The Fulbright grants are a unique opportunity for Portuguese students, researchers and professors to study, teach or carry out research in the United States of America (USA). 6 members of Técnico community are included in the list of Fulbright scholars – 2021/2022 academic year.
Arlindo Oliveira, professor at IST Department of Computer Science and Engineering (DEI), researcher at INESC-ID and president of INESC, was one of the researchers who won a Fulbright grant for PhD Faculty and Researchers, with a duration of 3 months, which will allow the professor to teach and/or undertake a research project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Catarina Belém, Técnico alumna (Information Systems and Computer Engineer) and winner of the latest edition of Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo Award, and José Ferreira, Técnico alumnus (Aerospace Engineering), won a Fulbright Doctoral grant, which enables students to attend, full-time and in person, the first year of a doctoral program at an accredited university in the United States of America. Catarina Belém will pursue a PhD in Computer Science at the University of California-Irvine and José Ferreira will do a PhD in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Southern California.
The Técnico students José Cordeiro and Rafael Cordeiro will receive a Fulbright research grant with the support of FLAD, aimed at master’s students of Portuguese universities who have envisioned to conduct research at a university or research center in the USA. José Cordeiro will explore this opportunity at Harvard University and Rafael Cordeiro at Carnegie Mellon University.
The Técnico researcher Vasco Mendes won a Fulbright research grant at NASA Ames Research Center, where he will work in the development of a numerical tool to compute the radiative heat flux that impinges on the surface of space vehicles during re-entry, based on machine learning techniques and, in particular, using artificial neural networks.
The Fulbright Program for researchers, students, and other professionals is the oldest and most important United States Government sponsored international academic exchange program. The Fulbright Program is active in more than 150 countries and is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State. Instituted by Senator J. William Fulbright, in 1946, the program envisions achieving international understanding and respect between nations and finding solutions to shared international concerns. In Portugal, the Program is administered by the Fulbright Commission.
Since its creation, the Fulbright Program in Portugal has selected more than 1300 Portuguese students and professors, and 750 North Americans in a variety of academic fields.
