Results of Calls for Exploratory Projects from MIT Portugal and CMU Portugal

This week, FCT published the results of the applications for the Calls for Exploratory Projects under the MIT Portugal 2021 and CMU Portugal 2021 Programs. In the MIT Portugal 2021 ProgramCall , which had 22 eligible applications, 8 projects were nominated for funding, for a total investment of €386,795. The CMU Portugal ProgramCall , with 33 eligible applications, ended with 6 projects proposed for funding, for a total investment of €390,580.

The exploratory research projects under the MIT Portugal 2021 Program are aimed at developing products and services with high technological performance, between public and private partners and the entities of the National Scientific and Technological System (SCTN). The approved projects will further research in the following areas: analysis of the environmental and climatic record of Portuguese speleothems; CO2 recycling with plasmas; spatial-temporal data models and algorithms for the earth sciences; ionic liquids and porous structures for CO2 recovery; eutectic systems as sustainable electrolytes for energy storage, biomimetic-inspired hyperloop ocean transport infrastructures, interface engineering for a new generation of lithium-ion batteries, and 3D printing of molecular texture in plastics.

The Exploratory Research projects of the CMU Portugal 2021 Program aim to support teams of researchers from Portuguese institutions, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and corporate partners, to initiate research activities with high potential impact and strategic relevance for the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program (CMU Portugal). The projects will develop research in areas as diverse as: data science applied to healthcare, the creation of satellites (PocketQube), human-robot interaction, traffic supervision for cybercrime investigation, artificial intelligence applied to the design of customizable robotic exoskins, and the detection of injection vulnerabilities in node applications.

The MIT Portugal and CMU Portugal Programs are part of a network of international cooperation programs between Portugal and institutions in various countries under the goPORTUGAL - Global Partnerships in Science and Technology initiative, promoted by FCT. It includes partnerships with other leading universities in the USA, such as UT Austin-Portugal and Harvard Medical School, but also with institutions in other countries, such as Imperial College London and Fraunhofer. Cooperation with international institutions under this initiative makes it possible to enhance the internationalization of scientific and technological research, boosting innovation in research and the mobility of researchers and creating opportunities for the emergence and growth of new science and technology-based companies.