News: News

Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) has announced the preliminary results of the Exploratory Research Projects. Seven new CMU Portugal exploratory projects were selected for funding.

The 2025 call for proposals received 36 submissions, 7 of which were recommended for funding under the scope of the CMU Portugal Program by FCT’s independent panel of evaluators. The research spans five broad areas:  two Neuroscience & brain interfaces projects (Safe RL for neural control and SoftBCI) explore cutting-edge brain-computer interface technologies, while a third examines how neural vision models align with human cognition; Robotics at lunar teleoperation and children’s group engagement; and one AI & software project targets LLM code quality through program analysis and another addresses multimodal alignment in AI-generated medical reports.

The awarded projects will be led by 7 Portuguese academic and research Institutions: FCiências.ID, i3S, INESC-ID, ISR, IST-ID, Universidade de Coimbra, and Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL).

The projects will collaborate with 5 different departments at Carnegie Mellon University: Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Robotics with two projects, and  Psychology, Mechanical Engineering, and Computational Biology, each with one project. 

CMU Portugal is providing through FCT €389,834.05 in support to the Portuguese teams. These projects are scheduled to last 12 months, giving the scientific community an opportunity to identify and explore novel ideas.

The CMU Portugal Program regularly supports the launch of Exploratory Research Projects (ERPs), with the main objective of promoting Portugal’s international competitiveness and innovation capacity in Science and Technology (S&T) in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Since 2017, the Program has launched 6 Calls for Exploratory Projects and funded 42 projects.

In 2026, seven (7) new projects were recommended for funding by the FCT under the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program, including:

• Safe Reinforcement Learning for Closed-Loop Neural Control Using Brain-on-Chip Platforms

Principal Investigator in Portugal: Paulo de Castro Aguiar
Principal Investigator at CMU: Yorie Nakahira
Partner Institutions: i3S, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department (CMU)

• Assessing learning and internal geometry of neural vision models through human data

Principal Investigator in Portugal: Jorge Manuel Almeida
Principal Investigator at CMU: Michael Tarr
Partner Institutions: UCoimbra, Psychology Department (CMU)

• New Space meets Moon Robots: novel multimodal teleoperation interfaces for semi-autonomous lunar exploration rovers

Principal Investigator in Portugal: José Luís Silva
Principal Investigator at CMU: David Wettergreen
Partner Institutions: IST-ID,  Robotics Department (CMU)

• ChildrEngage: Measuring Real-Time Children Group Engagement

Principal Investigator in Portugal:  Ana Isabel Caniço Neto
Principal Investigator at CMU: Reid Simmons
Partner Institutions:  FCiências.ID, IST-ID, Robotics Department (CMU); 

• SoftBCI: Ultra-Soft Neural Probes for long-term Brain Computer-Interface

Principal Investigator in Portugal: Mahmoud Tavakoli
Principal Investigator at CMU: Carmel Majidi
Partner Institutions: ISR-UC, Mechanical Engineering Department (CMU); 

• Quantitative Program Analysis for Improving LLM Code Generation

Principal Investigator in Portugal: José Fragoso Santos
Principal Investigator at CMU: Limin Jia
Partner Institutions: INESC-ID, Instituto de Telecomunicações,  Electrical and Computer Engineering Department (CMU)

• MED-CONGRUENT: Enhancing Multimodal Alignment and Physician Perception in Generative Medical Reports 

Principal Investigator in Portugal: Qiwei Han
Principal Investigator at CMU: Jian Ma
Partner Institutions: UNL, Computational Biology Department (CMU)

More information on FCT website. 

Marta Freitas, CMU Portugal Dual Ph.D. student in Electrical and Computer Engineering, is the first co-author of a paper recently published in the Nature NPJ Flexible Electronics.

