Bolsas para Estudantes
Bolsa Fulbright para Investigação
Catarina Vale
Catarina Vale is a pathologist currently pursuing her PhD at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon and the Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine. Her research explores the pathogenesis of fallopian tube and ovarian carcinomas by integrating histopathological assessment with single-cell technologies to better understand how these tumors arise. As a Fulbright Researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital, a primary teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, Catarina will join a division internationally recognized for its contributions to gynecologic pathology. During her time in Boston, she will focus on identifying transcriptomic signatures that may help resolve diagnostic challenges in the field, aiming to translate molecular insights into practical clinical tools. Through the international collaborations and expertise developed during this experience, Catarina is committed to making precise, effective cancer diagnosis more accessible on a global scale.
Universidade de Lisboa
Harvard Medical School
6 months
Marta Tiago
Marta Tiago Holds a degree in Veterinary Medicine and has developed a strong research focus on neglected tropical diseases, particularly host–parasite interactions. Her academic path is guided by a critical issue of our time: controlling infectious diseases within an evolving global landscape shaped by emerging pathogens, shifting disease distributions, and changing patterns of infection. As a Fulbright Visiting Student Researcher, she will collaborate with Prof. Álvaro
Acosta Serrano in the University of Notre Dame to specialize in glycobiology and glycoproteomics of Trypanosoma species. Her work will focus on identifying glycosylated parasite ligands and elucidating the molecular pathways governing glycosylation in host–parasite interactions using advanced mass spectrometry
approaches. Marta is particularly interested in uncovering mechanisms of parasite virulence, while strengthening international collaboration and transferring specialized expertise to her home institution.
Universidade de Lisboa
University of Notre Dame
4.5 months
Bolsa Fulbright para Investigação com o apoio da FLAD
José Morgado
José Morgado is a Master’s student in Biomedical Engineering, specializing in Biomedical Instrumentation, at the University of Coimbra, where he also completed his Bachelor’s degree. He is particularly interested in neuroimaging, brain connectivity, and computational approaches to understanding human cognition and emotion. At present, José is studying how the brain responds to different types of musical stimuli, focusing on the neural networks involved in music perception, reward, and emotion. As a Fulbright Visiting Student Researcher at the Engineering and Computer Science Center at Dartmouth College, José will work under the supervision of Professor Michael Casey on a collaboration between Dartmouth and the University of Coimbra.
This project aims to understand how music-listening brain networks dynamically configure themselves under different emotional conditions, using functional MRI and advanced data analysis methods.
His personal interest in music, together with his interests in neuroscience, AI tools, and biomedical engineering, come together in his work on new, inclusive, human-centered healthcare technologies.
Universidade de Coimbra
Dartmouth College
4 months
Rodrigo Oliveira
Rodrigo Oliveira is a Master’s student in Autonomous Systems Engineering and a researcher at INESC-TEC, working on embedded systems and communication architectures for autonomous industrial machines. Supported by Fulbright and FLAD, he will join Colorado State University under the supervision of Professor Jeremy Daily to research Controller Area Network (CAN) safety. His project will focus on the development of a runtime-configurable CAN router and firewall, capable of filtering, forwarding, and adapting message rules in real time. By improving how safety-critical vehicle networks can be protected and controlled, this work aims to support safer autonomous machines in industrial environments.
Instituto Politécnico do Porto
Colorado State University
4 months
Simão Santos
Simão Santos is a MSc student in Biomaterials and Nanomedicine at the University of Aveiro, holding a BSc in Biotechnology. His research focuses on engineering novel cell-free biomaterials with applications in regenerative medicine, specifically utilizing cell secretomes. Supported by a Fulbright Grant, Simão will join Prof. Kara Spiller’s Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory at Drexel University. During his stay in the U.S., he will investigate the immunomodulatory potential of secretome hydrogels, developed at the University of Aveiro by Prof. Mariana Oliveira’s team. His main tasks will include conducting advanced in vitro immuno-profiling to evaluate how primary human macrophages respond to these materials and utilizing co-culture models to determine if the hydrogels can instruct the immune system to actively promote angiogenesis. This collaboration bridges materials science with immuno-engineering, accelerating the clinical translation of therapies for chronic wounds, like diabetic foot ulcers.
Universidade de Aveiro
Drexel University
4 months
Bolsa Fulbright para Investigação com o apoio da FCT
Ana Rita Luz
Ana Rita Luz is a PhD candidate in Economics at the University of Minho, affiliated with NIPE – Centre for Research in Economics and Management, supported by an FCT doctoral scholarship, and an Invited Assistant Professor of Economics at the same university.
Her research focuses on the Economics of Education, particularly how public policies shape students’ pathways into and through higher education in Portugal. As a Fulbright-FCT Visiting Student Researcher at the University of Michigan’s Marsal Family School of Education, Ana Rita will work under the mentorship of Professor Brian P. McCall to develop a dissertation chapter on student progression after entry in Portuguese higher education: persistence, stopout, dropout, and time-to-degree. With the Fulbright, she will refine the research design, estimate and validate discrete-time competing-risks duration models, present findings in seminars and workshops, and prepare the chapter for journal submission. This research aims to generate rigorous evidence to support more effective and equitable higher education policies in Portugal.
Universidade do Minho
University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
4 months
Carlos Cardoso
Carlos Cardoso is a Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate at the Centre for Mechanical Technology and Automation (TEMA) at the University of Aveiro. His research focuses on computational biomechanics, particularly finite element modeling of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in sports, integrating subject-specific data, material modeling, and impact reconstruction. His work also explores long-term neurological sequelae, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and endocrine dysfunctions, aiming to improve injury prediction and prevention strategies. As a Visiting Student Researcher, Carlos will collaborate with Professor Thomas Kaminski at the Kinesiology and Applied Physiology Department at the University of Delaware (UDEL). Through the Fulbright Program, he aims to advance head injury modeling, combine experimental and real-world soccer data, and contribute to improved clinical understanding and safer sports practices.
Universidade de Aveiro
University of Delaware
9 months
Carol Coelho
Carol Coelho is a third-year PhD Psychology student at the University of Minho, and a collaborator in the Eating Disorders Study Group, coordinated by Dr. Paulo Machado. Her current research focuses on an eating disorder prevention and body acceptance promotion program – the Body Project. In 2023, Carol and her research group implemented the intervention in Portugal for the first time. After three years, over 360 people, aged 13 to 57 years, have participated in Body Project Portugal. The program has improved participants’ eating disorder symptomatology, risk factors, and protective factors. Carol is currently conducting analyses on the effects of age, gender, modality, and minimal versions of the program. During her Fulbright stay, she will work with Dr. Eric Stice, one of the Body Project’s creators, at Stanford University. She will further develop her skills in data analysis and interpretation, contribute to ongoing research in
the Stice Lab, and learn more about scaling evidence-based prevention and treatment programs. Upon returning to Portugal, she will integrate this knowledge into her work and her research group’s work.
Universidade do Minho
Standford University
4 months
Francisca Ribeiro
Francisca Ribeiro is a second-year PhD student in Molecular and Cell Biology at ICBAS-University of Porto. At i3S, she studies gene regulation in human retinal development. Her work in the United States will focus on the molecular mechanisms controlling cone photoreceptor differentiation, cells essential for color vision and visual acuity, with a particular interest in how non-coding regulatory elements influence this process. She will use stem cell–derived retinal organoids, 3D models that recapitulate key features of the developing human retina, to investigate how disruptions in cone development may lead to retinal disease. Under the supervision of Dr. David Cobrinik at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles/University of Southern California, she will apply gene editing and molecular approaches in advanced organoid systems to understand how cone differentiation is regulated, and how its disruption drives disease and points to
potential therapeutic targets.
Universidade do Porto
University of Southern California
9 months
Francisco Branco
Francisco Branco is currently pursuing a PhD in Pharmaceutical Technology at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, where his research focuses on advanced drug delivery systems for cancer therapy. As a Fulbright Visiting Researcher at the Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, under the supervision of Professor Samir Mitragotri, Francisco plans to investigate the immunological behavior of microneedle-based platforms for the local treatment of glioblastoma. In particular, he will focus on macrophage polarization and STING pathway activation to modulate the tumor microenvironment and enhance antitumor immune responses.
Universidade de Coimbra
Harvard University
6 months
Francisco Rodrigues
Francisco Rodrigues is a PhD candidate in Biomedical Science and Engineering at the Escola Superior de Biotecnologia of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa. His research focuses on the application of 3D bioprinting to develop next-generation meniscus implants, employing advanced techniques such as coaxial printing and supercritical CO2 to engineer novel bioinks that mimic the complex characteristics of the native human
meniscus. As a Fulbright Visiting Researcher, Francisco will be at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University, working under the supervision of Professor Sang Jin Lee. During this period, he will leverage the Institute’s advanced 3D multi-material bioprinting systems to integrate his developed bioinks and optimize their simultaneous deposition within a single biofunctional structure. This research aims to advance the treatment of meniscus lesions, while fostering international scientific collaboration with leading experts in the field of regenerative medicine.
Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Wake Forest University
Hugo Fernandes
Hugo Fernandes is a biotechnologist and PhD student at the University of Aveiro whose research focuses on 3D bioprinting, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. He works at the interface of manufacturing technologies and biological systems, developing porous hydrogel-based scaffolds for muscle regeneration and disease models, including cancer and the hematopoietic bone niche. In collaboration with Professor Jason Burdick’s group at the University of Colorado Boulder, he plans to develop a set of methodologies to imbue porous decellularized extracellular matrix hydrogels, with tunable tissue-like viscoelastic features.
Universidade de Aveiro
University of Colorado – Boulder
5 months
José Carlos Pinto
José Carlos Pinto is pursuing a PhD in Medical Biotechnology at COMPASS Research Group, CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials. His research focuses on advancing the design of human living materials by exploring more complex building blocks and new processing technologies. As a Visiting Student Researcher at BioFrontiers Institute – University of Colorado Boulder, under the supervision of Prof. Kristi Anseth, José will investigate intracellular engineering approaches to regulate cellular behavior within human living materials.
Universidade de Aveiro
University of Colorado – Boulder
5 months
José Pedro Fernandes
José Pedro Fernandes Is Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minho, developing sustainable ways to remove pharmaceuticals and pesticides from wastewater using Ultrasonic (US) reactors. His goal is to upgrade current treatment systems to meet strict new water directives, using physical treatments to drastically reduce both processing time and chemical usage. As a Fulbright Visiting Researcher, he will join the DEAM Lab at UNC Charlotte to bridge environmental engineering with artificial intelligence. His core objective is to build a Digital Twin to manage the US reactor in real-time through advanced sensorization. By feeding it experimental and numerical data, José Pedro will train an AI-based Large Language Model (LLM) to constantly monitor, adapt, and control the reactor to ensure every parameter stays fully optimized. He is pursuing this because the water sector currently lacks the Digital Twins necessary to make US systems highly efficient and easily scalable for real-world applications.
Universidade do Minho
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
4 months
Bolsa Fulbright-Schuman
Marta da Rocha Diogo
Marta da Rocha Diogo is a second-year PhD researcher in Law at the EUI. In her PhD, she explores how lawyers and scientists construct and regulate ideas of the brain, mind, and personhood. Marta has been actively engaged in the regulation of neurotechnologies: she contributed to the Human Rights Council’s Report on Neurotechnologies, participated in the drafting of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Neurotechnology, and, during her traineeship at the Council of Europe, worked on the European governance of neurotechnologies. She attended and presented in several conferences in the area. Marta is also a lawyer and has an LLM in Comparative, European and International Law and a master’s in Human Rights.’
European University Institute
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
6 months
Bolsa Fulbright para Mestrado
Mariana Cunha
Mariana Cunha is a Law graduate from Nova School of Law and an incoming Master’s candidate at University of Southern California. Her academic path has been shaped by a strong interest in the intersection of law, technology, and creative expression, with a particular focus on Intellectual Property and the legal challenges emerging from artificial intelligence. Her work explores how legal frameworks can evolve alongside technological innovation while continuing to protect creativity, cultural industries, and equitable access to knowledge. She is especially interested in how smaller economies can position themselves strategically within an increasingly competitive global landscape. As a Fulbright grantee, Mariana will pursue a specialization in Media and Entertainment Law. Through her studies, she hopes to contribute to the development of legal systems that function not only as regulatory structures but also as instruments for inclusion, opportunity, and meaningful participation in the digital age.
Universidade Nova de Lisboa
University of Southern California
1 years
Bolsa Fulbright/ Fundação Carmona e Costa para Mestrado em Belas-Artes-Desenho
Catarina Real
Catarina Real is a visual artist who works at the intersection of artistic practice and theoretical research, primarily through painting, writing, and choreography in long-term collaborative projects that address how we can live better together. She has publicly presented her work at institutions such as the Campo Alegre Municipal Theater, Porto Municipal Gallery, Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso Museum, etc.; independent venues such as Rua do Sol, Campanice, Graciosa, Laboratório das Artes, Sol Pele, etc.; and galleries such as Kubik Gallery, Galeria Ángeles Baños, Galeria Madragoa, No.no Gallery, and Galeria Graça Brandão.
