The Center for Responsible AI, led by Unbabel, held the Center for Responsible AI Forum ’24 on November 19 at the iconic Casa da Música in Porto. For the first time, the forum brought together AI startups, research centers, and industry leaders to showcase six innovative AI products and discuss the societal impact of artificial intelligence.

The event also saw the announcement of the winners of the first edition of the SPARK Awards, which recognise the best research in Responsible AI by Masters and PhD students. Among the highlights was Cátia Teixeira, the runner-up out of 16 entries with her presentation “Hubris Benchmarking with AmbiGANs”, developed as part of her Master’s thesis in Data Science and Engineering (MECD), in collaboration with Inês Gomes (student of the Doctoral Program in Informatics Engineering (ProDEI)) and Jan van Rijn (Professor at Leiden University).

One of the major limitations of R&D in ML/AI is proper evaluation of models and algorithms. These models are taking an increasingly important role in our society and economy but evaluation still focuses on predictive accuracy, which is well-known to be insufficient. Cátia proposed AmbiGANs, a methodology that generates datasets of ambiguous instances to estimate whether predictive models are overconfident.

The forum also featured presentations by other students from the Department of Informatics Engineering, who explored new methodologies to improve the evaluation of models and algorithms:

Ricardo Inácio (Master in Informatics and Computing Engineering (M.EIC), in progress) with Meta-learning and Data Augmentation for Stress Testing Forecasting Models, presented at Discovery Science;

Inês Gomes (ProDEI student, in progress) with Finding Patterns in Ambiguity: Interpretable Stress Testing in the Decision Boundary, presented at a CVPR workshop;

Luís Roque (ProDEI student, in progress) with RHiOTS: A Framework for Evaluating Hierarchical Time Series Forecasting Algorithms, presented at KDD.

The forum featured keynote speeches from notable figures such as Virginia Dignum (UN AI Advisory Body), Pedro Bizarro (Feedzai), Francisco Pereira (National Institute of Mental Health, USA), André Martins (Unbabel), and Pedro Saleiro (Opnova).

With panels like “AI Regulation – Time to (AI) Act,” the event emphasized the need for ethical and responsible AI usage, ensuring technological advances align with positive societal impact.

Francisca Rocha Gonçalves, a graduate of the Doctoral Program in Digital Media, has seen her project Underwater Ecotones on the podium of the three projects selected for the ‘Bauhaus of the Seas Sails’ artist residencies, an initiative of CAM (Gulbenkian Modern Art Centre) in collaboration with the municipalities of Lisbon and Oeiras.

The ‘Art & Science – A Call to the Sea’ residency, with the Underwater Ecotones project, will be led by Francisca Rocha Gonçalves (PT), in collaboration with Akira Kira, also alumna from the Doctoral Program in Digital Media (PT), Johannes Goessling (DE) and Pedro Frade (PT), and proposes the study of soundscapes, noises and underwater vibrations in direct relation to living species in the Vasco da Gama Aquarium collection. Underwater Ecotones also aims to rethink the museum space, imagining the possibilities and implications of what a museum-aquarium could become in the future.

The three winning collaborative projects ‘have in common the ability to combine art with fields as diverse as science, gastronomy and design, under the banner of sustainability and the relationship with the local marine environment – the estuary, the river and the ocean’. The projects will be developed until the end of December and will culminate in artistic installations that are expected to be open to the public in February 2025.

Francisca’s research work in acoustic ecology focus on the effects of underwater vibrations and particle movement, exploring how anthropogenic noise affects aquatic life. By using sound art and creative technologies, she seeks to raise social and environmental awareness, translating scientific research into accessible artistic expressions. His work offers new perspectives not only for musical compositions, but also for live performances that promote a deeper connection between human beings and the natural world.

Francisca also recently presented at the Boil Festival (Serralves) the installation ± 5,965 Fathoms, developed in collaboration with the digital artist Maotik, which imagines a speculative environment inspired by the depths of the Mariana Trench (located east of the Philippines, it is the deepest place on the planet at 10994 metres). The deep sea exists in a complex of extremes where sound, light and movement are transformed by pressure and isolation. Through immersive soundscapes and visual elements, this AV work invites audiences to experience the unseen world of the deep ocean, where bioluminescence flickers in total darkness and low-frequency vibrations set the tone.

In these depths, light barely penetrates and sound is transformed into strange, reverberating echoes.

