Principal Investigator Bruce Tidor
Co-investigators Alicia Raun , Jennifer Dillman Kratochwill , Luis M Barros , Sebastian Michael Pfotenhauer
Project Website http://www.mitportugal.org/
Project Start Date July 2006
Project End Date June 2017
The MIT Portugal Program (MPP) was launched in 2006 by MIT and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology, and Higher Education as a large-scale international collaboration bringing together MIT and leading universities, industry, and government in Portugal. The aim of this partnership is to strengthen Portugal’s knowledge base and international competitiveness through a strategic investment in people, knowledge, and ideas in innovative technology sectors.
MPP has developed PhD and master's programs in four key areas—Bioengineering Systems, Sustainable Energy Systems, Transportation Systems, and Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing. Collaborative research projects involve faculty, students, and industry from both sides of the Atlantic. In general, MPP activities include faculty and students from MIT departments in all five schools at the Institute. MIT faculty regularly contribute to PhD and master's courses in Portugal, either in person or via videoconference. MIT students working with MIT faculty involved in the program, might make research trips to Portugal to enhance collaborative relationships on joint projects and serve as research (and occasionally teaching) assistants. In addition, MPP supports MISTI Portugal, which offers internship opportunities for MIT students to conduct research related to their work at Portuguese companies.
The program has targeted Bioengineering Systems, Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing, Sustainable Energy Systems, and Transportation Systems as key areas for economic development and societal impact.
The MIT Portugal Program is a research platform for cutting-edge concepts in emerging areas of science and technology.
MPP developeds a number of integrative research projects in previously identified new areas of inquiry:(*) Extending life through faster stem-cell development(*) Biomedical Devices(*) Models for the Design and Operation of Integrated Energy Systems Enabling Large Scale Renewables(*) Modeling Mobility and Metabolism for Urban Sustainability(*) Developing Systems for Smart Vehicles
Projects have been undertaken in many subjects, under a multidisciplinary approach. Some respond to medical issues, others to energy and transportation challenges. Some intend to generate new products, others to change public policies. All of them are being conducted in areas with high potential to advance in their fields in the next decades, namely by supporting Portuguese companies to develop new products and services in an international context that facilitates exports.
MIT Portugal research is conducted by outstanding faculty, students and researchers at the universities and laboratories that make up our unique educational consortium, in close collaboration with the companies and institutions affiliated with MIT Portugal Program.