – areas where CMU’s expertise can meaningfully support national strategy. Both teams expressed strong interest in co-supervising Ph.D. students, sharing research topics, and developing practical tools to strengthen public policy implementation.
A key outcome was the decision to advance these collaboration efforts by organizing a joint workshop in March 2026. This event will bring together CMU faculty and Portuguese policymakers to define priority areas for cooperation, with a particular focus on AI, energy, and space technology.
On December 3rd, 2025, the CMU Portugal Program hosted its annual student gathering, in both Lisbon and Pittsburgh. The event brought together the Affiliated and Dual Degree Ph.D. students who were joined at CMU by visitors from the Visiting Faculty & Researchers and Visiting Students programs, for a skills workshop, followed by a networking lunch.
In Lisbon, the event gathered 34 Dual and Affiliated students from Universidade de Aveiro, Universidade de Coimbra, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Universidade do Minho, and Universidade do Porto. It was a great opportunity for Ph.D. candidates from universities across the country to connect and socialize with their fellow colleagues right before the holiday season.
The event started with a coffee and breakfast reception, followed by a brief introduction and welcoming remarks by João Fumega, CMU Portugal’s Education Officer. Students then divided into two groups for two simultaneous workshops by Chaperone.
“Scientific Writing Skills for Researchers”, led by Ana Osório Oliveira , provided participants with key principles for publishing in international scientific journals, focusing on authorship guidelines and writing skills and “Communicating Data to Non-Experts”, led by Gil Costa, covered essential visual communication concepts, such as storytelling, accuracy, color, type and graphical abstracts, also providing software tools and inspiration resources.
Once the workshops wrapped up, the students gathered to exchange insights about their sessions, followed by a networking lunch.
In Pittsburgh, the CMU Portugal office partnered with the Student Academic Success Center to offer a seminar on “Communicating Data to Non-Experts” taught by Dr. Chanara Andrews-Bickers, Assistant Director of Communication Support Programs. The workshop taught principles for creating graphs and tables that non-experts could understand. Students learned to think of their data as a story that needed to capture the audience’s attention, and were introduced to strategies for minimizing distractions to this story so audiences could quickly grasp the main point.
Participants included 14 Dual and Affiliated PhD students in 5 departments (Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering and Public Policy, Machine Learning and Software and Societal Systems); as well as 7 visiting students and visiting faculty and researchers hosted by 4 departments (Computer Science, Engineering and Public Policy, Robotics and Software and Societal Systems).
After the skills seminar, the cohort gathered for CMU Portugal’s annual holiday luncheon. This offered students and visitors an opportunity to network and connect before the Fall semester comes to a close.
The CMU Portugal online Info Session “How to apply for a CMU Portugal Dual Degree Ph.D. Scholarship” was held on October 14th via Zoom, gathering 72 potential candidates to learn more about the call for scholarships for the 2026/2027 academic year.
The Info Session was moderated by Sílvia Castro, CMU Portugal Executive Director, who welcomed the participants and offered a first insight of the Program.
João Fumega, CMU Portugal’s Education Officer, provided an overview of the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program and the Dual Degree Ph.D. scholarships. Following this, Megan Berty, CMU Portugal’s Associate Director at CMU, offered guidance on application requirements and how to prepare a successful submission.
The session continued with the participation of Latifah Almaghrabi, a Dual Ph.D. student in Electrical and Computer Engineering, at Universidade de Aveiro and CMU, in her final year, who not only spoke on her research, but also who shared her journey in the program, starting from her application process and admission, offering useful advice to prospective students.
Latifah offered valuable advice on planning the application process in advance, with the support of advisors or professors, and the transition to study abroad (whether in Pittsburgh or Portugal), highlighting the importance of preparations ahead of time, namely the visa process and the housing. She also emphasized the benefits of using the facilities and resources of the universities, and the networking opportunities with peers, sharing her fulfilling experience in the program.
Finally, to wrap up the session, a 30-minute Q&A allowed the participants to ask questions and clear their doubts with the panelists.
Under this call, 10 Scholarships are currently available for the 2026/2027 academic year in 11 available programs in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The Dual Degree Ph.D. scholarships allow students to spend 3 years in Portugal and 2 years in Pittsburgh, integrated as regular students at Carnegie Mellon University. Upon completion of the Ph.D., the student is awarded two diplomas: one from their selected Portuguese university and one from CMU.
The CMU Portugal program hosted an End of Summer Event on August 20, 2025, bringing together CMU Portugal students who are currently studying in Pittsburgh, including Dual Degree Ph.D. and Affiliated Ph.D. students.
Attending students were from multiple CMU departments, including Computer Science (CS), Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Engineering and Public Policy (EPP), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Mechanical Engineering (MechE), and Software and Societal Systems (S3D).
The event began with a lunch on the CMU campus in Pittsburgh. At lunch, students had the opportunity to enjoy a meal together while discussing summer plans and the upcoming academic year, while also building relationships and networking.
Students pictured: Sofia Ferraz, Rafael Gonçalves, Rodrigo Marques, Pedro Cachim, Pedro Ferreira, José Gomes, Rui Melo & Cláudia Mamede
After lunch the students walked over to the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens where they took a 1 hour guided tour of the garden grounds. Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens encompasses 15 acres including a 14-room glasshouse and 23 distinct gardens. Opened in 1893, the historic landmark is just across from the CMU campus in Schenley Park.
