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Driving Innovation Through Global Collaboration
Mission
To promote and enable the engagement of Portuguese scientists and companies with the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas System at large in multidisciplinary research, technology transfer and commercialization activities.
Vision
To contribute to a knowledge-based society and foster science and innovation-based companies, enabling Portugal to better face the challenges of the future.
A long-term partnership evolving with science, society, and global challenges
Since its creation in 2007, the UT Austin Portugal Program has been a long-term strategic partnership between Portugal and The University of Texas at Austin. Over successive phases, the Program has evolved in scope, ambition, and structure – responding to national priorities, global scientific challenges, and the maturity of the Portuguese research and innovation ecosystem.
Across nearly two decades, the Program has combined research excellence, advanced education, and innovation-driven collaboration, building enduring institutional ties and fostering a generation of researchers, educators, and innovators connected across the Atlantic.
Program
The UT Austin Portugal Program advances knowledge in emerging scientific and technological fields through high-level education, collaborative research, innovation, and commercialization activities.
Established in 2007, the Program is a Science and Technology partnership between the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). It is supported by the Portuguese Government and developed in close collaboration with the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities (CRUP).
Over the years, the partnership has built a collaborative transatlantic ecosystem connecting Portuguese universities, research institutions, laboratories, technology transfer offices, and companies with counterparts in Austin.
Its activities have included collaborative research and education through the Collaboratory for Emerging Technologies (CoLab), as well as entrepreneurship, technology transfer, and new technology-based business initiatives developed through the University-Technology-Enterprise Network (UTEN).
Following a decade of joint projects and institutional capacity building, the Program entered a new phase in 2018, with a renewed commitment extending toward 2030.
This stage reflects a more mature partnership, capable of developing new collaborative models, supporting ideas from research to market, and addressing emerging areas of knowledge with scientific, societal, and economic relevance.
Knowledge Areas
Phase 4 of the UT Austin Portugal Program focuses on four strategic scientific areas where Portugal has established or emerging strengths and where collaboration with The University of Texas at Austin can generate high-impact research, innovation, and talent development.
Three of these areas continue from previous phases of the Program, with renewed challenges and priorities: Advanced Computing, Nanotechnologies, and Space–Earth Technologies. Clean Energy has been added to the Program’s portfolio in Phase 4, reflecting the growing importance of sustainable energy systems and technologies.
Together, these areas cut across the Program’s activities in Research, Education, and Innovation & Business, creating opportunities to connect scientific discovery, advanced skills, and technology-based innovation with societal and economic impact.