She holds a BA in Visual Arts – Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Porto, an MA in Communication Sciences – Communication and Arts from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Nova University, and will be doing an MFA in Art at the School of Art and Art History at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
Universidade Nova de Lisboa
University of Illinois in Chicago
6 months
Bolsa Fulbright-FLTA, Foreign Language Teaching Assistant
Francisco Limão
Francisco Limão holds a master’s degree in Translation from the University of Lisbon and currently works as a Portuguese teacher for foreign learners. He has taught students of different ages and nationalities and particularly values the unique perspectives they bring to the classroom and the mutual learning they inspire. At Arizona State University, he will teach and assist Portuguese classes, lead conversation groups, prepare learning materials, and act as a cultural ambassador. This opportunity will allow him to further develop his teaching skills while contributing ideas that make learning meaningful and enjoyable. He looks forward to sharing his culture through dialogue and exchange, promoting intercultural understanding and empathy
Universidade de Lisboa
Arizona State University
1 year
Bolsa Fulbright para Doutoramento
Ana Sufrai
Ana Sufrai is an incoming PhD candidate in Slavic Languages and Literatures at Stanford University. Following her teaching experience at the University of Lisbon, she developed an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of literature, cultural studies, and philosophy. Her work involves genre-resistant narratives, theories of the novel, and the centrifugal dynamics of culture. She conducted a year-long research project at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, examining hybridity and spaces of resistance, with a focus on how individual voices are formed, negotiated, and instrumentalized within the contexts of war, empire, and national cultures in 18th-century Ukrainian literature. During her master’s degree, her research expanded into the social sciences, where she carried out an ethnographic study on autobiographical narratives of Russified Ukrainians, exploring how cultural forces shape subjectivity and national identity.
At Stanford, she will integrate literary and philosophical approaches to examine borderlands, diasporic formations, and the mechanisms of cultural soft power across post-Soviet contexts.
Universidade de Lisboa
Standford University
5 years
Francisco Garcia
Francisco Garcia is an incoming graduate student in Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. His re-search interests include early modern political theory, ancient and modern theories of freedom, and the concepts of political virtue and political judgment. Supported by a Fulbright grant, he intends to work on the intersection of political theory and the history of moral and political thought, focusing on the evolution of the idea of political virtue—virtues related to and manifested in civic life—through ancient and modern philosophy. Prior to joining Notre Dame, Francisco worked as an advisor to the Mayor of Lisbon, and translated into Portuguese Thomas Hobbes’s seminal work ‘Leviathan’. He earned a BA from Nova University of Lisbon and a master’s degree from the Catholic University of Portugal.
Universidade Católica Portuguesa
University of Notre Dame
5 years
Bolsa Fulbright para Professores e Investigadores com Doutoramento
Joana Castro
Joana Castro is the founder and executive director of AIMM – Marine Environment Research Association and an integrated researcher at MARE–Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, University of Lisbon. She earned her PhD in Marine Biology from the University of Lisbon and has 25 years’ experience working in marine mammal research, conservation, and environmental education. Her research focuses on the social behavior, ecology, and conservation of cetaceans, particularly small dolphins, as well as whale-watching management, fisheries interactions, and the use of innovative technologies such as UAVs, passive acoustics, and underwater imaging. She has led multiple scientific and conservation projects in Portugal and abroad, conducting research across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, including work in 12 countries. During her Fulbright stay at University of Alaska Southeast, Joana will use drone-based observations to investigate the fine-scale behavior of humpback whales in Southeast Alaska.
Universidade de Lisboa
University of Alaska Southeast
3 3 months
Maria Mendes
Maria Mendes is a Junior Researcher at the Coimbra Chemistry Center (CQC) and the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Coimbra. Her research focuses on nanomedicine and advanced drug delivery systems for glioblastoma, with a particular interest in biohybrid and immune-engineering strategies. As a Visiting Researcher at the Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, she will work in Samir Mitragotri’s laboratory on developing cellular backpack based platforms for localized immunotherapy. The project aims to engineer macrophage-associated delivery systems to modulate the tumor microenvironment and promote immune activation in glioblastoma, while also advancing expertise in cellular engineering and translational nanomedicine.
Universidade de Coimbra
Harvard University
6 months
Bolsa Fulbright para Professores e Investigadores com Doutoramento com o apoio do Camões I.P.
Cristina Filipe
Cristina Filipe is a curator, researcher and writer specialising in Contemporary Jewellery. She holds a PhD in Heritage Studies from the School of Arts of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, completed with the support of a Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) scholarship. She is currently a researcher at CITAR – Research Center for Science and Technology of the Arts at the same university. She was director of the jewellery course at Ar.Co, Lisbon, and has lectured and presented internationally. Filipe is the founder of PIN – Portuguese Association for Contemporary Jewellery and was the general curator of the 1st Lisbon Contemporary Jewellery Biennial, Cold Sweat (2021). She is the author and editor of several books and essays on contemporary jewellery, including Contemporary Jewellery in Portugal: From the 1960s Avant-Garde to the Early 21st Century (2019), published with the support of the Susan Beech
Mid-Career Artist Grant from Art Jewelry Forum (US, 2017). As a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the Museum of Arts and Design (New York), she will develop research on contemporary jewellery, curatorial practices and archival studies.
Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Museum of Arts and Design
3 months