The paper titled “Liquid metal nano-gyroid stretchable transparent conductor for ultra-resilient optoelectronics and electroluminescence” describes a newly developed class of stretchable transparent conductor inspired by the nanostructure of dragonfly wings, an innovation that could enable a new generation of flexible and stretchable displays, wearable and foldable screens, electronic skins, soft robots, and energy-harvesting devices. The study was led by Mahmoud Tavakoli, CMU Portugal ‘s Faculty and Marta Freita’ s Ph.D. supervisor . 

Marta Freitas, together with the other co-first author, Pedro Lopes, led the experimental work behind this study, from conceiving and performing the experiments to analyzing the data and contributing to the manuscript. Marta adds “we developed a transparent conductor inspired by the nanostructures found in insect wings, combining exceptional stretchability, durability, and transparency. The technology can withstand strains of up to 1400% and over 100,000 deformation cycles, while remaining low-cost, scalable, and recyclable”. These results open the door to a new generation of ultra-resilient stretchable electronics, with applications ranging from stretchable displays and wearable devices to soft robotics and energy harvesting.“ 

Unlike conventional transparent conductors based on brittle indium tin oxide or fragile silver nanowires, the new material relies on the deformability of liquid metal and a bioinspired nano-gyroid architecture formed through self-assembly — a structure that would be extremely difficult to fabricate using conventional lithographic techniques.

According to Mahmoud Tavakoli, “today’s displays, touchscreens, and solar cells are still fundamentally brittle. Our goal is to create electronics that are soft, resilient, and environmentally sustainable, capable of withstanding bending, stretching, impact, and even punctures without losing functionality.One of the biggest scientific challenges is combining transparency with stretchability”.

The researchers demonstrated several applications using the new material, including stretchable electroluminescent displays, wearable e-textiles, transparent heaters, UV sensors, pressure-sensitive films, and light-emitting soft robotic actuators. One demonstrated concept allows any display to become pressure-sensitive through the addition of a transparent sensing layer, enabling richer human-machine interaction for gaming, music, and interactive interfaces. The work also highlights sustainability aspects. The fabrication process is low-cost, scalable, and compatible with recycling approaches for recovering the liquid-metal-based conductive material.

The research, carried out under the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant “Liquid3D”, was led by Mahmoud Tavakoli, Director of the Soft and Printed Microelectronics Laboratory at the Institute of Systems and Robotics of Universidade de Coimbra (UC), in collaboration with Miguel Morgado from the Department of Physics (UC) and LIBPhys. 

Marta Freitas enrolled in the Dual Ph.D. program in Electrical and Computer Engineering in the  2023/2024 academic year, after pursuing a M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering at Universidade de Coimbra. In 2022, she participated in the “Visiting Students Program”, hosted by the Mechanical Engineering Department. Impressed with her experience, she felt motivated to apply to the Dual Degree Ph.D. Program. 

Currently in her 3rd year, she is at Carnegie Mellon University, since the fall of 2024, integrated in the Soft Machines Lab working alongside Carmel Majidi, a long-time CMU Portugal collaborator. In August 2026, she will return to Universidade de Coimbra, for the last 2 years of the program. 

Her Ph.D. research focuses on developing soft machines with integrated sensors, batteries, and actuators, and aims to create autonomous soft robotic systems capable of sensing, actuation, and energy storage within the same deformable platform, enabling more adaptable and multifunctional devices for applications such as wearable technologies, biomedical devices, and soft robotics.

Other articles featuring this research:

• In the Media: “Components for future robots will be 3D printed” – a project led by CMU researcher
• Mahmoud Tavakoli features in Nature’s “Where I Work”

On May 4th, the official launch ceremony for Portugal’s Agency for Research and Innovation (AI²) took place at Pavilhão do Conhecimento in Lisbon. The new agency is the result of a strategic merger between the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the National Innovation Agency (ANI).

The Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, and the Minister of Economy and of Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, participated in the ceremony, as the new agency will be overseen by the two ministries, to bridge science, innovation and economy. 

