INESC TEC has never received so many applications for the Summer Research Internships. In a record-breaking edition, the Institute once again welcomed undergraduate and master’s students for a month.
More applications, more nationalities, more research topics. INESC TEC’s Summer Research Internships became the gateway for more than 100 young people looking for their first real-world experience in scientific research.
And this year, the keyword was “more”: INESC TEC received a record 323 applications, resulting in 121 participants, in an edition also marked by the highest number of international applicants: students from 31 nationalities expressed an interest in discovering the laboratories of Portugal’s largest engineering research institute.
“Above all, the Summer Research Internships are an opportunity for students to experience research from the inside. For a few weeks, they stop simply learning about science and become part of a team, working on a specific problem, testing ideas and discussing results,” said Sara Brandão, head of INESC TEC’s Research Students Office.
The initiative, which began in 2017 (at the time, within a research group in the field of Telecommunications and Multimedia) has gradually expanded. In 2026, selected undergraduate and master’s students could choose from 80 internship topics across eight INESC TEC research areas: Artificial Intelligence, Bioengineering, Communications, Computer Science and Engineering, Energy Systems, Robotics and Systems Engineering and Management, and Photonics – with the latter introduced as a standalone area among the available options.
The right time to identify talent
And speaking of “options”, the path charted by the initiative in recent years goes beyond the educational value of the experience. Often, young people who arrive for a short-term experience see their connection with INESC TEC extended through future grants, projects and even employment contracts.
For INESC TEC, the programme has grown in scale while also taking on a “strategic dimension”. “It allows us to bring undergraduate and master’s students closer to our teams and build a bridge between academic training and research. The growth in applications and the diversity of students we can attract show the interest in this type of experience. We seek to keep consolidating the programme as a gateway to research and an opportunity to identify and develop talent that may remain connected to INESC TEC in the future,” said Sara Brandão.
The internships concluded with a closing session that put the spotlight on the scientists of the future. The internships took place over a concentrated period from 29 June to 31 July, beginning with a joint welcome session and ending with a final session for all participants.
On the final day, students were challenged to reduce several weeks of work into a very short presentation, explain their main results to a diverse audience and answer questions from the panel.
A human experience
It was at this stage that the Best Internship awards were granted, with no ranking among the selected projects, recognising the quality of the work carried out, thoroughness, progress demonstrated throughout the internship, and the ability to communicate and discuss results.
And then there is the impact, clearly reflected in the feedback collected by INESC TEC at the end of each edition. The students who received said recognition at the final event described their internships as a “human” experience, built through close contact with researchers, and highlighted the knowledge and experience gained from their day-to-day work at INESC TEC as an asset for their future. “This experience allowed me to acquire practical skills, improve my problem-solving abilities and gain greater confidence as a future engineer,” said Maria Mota, one of the students awarded.
Mariana Maia, who was also recognised at the closing event, described it as a “fantastic experience”. “I developed valuable skills in video manipulation and multimedia data processing, while also enjoying the institute’s welcoming and dynamic environment,” said the student.
Rodrigo Badim developed a complete machine learning pipeline, from raw data to concrete results. “I gained a much deeper understanding of what a rigorous and reliable model evaluation involves. It was a great experience, combining bioengineering with machine learning,” he said.
The figures collected by the Institute reflect the experiences described by Maria, Mariana and Rodrigo. In addition to a high overall satisfaction rating (4.4/5), the results above all demonstrate the educational impact of the experience: 94% of participants reported acquiring new knowledge or skills, 92% considered that they had worked on real and relevant problems, and 88% said they had gained a better understanding of how research is carried out.
The experience also appears to contribute to students’ future choices: 96% said they had explored new study or career perspectives, while 90% considered that the work they had carried out could influence their professional path.
With growing demand and increasingly diverse participation, the Summer Research Internships are becoming one of the top opportunities for students to join the INESC TEC research ecosystem.
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