Visiting Students Program – Call for Expressions of Interest

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

The Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program (CMU Portugal) through Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa – as host institution “Entidade de Enquadramento” - and with the support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) is announcing a Call for Expressions of Interest under the Visiting Students Program, for visits to Carnegie Mellon University in 2027. This Program is one of the key educational initiatives of the CMU Portugal partnership, under which individuals holding a doctoral degree and affiliated with Portuguese Higher Education Institutions or Research Labs, can spend up to four (4) months working in research, education and innovation at Carnegie Mellon University to experience its culture and best practices.

CMU Portugal will support up to fourteen (14) beneficiaries through the project CMU-P Gestão 2026 under FCT regulations “Subsídio a Atividades de Transferência de Conhecimento e Tecnologia”, pending on funding available by FCT/MCTES through national funds and under the following conditions:

OBJECTIVES | FUNCTIONS

Under the Visiting Students Program, beneficiaries can spend from fourteen (14) days to four (4) months working in research at Carnegie Mellon, being mentored by leading faculty and researchers, while immersed in the University’s culture. This unique opportunity provided by CMU Portugal is designed to encourage and prepare talented master students or master alumni to pursue careers in research under the scope of the research areas of the Program. Through the Visiting Students Program, beneficiaries will have the status of visiting scholars at CMU. More information is available on the CMU Portugal Website.

BINDING LEGISLATION

The current call is open under FCT regulations “Subsídio a Atividades de Transferência de Conhecimento e Tecnologia” (Regulamento nº913/2021 - Diário da República n.º 201/2021, Série II de 2021-10-15, páginas 84 - 92).

DURATION

The duration of the visit period at Carnegie Mellon University is to be FOURTEEN (14) days to FOUR (4) months depending on the proposed and availability of national funds.

The work plan must end before December 31st 2027.

The visit start date should take into consideration the timeline to apply for and receive the required non-immigrant visa, for example the Exchange Visitor Visa (J-1 Scholar) or other foreign scholar status.

MONTHLY AMOUNT

The monthly amount of the internship is 2.500,00€. Apart from the monthly internship stipend, the beneficiaries will also have their health insurance covered up to 800,00€ while at CMU, and will also receive a one-time travel fee of 1.000,00€. The beneficiaries’ rights and duties are fully described in articles 15 and 18 of FCT´s “Subsídio a Atividades de Transferência de Conhecimento e Tecnologia” regulations.

SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION

The activities developed under the Visiting Students Program will be supervised by the CMU Portugal Program Co-Director Inês Lynce, full professor at Técnico - Universidade de Lisboa and CMU Portugal Program Co-Director João Magalhães, full professor at NOVA FCT. The beneficiaries will hold a courtesy appointment at NOVA FCT while the visit is ongoing. The beneficiaries will be also integrated into a Department and/or Research Center at CMU and will have a CMU Faculty host. The supervisors and host institution rights and duties are described in articles 16, 17, 19 and 20 of FCT’s “Subsídio a Atividades de Transferência de Conhecimento e Tecnologia” regulations.

WORKPLACE

NOVA FCT – Campus da Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica

Carnegie Mellon University - 5000 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

Only Portuguese citizens or foreign citizens with permanent residence in Portugal are eligible to participate in the Visiting Students Program. The candidates should be enrolled in a Master’s Program in the area of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) or equivalent in Portugal at the time of the application and during their research period at CMU, or have been awarded a Master degree in ICT in the last 5 years and have permanent residence in Portugal during their research period at CMU. If the candidate has a valid work contract with a company or institution which is expected to coincide with the internship under the Visiting Students Program, then it should request to that entity a declaration in which the company or institution acknowledges the candidate’s application to the Program. The Program requires full-time participation. Preference is given to candidates with a Licenciatura, Bachelor’s or equivalent degree grade of 14 or higher (or equivalent), and professional and/or academic work aligned with the CMU Portugal main research areas. Proficiency in English is required.

The candidate's eligibility to successfully apply for and receive the required non-immigrant visa, for example the Exchange Visitor Visa (J-1 Scholar) or other foreign scholar status, as applicable, may prevent the candidate’s participation in the Visiting Students Program.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The evaluation and selection of the candidates will take place in accordance with articles 11 and 12 of FCT’s “Subsídio a Atividades de Transferência de Conhecimento e Tecnologia” regulations. The evaluation process will be conducted by the evaluation panel on a scale of 0-5 considering the “Quality and depth of the academic work” (30%) namely the academic degree(s) held by the candidate; the “Scientific robustness of the work plan proposed” (30%), which should be aligned with the promotion of activities of knowledge and technology transfer within the framework of the FCT regulations under which the call is open; the “Professional experience of the candidate” (10%), namely work experience in academia, industry or other type of organization; its “Alignment with the main research areas of the CMU Portugal Program” (15%); and the “Relevance of the work developed by the host at CMU in the scope of the CMU Portugal Program” (15%).

Candidates who are currently master's students or have completed a Master's degree in ICT within the last 2 years will receive a bonus of 0,50.

Applications with a final classification of ≤ 3,00 will not be selected for admission. The selection process is expected to take one month after the application deadline, and all the applicants will receive feedback by email.

The final evaluation results will be publicized through an ordered list on the CMU Portugal Program website page “Admissions and scholarships”, and the candidates will be notified of the jury’s decision by email.

