MIT Portugal Program

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐈𝐓-𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝟒 📣 In March, with nearly two decades of collaboration under their belts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) signed an agreement that officially launches the program’s next chapter. “In this new phase of the partnership, running from 2025 to 2030, we expect even greater ambition and impact — raising Portuguese science and its capacity to transform the economy and improve our society to even higher levels, while helping to address the challenges we face in areas such as climate change and the oceans, digitalization, and space.”, Fernando Alexandre, Portugal’s Minister for Education, Science, and Innovation, says. Read more at https://lnkd.in/gks_6tVP.

𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐡𝐃 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧-𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥-𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 🤖 As part of his PhD research, André Cardoso is developing a real-time ergonomic assessment framework for collaborative robotic systems that adapts to human characteristics and task constraints. André is exploring the impact of integrating an ergonomic assessment framework in the robot motion planner to optimize the human’s posture in assembly tasks. The trials are being carried out under two conditions: in the first, the robot adapts to the human’s characteristics and task requirements; in the second, the robot delivers parts in a fixed orientation. The goal is to demonstrate that the new ergonomics-driven motion planner effectively reduces physical strain on humans. These experiments are being conducted at the Mobile and Anthropomorphic Robotics Laboratory (MarLab) at the Universidade do Minho, involving the collaboration of the DTx - Digital Transformation CoLAB. The research is supervised by Professors Ana Colim, Estela Bicho, and Ana Cristina Braga, and is part of the I-CATER project (Intelligent Robotic Coworker Assistant for Industrial Tasks with Ergonomics Rationale, ref. PTDC/EEI-ROB/3488/2021), funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT). The outcomes of this research are expected to contribute to the development of more dynamic, adaptive, and resilient human-robot collaboration, thereby enhancing human performance and well-being.

𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍! The MIT Portugal Program is pleased to announce is 2025 call for Seed Grant Proposals from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Principal Investigators from any of the Institute’s schools, departments, laboratories, or centers. 🌎 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬: 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴/𝘕𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺; 𝘌𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺; 𝘈𝘐; 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦; 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 & 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦; 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴: 𝘖𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦; 𝘋𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 and 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 ⌛ 𝟏 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 seed funding at MIT 🗓️ Deadline: 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 Read more about the application process here: https://lnkd.in/dHZQVPCp

𝐀 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐨-𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐃𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐭 ☺️ The transition from academia to the professional world can be quite turbulent, and sometimes all we need is some good advice. That’s why today we’re sharing some insights from our co-director, Doug Hart, to inspire and motivate you for the future ahead!

🚀 BiRDLab at ICARSC 2025! 🤖 We’re proud to share that two of our researchers, Vitor Martins and Diogo Silvino, represented BiRDLab at the 25th IEEE International Conference on Autonomous Robot Systems and Competitions (ICARSC 2025) — one of the leading international conferences in autonomous robotics, held on April 2–3! 🔹Vitor Martins, in collaboration with Sara Cerqueira, Mercedes Balcells-Camps, Elazer Edelman, and Cristina Santos, presented the work: “𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯-𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳: 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘌𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴”, part of the 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 project (partnership Birdlab-Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Bosch Portugal-Terapias Partilhadas), funded by MIT Portugal Program. 🔹Diogo Silvino, together with Joana Figueiredo and Cristina Santos, shared their contribution: “𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯-𝘌𝘹𝘰𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘋𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘙𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨”, part of the 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 project (partnership Birdlab-Bosch Portugal-DTx - Digital Transformation CoLAB), from Connected Manufacturing, co-financed by COMPETE2020. Congratulations to both teams for their inspiring contributions and for proudly showcasing our work in 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧-𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬! #ICARSC2025 #HumanRobotInteraction #ReinforcementLearning #Ergonomics #Exoskeletons #BiRDLab #CMEMS #UMinho

𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰? 🤔 Do you know what causes ocean waves? And how the moon influences them? Jorge Marques Silva, a participant of the 2018 Innovation Workshop, shares his thoughts with you!

𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐡𝐃 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬! 👩🏼🎓 Today we're introducing you to another PhD student! Filipa Corais is conducting her research at the University of Minho, focusing on "The city “walking” to 2050. Braga as a Laboratory for a resilient and sustainable system". What are the main goals of her work? Watch the video for more insights. Find out more about her journey and research at https://lnkd.in/d8K_NdxC.

"𝐂𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚 𝐚̀ 𝐄𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐚" 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐉𝐨𝐚̃𝐨 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐬 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐚 🏫 Native Scientists is a non-profit organisation that connects children and scientists to reduce inequalities and promote quality science education. Last week, our researcher João Medeiros Silva returned to his hometown to share with children the research he has been conducting under the MIT Portugal Program. The students learned more about pH, molecules, pollution and ocean acidification. Most importantly, they discovered that science goes beyond explosions and that anyone can become a scientist. Science will always be more powerful when shared with people around us! 

𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐏𝐡𝐃 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: 𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐄𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 🤖 As part of his PhD research, our student André Cardoso is investigating the correlation between observable human behavior and direct cognitive load measurement metrics. To achieve this, two experimental trials with distinct cognitive load levels have been designed and conducted at the Mobile and Anthropomorphic Robotics Laboratory (MarLab) at the University of Minho. This PhD research is conducted under the scientific supervision of Professors Ana Colim, Estela Bicho, and Ana Cristina Braga within the framework of the Intelligent Robotic Coworker Assistant for Industrial Tasks with Ergonomics Rationale (I-CATER) project (ref. PTDC/EEI-ROB/3488/2021). This project is funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) and developed through the joint efforts of DTx - Digital Transformation CoLAB and Universidade do Minho. The findings of this study will be instrumental in developing a framework for ergonomic assessment in collaborative robotic systems, thereby contributing to advancements in human-robot interaction.

𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋: 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 🐋 𝑻𝒐-𝑫𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕: - Go to the gym - Drink water - Call grandma - 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 🗓️𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟓 🔗 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: https://lnkd.in/dkdJYrMw Okeanos - Institute of Marine Sciences LSTS FEUP +ATLANTIC Escola do Mar dos Açores Fundação Gaspar Frutuoso Marinha Portuguesa - Página Oficial Instituto Superior Técnico Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) Governo dos Açores FLAD - Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento