CMU Portugal: European partnership expands university’s global presence

By Johnathan Subramanian

Of Carnegie Mellon’s external campuses and partnerships with universities around the world, the university’s Portugal locations may be its least well-known.

Founded in 2006, CMU Portugal is a partnership supported by eight Portuguese universities, several industry partners, and the Portuguese government’s Foundation for Science and Technology. The program has graduated hundreds of students through its dual- degree master’s and Ph.D. programs and continues to update its course offerings and focuses. Although its master’s program is no longer active, its Ph.D. program currently has 35 students and is recruiting more.

A main factor setting CMU Portugal’s Ph.D. program apart is the opportunity for students to earn two degrees, one from Carnegie Mellon and one from a partner university Portugal, while attending both institutions. Students typically spend five years at both institutions, two in Pittsburgh and three in Portugal, although this time may be spent in a different order or nonconsecutively. CMU Portugal is focused on Information and Communication Technologies and works closely with the School of Computer Science, Heinz College, and the Electrical and Computer Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy to contribute to robotics, AI, and machine learning.

While the nature of the partnership has changed, the key to its success has always been its “faculty, partner universities, and students, who bridge the universities together,” said Professor José Moura, a founder and current director of the CMU Portugal program. At its origin, the goal of CMU Portugal was to “build good relations between faculty at Carnegie Mellon and partner universities,” Moura told The Tartan. Later, the goal was to develop the dual-degree program. Now, Moura said, “research is key to cooperation.”

CMU Portugal’s work extends beyond its Ph.D. program, with its visiting scholar and research programs. The visiting scholars program allows faculty, researchers, and certain master’s students to travel to Portugal, advance their work, and learn more about their fields over shorter time periods, often under six months. CMU Portugal’s research program has supported over 80 projects, including one- and three-year initiatives. With these projects, members of both the Carnegie Mellon community and the community of a partner university collaborate, often working alongside a Portuguese company.

Moura envisions CMU Portugal’s innovation aspect becoming a key part of its future identity and hopes to reach a point where the vast majority of the research projects being conducted through the partnership are able to grow into successful companies that continue to help the world even after a project has concluded.

Moura hopes Carnegie Mellon will pursue “creating a nurturing environment for innovation” and “helping students access capital,” building relationships that allow projects to receive consistent financial support after moving beyond the university level. He is also looking forward to the implementation of training programs to teach Ph.D. students how to pitch their ideas for businesses and pursue funding after they graduate.