The audience was invited to interpret what life and sound might feel like in these extreme environments under immense pressure, where the line between reality and imagination is blurred.

The artist’s portfolio can be viewed on her website.

Carlos Soares, DEI lecturer and researcher in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, took part in a meeting of the Executive Board of Matosinhos City Council on November 6, presenting a seminar entitled ‘AI is dead. Long live AI!’, which served as the basis for a discussion on the opportunities and risks of this technology in the context of public and local administration, but also in society in general.

“Understanding the potential impact of the changes brought by artificial intelligence on the creation of value in organisations and improving the ‘digital IQ’ of the managers involved is the only way to get to grips with the essence of the new concepts of artificial intelligence before they are integrated into processes, allowing governance and management bodies to be more effectively involved in the issues of digital transformation supported by this technology,” says Carlos Soares.

During the session, several questions were raised that allowed the Matosinhos City Council Executive to present the potential, but also the challenges, of applying AI in organisations:

– The current state of AI and the hype surrounding it: recent advances in AI have brought the field into the mainstream media spotlight, alternately heralding a better life for all and the end of the world. The aim is to clarify the difference between hysteria and reality about these advances;

– How LLMs can add value to organisations: the most visible face of progress in AI are Large Language Models (LLM), popularised in systems such as ChatGPT. The aim is to understand what they really are, what value can be gained from using them, but also what their limitations and risks are;

– How to extract value for organisations with other data: LLMs represent a very limited part of the potential of AI, despite their public profile. The aim is to illustrate the potential application of other AI techniques, often with greater potential value than LLMs.

The DEI lecturer adds that “the aim is to present the concepts in a way that is accessible to people who don’t have a technical profile, but at the same time sufficiently in-depth for them to know the general principles of how systems like ChatGPT work”.

Faculty staff and DEI´s Subdirector Ana Cristina Ramada Paiva was recently appointed to integrate the Board of Informatics Europe for a three-year mandate (2025-2027).

The nominating committee of this organisation, whose origins date back to 2005, was unanimous in proposing the name of the DEI’s lecturer for a position on the board, recognizing the importance of her research work in Software Engineering and her willingness to offer her services to the community.

Ana Paiva on her new challenge tells us “ Being part of the IE board means being able to give Portugal a voice in the European context and contribute to the IE mission, that is, to empower and unite the Informatics community in Europe and contribute to the development of Informatics policies for education, research and social impact.”

The origins of Informatics Europe can be traced back to the first European Computer Science Summit (ECSS) held at ETH Zurich in 2005 (later renamed the European Computer Leaders Summit in 2024), which for the first time brought together heads of computer science and informatics departments from all over Europe. Apart from the lectures, panels and workshops, the most important outcome of the summit was the unanimous opinion that European computer scientists urgently needed an organisation with objectives and scope similar to those of the CRA (Computer Research Association) in the USA, extended – in view of the situation in Europe,  to cover both teaching and research. Consequently, the “European University and Research Organisation for Information Technology and Computer Science (EuroTICS)” was created with the aim of becoming the recognised voice of the European computing community, including universities and research centres. The name of the organisation was later changed to ‘Informatics Europe’.

The organisation represents the academic and research community in Informatics (or Computer Science) in Europe. Bringing together university departments, research laboratories and industry, the EI has around 200 member institutions in more than 30 countries, linking more than 50,000 computer science researchers in Europe and beyond. The EI creates a strong voice to promote concerted positions, acting on shared priorities in education, research, knowledge transfer and the social impact of Computer Science.

In Portugal it has the following member institutions: Universidade do Porto (DEI/FEUP), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (NOVA LINCS) and Instituto Politécnico de Leiria (ESTG).

+ info on its projects and services.

The 100 students selected for the Gulbenkian New Talent Scholarship programme are now known. The aim of the programme is to distinguish and support the talent of students with exceptional academic performance and to encourage them to begin research in the areas of basic science: biology, physics, mathematics and chemistry, as well as in any area of the humanities, arts and social sciences.

Among the 100 scholarship holders selected are 18 students from the University of Porto, linked to the areas of Biology, Social Sciences, Physics, Humanities, Mathematics and Chemistry. We find Luís Wolffrom Barbosa on this shortlist, a second year L.EIC student who finished the first year with an average of 19.35 marks.

