Governance
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.
José Paulo Esperança
Chair of the Board
Representative of FCT
Representative of FCT
Robert A. Peterson
Representative of the University of Texas at Austin
José Manuel Mendonça
Representative of Portuguese Universities
Célia Reis
Representative of the Industrial Advisory Board
António Vidigal
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
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
Rui Oliveira
Co-Director in Portugal
Andreia Passos
Executive Director
in Portugal
in Portugal
John G. Ekerdt
Principal Investigator at UT Austin
Marco Bravo
Co-Principal Investigator and Executive Director at UT Austin
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.
Dan Stanzione
Area Director for Advanced Computing
at UT Austin
at UT Austin
Nuno Castro
Area Director for Advanced Computing
in Portugal
in Portugal
Miguel Avillez
Area Director for Advanced Computing
in Portugal
in Portugal
Carla Silva
Area Director for Nanotechnologies
in Portugal
in Portugal
Paulo Ferreira
Area Director for Nanotechnologies
in Portugal
in Portugal
Brian Korgel
Area Director for Nanotechnologies
at Austin
at Austin
Afzal Suleman
Area Director for Space-Earth Interactions
in Portugal
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
in Portugal
João Claro
Area Director for Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship
in Portugal
in Portugal
Marco Bravo
Area Director for Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship
at UT Austin
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
in Portugal
Marco Bravo
Co-Principal Investigator and Executive Director at UT Austin
Sofia Maciel
Head of Communications
in Portugal
in Portugal
Rita Costa
Design and Multimedia
in Portugal
in Portugal
Sheila Habib
International Relations Officer in Portugal
Vera Pinto
Administrative and Mobility Officer | Monitoring and Reporting in Portugal
Adriana Costa
Communications Officer
in Portugal
in Portugal
Raquel Abreu
Media Advisory
in Portugal
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)