Pictured: Pedro Ferreira, Rafael Gonçalves and Keivan KaboutariPictured: Sofia Ferraz, Rodrigo Marques, Keivan Kaboutari, Rafael Gonçalves and Pedro Ferreira
This was a great way to end the summer and kick off the Fall semester as the Program prepares to welcome 10 new Dual Degree PhD students, four of whom will start their first semester in Pittsburgh.
Later in the Fall semester, the CMU Portugal Program will also welcome 12 visiting students and faculty members, who will be joining the CMU Portugal community in Pittsburgh.
For more information on CMU Portugal initiatives you can sign up for our newsletter, News from the Fence.
On July 9th, the CMU Portugal Program participated once again in the Encontro Ciência Summit, joining forces with the MIT Portugal and UT Austin Portugal programs for the session titled “FCT’s Partnerships with U.S. Universities: Shaping the Future Through Impactful Science.”
Hosted this year at the NOVA SBE campus in Carcavelos between July 9 and 11, the FCT’s Partnerships session welcomed representatives from the Portuguese Government in science and education policy, including the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, and the Secretary of State for Science, Helena Canhão, who delivered the closing remarks and announced José Manuel Mendonça as the chairperson that will lead the mission structure for the governance of the three partnerships.
João Magalhães, National Co-Director of CMU Portugal, welcomed speakers and participants and introduced the first panel discussion, ‘A Successful Journey from the Research Bench to the Market’. The debate reflected on nearly two decades of impactful partnerships with American institutions — collaborations that have bridged the gap between academia and entrepreneurship, contributed to societal progress, and are now shaping the way for a new phase leading up to 2030.
The session was moderated by John Hansman, Co-Director of the MIT Portugal Program, and featured representatives from the three Partnerships.
Representing CMU Portugal, Paulo Dimas, VP of Product Innovation at Unbabel and CEO of the Center for Responsible AI, shared his perspective on the program’s impact alongside Hélder Silva, Head of Aerospace Flight Software at Thales Edisoft Portugal, representing MIT Portugal, and John G. Ekerdt, Professor Emeritus at the Cockrell School of Engineering, UT Austin, representing UT Austin Portugal. Each had the opportunity to share insights on the partnerships’ role in supporting the development of scientific and entrepreneurial projects.
Hélder Silva presented the “AEROS Constellation” project, developed within the scope of the MIT Portugal Program, while John G. Ekerdt highlighted UT Austin’s contributions to scientific advancement through exploratory and large-scale transatlantic collaborations such as uPGRADE and BOB, emphasizing their ongoing commitment to research, training, and mentorship.
In his presentation, Paulo Dimas highlighted CMU Portugal’s role in the founding of Unbabel in 2013 by Vasco Pedro — a graduate of CMU’s Language Technologies Institute and former CMU Portugal post-doctoral fellow. Dimas also recognized the contribution of André Martins, a CMU Portugal alumnus in Language Technologies, who joined Unbabel in 2015 as Head of Research and recently transitioned to VP of AI Research Chief Science Officer, having led Unbabel Research almost since its launch.
Between 2020 and 2022, Unbabel led the CMU Portugal large-scale collaborative project MAIA focused on developing a multilingual conversational platform supported by machine translation and dialogue systems, where AI agents assist human agents. This project inspired the launch of the Center for Responsible AI in 2023, gathering start-ups, research centers, a law firm, and industry leaders to develop AI products leveraged by responsible technologies, principles and regulation. Halo is one of those products using AI “for good”, rehabilitating the communication capacity of patients with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
Following the presentations, the session proceeded with a roundtable discussion focused on the future of the partnerships and their scientific, entrepreneurial, and societal impact.
During the discussion, Paulo Dimas emphasized the importance of educational initiatives such as the CMU Portugal Dual Degree Ph.D. Programs, particularly in their role in developing human capital and retaining talent in Portugal:
“Nowadays, it’s difficult to retain talent in Portugal. Programs like the Dual Degrees and the Large Scale Collaborative Projects are truly effective. In these cases, the level of commitment from the participating institutions is completely different, much higher than in initiatives that don’t directly involve partners from both countries.”
He also highlighted the contributions of CMU Portugal Ph.D. students like Mariana Nunes and Patrick Fernandesto the research carried out at Unbabel, and offered a key piece of advice: “It is crucial to keep investing not only in projects, but also in products — that’s how we create real value.”
Credit: Encontro Ciência
In the second part of the session, Fernando Alexandre, Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation, presented an overview of the next phase of partnerships planned for 2025–2030, including the public announcement of the nomination of José Manuel Mendonça as chairperson to lead the mission structure for the new joint governance of the international partnerships.
According to the Minister, the goal of this new structure is to establish a broader, shared vision across the three partnerships, while expanding their overall ambition. Launched nearly two decades ago, the initiative is now entering a new phase focused on restructuring and reassessing how these collaborations can strengthen Portugal’s position within Europe.
“We need to be more relevant in Europe and rise to the challenges the EU is currently facing. I believe these partnerships will help us make a difference and improve the well-being of Portuguese society ” stated the Minister, adding that the Government is committed to making these partnerships bigger and more ambitious.
Credit: Encontro CiênciaCredit: Encontro Ciência
Helena Canhão (Secretary of State for Science and Innovation), Fernando Alexandre (Minister of Education, Science and Innovation), Madalena Alves (President of FCT) e José Manuel Mendonça Credit: UT Austin Portugal
Throughout the Encontro Ciência 2025 Summit, eight CMU Portugal Ph.D. students were also featured through e-posters showcased in the conference’s virtual gallery.
