Rui Oliveira assumes co-direction of the UT Austin Portugal Program. José Manuel Mendonça leads the new Mission Structure for international partnerships

The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) has recently appointed the new national leadership teams for the three international partnerships with North American universities. In the case of the UT Austin Portugal Program, Rui Oliveira (Director of INESC TEC and professor at the University of Minho) will act as co-director alongside Rute André, professor at the University of Aveiro and researcher at CICECO. The partnerships with UT Austin, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Carnegie Mellon University have been renewed by the Portuguese Government until 2030 and now include a Mission Structure, coordinated by José Manuel Mendonça, President Emeritus of INESC TEC.

The fourth phase of the FCT’s international partnerships is now underway, following the recent appointment of new national directors. Rui Oliveira, who had already been co-leading the UT Austin Portugal Program since the beginning of its third phase (2018), has now been formally appointed co-director, alongside Rute André. The two national directors will work with the leadership team at UT Austin, composed of John Ekerdt as Principal Investigator, and Marco Bravo and Fernanda Leite as Co-Principal Investigators – a team that has been involved in the partnership for many years.

Alongside the leadership changes, the Program – managed by INESC TEC for more than five years – now includes a new activity area: Energy. As such, this partnership between the FCT and UT Austin will focus on green energy, advanced computing, nanotechnology and Earth–space technologies, strengthening the strategic role in fostering scientific, technological and innovation-driven development, as well as entrepreneurship within the national ecosystem.

The new phase of the partnerships with North American universities, as announced by the Portuguese Government, is supported by a Mission Structure designed to guide, supervise and support the implementation of the partnerships with national public policy priorities, maximising their impact for Portugal. Coordination of this Mission Structure has been assumed by José Manuel Mendonça, President Emeritus of INESC TEC.

For the MIT Portugal Program, coordination will be carried out by João Pedro Barreto, from the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra, and Alexandre Ferreira da Silva, from the University of Minho. Inês Lynce, from Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon and INESC-ID, and João Magalhães, from the Faculty of Science and Technology of Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, will lead the CMU Portugal Program.