Castro de Almeida announced the awarding of the Medal of Scientific Merit to the presidents of the two now-extinct institutions, Madalena Alves (FCT) and António Grilo (ANI), highlighting their contribution to the Portuguese scientific system.

The AI² agency will be led by João Barros, former CMU Portugal National Co-Director and Associate Director of CMU-Africa, who highlighted during the event that the new agency has a crucial role in preparing the country’s scientific and innovation ecosystem for the next decade. 

In his address, he emphasized the need to strengthen ties among research units, universities, and companies, expand the responsible use of artificial intelligence, and boost technology-based entrepreneurship. In this administration, Barros will be supported by Teresa Pinto Correia and Maria Moura Oliveira as Vice‑Presidents, and António Bob Santos and Luís Sarmento as Executive Members.  

CMU Portugal’s current National Co-Directors, Inês Lynce and João Magalhães, attended the ceremony to support their former colleague in this new role and celebrate the mission of the AI² agency.

“João’s appointment as head of AI²  is an outstanding choice for the future of Portuguese innovation. His deep understanding of how universities, research units, and companies intersect perfectly aligns with the mission of this new agency. As CMU Portugal continues to foster high-level research and talent, we look forward to collaborating with AI²  and supporting the new board in this exciting and crucial new chapter.”, stated João Magalhães.

Previous News article

In the  media (in Portuguese): Observador; PT Green; Público; Renascença

Neeta Khanuja, CMU Portugal Dual Ph.D. student, co-wrote the winning paper at the ACM CHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2026), the leading international conference on Human-Computer Interaction, taking place in Barcelona, April 13-17, 2026.

The paper titled “Towards Fluent Interaction with Cyber-Physical Architecture” explores human-robot interaction in architectural-scale, shape-changing environments through two studies: speculative design workshops and a task-based Wizard-of-Oz elicitation study. Workshop findings revealed user desires and critical tensions between proactive automation/user autonomy and personalization/public ownership. The paper proposes grounded solutions for creating collaborative and trusted robotic environments for everyday life.

Neeta  Khanuja enrolled in the CMU Portugal  Dual Degree Ph.D. Program in Human-Computer Interaction in the 2021-2022 academic year, pursuing her doctorate at Instituto Superior Técnico. With her background in computer engineering, media studies and architecture, her research focuses on interaction design. Her work is supervised by Valentina Nisi (Técnico / Interactive Technologies Institute) and Jodi Forlizzi (CMU / Human-Computer Interaction Institute).

For Neeta, this recognition is “a reflection of the learning and shared journey that made the work possible”, not only emphasizing the successful outcome of both teamwork but also a dedicated pursuit of a deeply interesting personal field of study.

Neeta plans to graduate in 2027, looking forward to advancing her research in interaction design, building on this work to explore how emerging technological systems can shape human experiences across diverse contexts and cultures.

Joining Neeta at CHI’ 2026 was Shuhao Ma, a CMU Portugal Affiliated Ph.D. Student in Human-Computer Interaction. He submitted the paper “Revisiting Worker-Centered Design: Tensions, Blind Spots, and Action Spaces” exploring how existing labor dynamics shape design. His work is supervised by Nuno Jardim Nunes (Técnico / Interactive Technologies Institute) and co-supervised by Valentina Nisi and John Zimmerman (CMU).

João Barros, former CMU Portugal national director (2009-2012) and  Associate Director of CMU-Africa, will preside over the Board of Directors of the new Agency for Research and Innovation (AI²). João Barros will be supported by Teresa Pinto Correia and Maria Moura Oliveira as Vice‑Presidents, and António Bob Santos and Luís Sarmento as Executive Members. The Board of Directors takes office on May 1st for a five-year term.

AI² is a new entity that brings together the responsibilities previously assigned to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the National Innovation Agency (ANI). It will enable strategic and coordinated funding of research and innovation throughout the entire project lifecycle, from knowledge produced in universities and research centres to its application in companies. 