EVALUATION PANEL

• Alcides Fonseca, Associate Professor, Faculdade de Ciências – Universidade de Lisboa
• Jorge Grenha Teixeira, Assistant Professor, Faculdade de Engenharia-Universidade do Porto
• Marco Simões, Integrated Researcher, Centro de Informática e Sistemas da Universidade de Coimbra

APPLICATION

The application period will open on September 15th 2026 and close on November 15th 2026.

All applications should be submitted through an online application form available here with personal information, period of visit, work plan, hosting department at CMU and supervisor at CMU.

For further information, please contact the CMU Portugal Program at:

E-mail: apply@cmuportugal.org

Address: NOVA FCT – Campus da Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

The supporting documents listed below must be presented in pdf. form.

Applications without the requested documents may not be considered

Supporting documents presented in another format will not be considered by the evaluation panel.

The following documents should be attached to the online application form:

1. Detailed curriculum vitae
2. Statement of work
3. Declaration of enrolment and declaration of registration in a Portuguese Higher Education Institution Master Program, in the case of candidates who are master students/ Masters degree certificate*, in the case of candidates with a master’s degree awarded in the last 5 years
4. Declaration of acknowledgment of the candidate´s application from the company or institution for candidates who will have a valid work contract at the time of the internship
5. Support statement from the host at Carnegie Mellon University, with explicit agreement to host the participant at Carnegie Mellon University as a visiting research scholar
6. Undergraduate Degree (1st cycle or equivalent) certificate *

* For candidates with degrees granted by foreign higher education institutions, it is mandatory to have the recognition of the degree and the final classification conversion to the Portuguese scale. For more information, please visit https://www.dges.gov.pt/en/pagina/degree-and-diploma-recognition; and https://www.fct.unl.pt/ensino/reconhecimento-de-graus-e-diplomas-estrangeiros.

CONTRACT

A contract between NOVA FCT and the beneficiaries will be celebrated according to the FCT´s “Subsídio a Atividades de Transferência de Conhecimento e Tecnologia” regulations, article 13, 3.

INTERNSHIP REPORT AND SANCTIONS

Until 60 workdays after the successful completion of the research period at CMU, beneficiaries will have to present to CMU Portugal an internship report which details the activities that were developed under the Visiting Students Program, together with assessments from the internship supervisors and host institution in Portugal (in accordance with articles 18 to 20 of FCT’s “Subsídio a Atividades de Transferência de Conhecimento e Tecnologia” regulations). In case the beneficiaries do not fulfil any of the regulations requirements, sanctions may take place according to article 22 of FCT’s “Subsídio a Atividades de Transferência de Conhecimento e Tecnologia” regulations.

NOTIFICATION, PRIOR HEARING, COMPLAINT AND APPEAL DEADLINES

In accordance with FCT’s “Subsídio a Atividades de Transferência de Conhecimento e Tecnologia” regulations (article 11, 9), there will be no hearing of interested parties’ period. From the final decision, a complaint can be filed within 15 working days, or, alternatively, an appeal may be filed within 30 working days, both counted from the respective notification.

Candidates who choose to submit a complaint must address their pronunciation to the FCT Board of Directors with delegated competence. Candidates who choose to submit an appeal must address the same to the FCT Board of Directors.

NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL ACCESS POLICY

NOVA FCT actively promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, so that no candidate can be privileged, benefited, disadvantaged or deprived of any right or exemption from any duty owing, in particular, to ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, economic situation, education, social origin or condition, genetic heritage, reduced working capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological beliefs and trade union membership.

Under the terms of D.L. No. 29/2001, of February 3, a disabled candidate has a preference when in equal classification, which prevails over any other legal preference. Candidates must declare on the application form their respective degree of disability, the type of disability and the means of communication / expression to be used in the selection process, under the terms of the aforementioned diploma.

WHO WE ARE

The NOVA School of Science and Technology (NOVA FCT) is one of the three largest and most prestigious schools of Engineering and Sciences in Portugal. It is located 15 minutes away from Lisbon, is renowned for its excellence in research, for the quality of its courses and for the large employability of its graduates (graduates, masters, doctors).

NOVA FCT, with about 8500 students, it has one of the best university campuses and is distinguished by a culture of excellent teacher-student relationship and an intense academic life with many different cultural and sport activities.

All courses are accredited by the A3ES (Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education) and all Engineering courses are recognized by the Order of Engineers, FEANI (Federation of Professional Engineers that unites national engineering associations from 33 European Higher Education Area (EHEA) countries).

NOVA FCT is structured in 13 Departments and 18 Research Centers, offering more than 100 study cycles (Bachelor, Master and PhD).

Its scientific production, resulting from the publication of a large number of articles in international scientific journals of great demand and quality, gives it wide international recognition (the value of the scientific production index - SciVal Citation Impact - is 1.35, NOVA FCT is 35% above the world average). This performance allows the School to integrate the main technological university networks, such as the CESAER network and to participate in consortiums with international universities.

The participation in 9 COLABs and the 23 ERC Grants obtained by NOVA FCT researchers (the largest concentration of these laboratories and scholarships in Portuguese Universities), demonstrates how the NOVA School of Science and Technology is oriented towards the future and based on vanguard international research.

Where to apply

Website: https://cmuportugal.slideroom.com/#/Login

Requirements

• Research Field: Engineering » Computer engineering
• Education Level: Bachelor Degree or equivalent

Work Location(s)

• Number of offers available: 14
• Company/Institute: NOVA School of Science and Technology
• Country: Portugal

Contact

• City: Caparica
• Website: https://www.fct.unl.pt/
• Street: Campus de Caparica
• Postal Code: 2829-516