Governance

  • Governance – Phase IV

Governance Architecture of the UT Austin Portugal Program

The UT Austin Portugal Program operates under a three-layer governance structure in Phase IV, ensuring strategic oversight, program supervision, and operational leadership across Portugal and The University of Texas at Austin.

Governance Model Phase 3

Meet the people and partners who help the Program deliver on its mission according to the best standards.

Governing Board

The Governing Board has overall responsibility and assesses the Program’s activities, reviews the progress achieved, and approves the activities’ report and the future plan of activities. The Board meets face-to-face in Portugal at least once a year.

Constituted by one representative of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), one of The University of Texas at Austin, one representative of Portuguese universities, appointed by FCT, and one representative of the Industrial Advisory Board. FCT Vice-President presides over the Program’s Governing Board.

Madalena Alves

Chair of the Board Representative of FCT

José Manuel Mendonça

Representative of Portuguese Universities

Robert A. Peterson

Representative of the University of Texas at Austin

António Vidigal

Representative of the Industrial Advisory Board

Célia Reis

Representative of the Industrial Advisory Board

External Review Committee

The External Review Committee (ERC) is appointed by FCT and consists of academic peers from internationally recognized institutions who serve the Program in an advisory role. The ERC is an independent body, charged with reviewing the Program’s progress annually, and providing a set of detailed recommendations.

Peter Arzberger

Chair of the Committee Area of Advanced Computing

Oliver Jäkel

Area of Medical Physics

Alfred Ng

Area of Space-Earth Interactions

Marie-Paule Pileni

Area of Nanotechnologies

Board of Directors

Composed of two teams, one in Portugal and one at Austin, the Board of Directors guarantees the overall governance of the Partnership. The directors work collegially to lead the operations of the Program and establish educational and research agendas among the partnering institutions through specific activities.

José Manuel Mendonça

Director in Portugal

John G. Ekerdt

Principal Investigator at UT Austin

Rui Oliveira

Co-Director in Portugal

Marco Bravo

Co-Principal Investigator and Executive Director at UT Austin

Andreia Passos

Executive Director in Portugal

Area Directors

Assigned to each program area, both in Portugal and at UT Austin (with the exception of Medical Physics), the Area Directors assist the Board of Directors in defining and running
the Program’s initiatives from a scientific standpoint to ensure that education, research and innovation activities with the seal of the Program pursue scientific excellence and are in line with relevant scientific agendas. Their expected contribution is a strategic and consulting one, very much focused on the design of initiatives and mobilization of potential beneficiaries and other interested parties.

Area Director for Portugal

Area Director for Austin

Rui Oliveira

Area Director for Advanced Computing in Portugal

Nuno Castro

Area Director for Advanced Computing in Portugal

Miguel Avillez

Area Director for Advanced Computing in Portugal

Dan Stanzione

Area Director for Advanced Computing at UT Austin

Carla Silva

Area Director for Nanotechnologies in Portugal

Paulo Ferreira

Area Director for Nanotechnologies in Portugal

Brian Korgel

Area Director for Nanotechnologies at Austin

Afzal Suleman

Area Director for Space-Earth Interactions in Portugal

Luísa Bastos

Area Director for Space-Earth Interactions in Portugal

Patrick Heimbach

Area Director for Space-Earth Interactions at UT Austin

Maria Filomena Botelho

Area Director for Medical Physics in Portugal

Rui Henrique

Area Director for Medical Physics in Portugal

João Claro

Area Director for Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Portugal

Area Director for Portugal

Area Director for Austin

Dan Stanzione

Area Director for Advanced Computing at UT Austin

Brian Korgel

Area Director for Nanotechnologies at Austin

Patrick Heimbach

Area Director for Space-Earth Interactions at UT Austin

Executive Team

The Board of Directors is assisted by two executive directors – one in Portugal and one at UT Austin – and their respective teams who manage and coordinate the day-to-day activities of the Program; help implement new instruments to address new potential areas of collaboration of strategic interest to the Program; bridge institutional and operational mobilization and coordination of the Program stakeholders, in close contact with multiple higher education institutions, research units, companies, and innovation and entrepreneurship support organizations; communicate to the Program’s community and the public in general of the Program’s initiatives, results, and impact.

Andreia Passos

Executive Director in Portugal

Julia Nelson

Administrative Coordination at UT Austin

Marco Bravo

Co-Principal Investigator and Executive Director at UT Austin

Vera Pinto

Mobility Officer | Monitoring and Reporting in Portugal

Summerlyn Murray

Communications Specialist at UT Austin

Meer Hummal

Communications Officer in Portugal

Industrial Advisory Board

The Program is established in close collaboration with Portuguese industry affiliates who are very important to help close the gap between research and innovation. Currently, the Program is supported by a group of 10 industrial partners who bring guidance and resources to the Program.

Other Organizations

From exchange programs to research calls, UT Austin Portugal collaborates with industrial partners and affiliates. These direct-engagement activities complement the overall raft of the Program’s areas, bridging academia with industry and society. This is a non-exhaustive list of organizations collaborating with the Program since Phase 3:

Advanced Computing
Hospital Professor Doutor Fernando Fonseca, EPE (HFF, EPE)

Nanotechnologies

Centro Hospitalar Cova da Beira (CHCB)
Labfit – Health Products Research and Development Lda (HPRD Lda) 
Instituto de Física dos Materiais (IFIMUP) 
Nanohmics (Nanohm) 

Space-Earth Interactions

Fundação Gaspar Frutuoso, FP (FGF) 
Instituto de Investigação em Vulcanologia e Avaliação de Riscos (IVAR/Uaçores/UAçores) 
Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, I. P. (IPMA) 
ENIGMA VIRTUAL, LDA 
Sociedade Afonso Chaves (SAC) 
TEKEVER Autonomous Systems, Lda (TEK-AS) 
Associação para a Promoção da Investigação em Design e Arte (ESAD IDEA)