João Barros was faculty member of Technische Universitaet München, MIT, Stanford, and Cornell. In Portugal, he was a full professor at FEUP and the founding director of Instituto de Telecomunicações. He co-founded and served as CEO for CMU Portugal startups Streambolico and Veniam (acquired by Nexar in 2022). As a CMU Portugal faculty member, he has advised Ph.D. students in Engineering and Public Policies, Electrical Computer Engineering, and Computer Science.

In the media (in Portuguese): Jornal Económico, Jornal de Negócios, Notícias ao Minuto, Observador, Público. 

 

Other CMU Portugal articles about João Barros:

• CMU Portugal Faculty João Barros named Associate Director of CMU-Africa
• CMU Portugal startup Veniam acquired by Nexar 
• João Barros Chosen for IEEE ComSoc Young Researcher Award
• Interview to João Barros, National Director of the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program

Nova SBE is co‑organizing, with the Digital Data Design Institute (Nova SBE & Harvard) and NOVA Medical School, the Conference  “Future of Universities”, that will take place on April 30th, 2026,  at NOVA SBE (Jerónimo Martins Grand Auditorium), in Carcavelos.

The event brings together leading voices in education, technology, and innovation to explore concrete solutions for the future of higher education. 

Pedro Oliveira, Dean of NOVA SBE and CMU Portugal long-time collaborator as founder and leader of the Patient Innovation project, will preside over the event’s opening session, alongside Karim Lakhani (Harvard Business School) and Cláudia Sarrico (Secretary of State for Higher Education). 

Francisco Veloso, Dean of INSEAD, former CMU Portugal Scientific Director and CMU faculty, will speak on the panel “AI Won’t Wait: How Will Universities Keep Up? (09:50 am- 10:50 am), about the role of AI in education and the talent market.

Pedro Ferreira (Heinz College, CMU) will participate in the panel “The Campus as a Living Lab: Learning by Doing, Testing, and Failing” (11:20 am – 12:10 pm) about universities as real-world laboratories, and Manuela Veloso (Professor Emeritus of School of Computer Science, CMU) in the panel “From Degrees to Lifelong Platforms” (12:10 pm to 1:10 pm), about universities as lifelong learning ecosystems and AI-assisted development.

More information about the event, line-up and registration, is available here.

From April 16th to  May 14th, 2026, applications are open for the 2026 CMU Portugal Mobility Initiatives: Visiting Faculty & Researchers and Visiting Students. 

Launched under the scope of the CMU Portugal Program, and supported by  the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), both initiatives fund research visits to Carnegie Mellon University  (CMU) in Pittsburgh. All visits must be completed by December 31st, 2026.

Visiting Faculty & Researchers Program 

The CMU Portugal Visiting Faculty & Researchers Program will support up to 8 grantees to spend between 2 weeks and 2 months collaborating in research, education, and innovation in ICT with peers at Carnegie Mellon University to experience its culture and best practices. Candidates must be Portuguese citizens or foreign citizens with permanent residence in Portugal who hold a doctoral degree by the time of the application and are affiliated with a Portuguese Higher Education Institution or a Research lab. 

The Visiting Faculty and Researchers Initiative builds on the success of the Faculty Exchange Program, launched in 2007. Up until 2025, CMU Portugal has supported 100 visits to CMU.

More information about this initiative at: Visiting Faculty & Researchers.

Visiting Students Program 

The CMU Portugal Visiting Students Program will support up to 12 master’s students or masters who have been awarded a degree in the last 5 years in Portugal and in ICT-related areas to spend between 2 weeks and 2 months working in research in ICT at CMU. While at CMU, candidates will be mentored by leading faculty and researchers and have the opportunity to be immersed in Carnegie Mellon’s culture. Visiting Students must be Portuguese citizens or foreign citizens with permanent residence in Portugal.

