Portugal - Berkeley Program

The Portugal-Berkeley Program was created in 2025 through a memorandum of understanding between the Foundation for Science and Technology, the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) and the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley).

The main objective of this partnership is to promote academic exchange and scientific collaboration between Portuguese universities and UC Berkeley, while strengthening ties with the Portuguese-American community in California.

The three institutions have established cooperation agreements aimed at benefiting students, researchers and the academic community in both countries.

The FCT and the Center for Portuguese Studies at the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley) have signed a protocol guaranteeing funding of €285,000 (€95,000/year) from the FCT over three years for the implementation of the program.000/year) from the FCT for three years for the implementation of the program, in its support for Studentships, the acquisition of books in Portuguese for UC Berkeley's central library (Doe Library), the financing of university services and visa fees, and support for conferences, colloquia and events at UC Berkeley's Center for Portuguese Studies, dedicated to Portugal and the Portuguese diaspora.

FLAD and the Center for Portuguese Studies at the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley) have signed a new protocol, which aims to hire an Executive Director of the Center to operationalize the program, support the students and researchers involved, and promote the involvement of the different colleges and departments at Berkeley in joining and leveraging the program's opportunities. The protocol provides for funding of $150,000 ($50,000/year) from FLAD and lasts for 3 years, from 2025 to 2027.

The Portugal-Berkeley Program also supports Portuguese students or students of Portuguese descent, through the Pinto-Fialon Fund, by awarding Studentships to pursue a bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree at UC Berkeley. It also awards research Studentships to PhD students who need to do research in Portugal or who have been invited to participate in a conference in Portugal, and to undergraduate students who will participate in the new internship program at the Pedro Nunes Institute, established in cooperation with FLAD/Study in Portugal Network and the University of Coimbra.

The Center for Portuguese Studies at UC Berkeley, part of the Institute for European Studies, is the entity responsible for managing this program, and has an online page with all the information available on the various opportunities of the program and the respective applications.