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FCT Announces New National Directors for Portugal’s International Partnerships with U.S. Universities

The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) has announced the appointment of new national directors for Portugal’s three international partnerships with U.S. universities MIT, UT Austin Portugal and Carnegie Mellon – recently renewed until 2030.

For the UT Austin Portugal Program, Maria Rute Ferreira André (CICECO, University of Aveiro) joins Rui Oliveira (University of Minho, INESC TEC) at the helm of this transnational scientific enterprise. Their leadership marks the beginning of the next phase of the Partnership, reinforcing its strategic role in advancing Portugal’s capacity in research, technology, innovation and deep-tech entrepreneurship. The two National Directors will work with the Program’s Leadership at UT, represented by John Ekerdt (Principal Investigator) and Marco Bravo and Fernanda Leite, both acting as Co-Principal Investigators.

From left to right: José Manuel Mendonça, Rui Oliveira, Rute André and João Barreto during UT Austin Portugal’s colloquium on energy grid resilience

FCT also confirmed the new leadership teams for the other two partnerships: João Pedro Barreto (University of Coimbra) and Alexandre Ferreira da Silva (University of Minho) at MIT Portugal; and Inês Lynce (Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon) and João Magalhães (NOVA School of Science and Technology) at CMU Portugal.

A significant development in this announcement is the appointment of José Manuel Mendonça, INESC TEC’s former Chairman and Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, as Chair of the new Mission Structure overseeing all three transatlantic partnerships. This role strengthens coordination across the programs and reflects the national ambition to further expand Portugal’s global scientific and technological presence.

According to FCT, these partnerships remain central to the internationalization of Portuguese higher education and research, enabling advanced training, collaborative research, mobility opportunities, and the development of innovation-driven projects with global impact.

Official Sources

Related News: 

  • Rui Oliveira é o novo codiretor do Programa UT Austin Portugal, Portal da UMinho
  • Membro do CICECO na nova liderança nacional das parcerias com universidades, Notícias CICECO