The Visiting Students Initiative builds on the success of the Undergraduate Internship Program initiated in 2014 and up until 2025, supporting 76 student visits to CMU.

More information is available at: Visiting Students. 

To apply to these initiatives, visit the Admissions and Scholarships page. If you have further questions about these initiatives, please get in touch with us at apply@cmuportugal.org

There will be an online info session about the application process on April 23rd (3 pm, Lisbon | 10 am, Pittsburgh). Register here.

The CMU Portugal Program announces the launch of its 6th Call for Affiliated Ph.D. Programs, accepting applications from April 14th to May 12th, 2026, for up to 12 Ph.D. scholarships for the 2026/2027 academic year.

Selected candidates will be enrolled at a Portuguese university and will benefit from a research period at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh of up to 12 months to conduct research at the American university, and with co-supervision from a Portuguese and a CMU Faculty member. One of the main goals of the Affiliated Ph.D. Programs is the strengthening of the collaboration between higher education institutions and Portuguese companies, with nearly 50% of the students in this initiative actively developing their Ph.D. together with industry. 

The 12 Ph.D. scholarships will support research in cutting-edge areas of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), within the following CMU Portugal selected areas, including two new areas introduced this year:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cognitive Neuroscience (new)
• Computer Science
• Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Engineering and Public Policy
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Language Technologies
• Machine Learning
• Materials Science and Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Neural Computation (new)
• Robotics
• Societal Computing
• Software Engineering

The Ph.D. scholarships are awarded on a competitive basis and provide full coverage of tuition fees, as well as a monthly stipend for up to four years. This support includes funding for a research period of up to 12 months at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Upon successful completion of the Ph.D., candidates will be awarded a doctoral degree by the Portuguese academic institution.

The admissions period will run from April 14th (00:00 Lisbon) to May 12th (11:59 p.m., Lisbon). To apply, please visit the Admissions and Scholarship webpage on our website.

On April 21st (3 p.m. Portugal / 10 a.m. Pittsburgh), the CMU Portugal Coordination Office will hold an Info Session to clarify all doubts about this call for applications.

Since its launch in 2021, the Affiliated Ph.D. initiative has admitted a total of 60 students, and in late 2025, it hit a significant milestone: the graduation of its first student, John Mendonça (Instituto Superior Técnico), in the area of Language Technologies.

For more information about the application process, please visit the Affiliated Ph.D. Program page on our website and the FAQs Page.

Irene Fonseca, the Director of the Center for Nonlinear Analysis at Carnegie Mellon, was announced as the latest recipient of the distinction awarded by Universidade de Lisboa, highlighting her influential role in the international mathematical community and her enduring contributions to research, education, and scientific collaboration.

Irene Fonseca has made significant and long‑standing contributions to the CMU Portugal Program, where she coordinated the Applied Mathematics dual‑degree doctoral program, supervised numerous doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers, and served as principal investigator of the research math project “Thin Structures, Homogenization and Multi‑Phase Problems”,  in 2013-2014. 

In 2018, she was named the inaugural Kavčić‑Moura University Professor of Mathematics, one of Carnegie Mellon’s highest academic honors. In 2024, she was appointed Vice‑President of the American Mathematical Society for the 2025–2027 term. Professor Fonseca is also a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and of the European Academy of Sciences.

Her scientific achievements have been recognized at the national level as well. She was knighted in Portugal’s Military Order of St. James (Grande Oficial da Ordem Militar de Santiago da Espada) by then-President Jorge Sampaio, in 1997.

In 2024, she was featured on Forbes Portugal’s list of the Most Powerful  Women in Business, alongside fellow Carnegie Mellon faculty member and scientist Manuela Veloso.

In the media:  Expresso (in Portuguese).

The award ceremony will take place on May 6th, at 5:30 p.m. at Universidade de Lisboa’s Rectory. More information here (in Portuguese).

Updated in April 2026.