Luís tells us that what led him to apply was ‘the desire to explore the link between Mathematics and Informatics and to learn more about some of the branches I could choose in the future.’ He was also motivated by the activities and events on offer throughout the programme and the chance to make contact with the other scholarship holders. ‘It’s an honour to be a Gulbenkian scholarship holder and I hope I’m up to the challenge!’ acknowledges the student, who still doesn’t know what path he will follow after finishing his degree but knows that he wants to continue learning and deepening his knowledge and, most importantly, doing what he loves!

The Gulbenkian New Talent Scholarships are aimed at students attending the 2nd, 3rd or 4th year of undergraduate or integrated master’s programmes, or the 1st year of master’s programmes, at Portuguese HEIs, with an average of 16.5 or above at the time of application.

With a value of up to 3,500 euros, the scholarship includes support – totalling 1,000 euros – to ensure that the scholarship holders can continue their studies, namely for the payment of tuition fees and to stimulate research.

The remaining amount – 1,500 euros – is earmarked for ‘talent enrichment activities’, namely: advanced training courses; participation in conferences and summer schools; internships, language courses, the purchase of books and laboratory equipment, among others.

Candidates whose household has an annual per capita income of less than 12,000 euros will also be entitled to complementary social support worth 1,000 euros.

The scholarships also include an immersive talent enrichment programme. The fellows are supported by tutors and a scientific committee, both professors of recognised merit, who, through permanent dialogue, accompany the fellows throughout their research work, developing excellence through contact with excellence.

More than just a grant, the New Talents programme includes scientific retreats, a unique experience that combines scientific activities with cultural and social activities in the special setting of the Gulbenkian Foundation.

Last Saturday, 26th October, the Águeda School of Technology and Management (ESTGA-UA) hosted another edition of MIUP – Inter-University Programming Marathon, an annual event organised by various Portuguese universities for more than two decades.

For 5 hours, several teams with a maximum of 3 members competed in the programming competition, where students had to solve between 9 and 11 different problems using the C, C++, Java and Python 3 programming languages.

The University of Porto participated with 3 teams:

– “TSP – Tiny Silly Problem”, with 1 element from M.EIC (Marco Filipe Gonçalves Vilas Boas), 1 from M.IA (Félix Marcial Alves Martins) and 1 from M:CC, which came 2nd and won the silver medal;

– “Long long main”, with 3 members of L.EIC (Luis Wolffrom Barbosa, Luís Miguel Costa Gonçalves and Sofia Rebelo Sá e Sousa), who came 4th and won the bronze medal;

– “Tasca Debuggers”, with 1 member from PDCC (ex. MEIC), 1 from M:SI and 1 from M:CC, who came 11th.

André Restivo, faculty member at DEI/FEUP, and Pedro Ribeiro, a faculty member at DCC/FCUP, both members of MIUP’s Scientific Committee, trained the 3 teams (the first two with Pedro Ribeiro as co-coach and the third with André Restivo as co-coach).

It was another marathon that, in addition to the competition, was marked by the socialising and exchange of experiences between students and teachers, something that has characterised this event since 2001.

These 3 teams from the University of Porto will represent the institution at the Southwestern Europe Regional Contest (SWERC), which will be held this year from 29 November to 1 December at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon.

On October 26 and 27, BEST Porto held another edition of SciTeCh, this year hosted by the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto.

The science and technology competition, which aims to challenge FEUP and FCUP students by stimulating their critical spirit and creative thinking, took place over two days in two different categories: Team Design and Hackathon.

In the former, the participants have to design and build a functional device as a solution to a problem, in a limited time and with limited materials, that adequately responds to the requirements and tests of a given problem. In the hackathon category, the proposed challenges may include optimising algorithms to improve efficiency, creating user interfaces or applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyse data and automate processes.

In the latter, we found the “Kebab” team, formed by L.EIC students, who came 1^st in a challenge to develop an intelligent algorithm for stock management, focusing on efficiency and optimisation. From the creation of automated order forms to the careful analysis of the data provided, each team had the opportunity to solve this complex challenge in a real-life context.

The other two teams in this category were ‘Infinity’ (made up of students from FEUP and FCUP) and “Marretas” (composed by students from L.EEC (FEUP), L.EIC and M.IA (both FEUP and FCUP)). In the Team Design category, we’d also like to highlight the 2nd place of the “AMTI” team, also made up of L.EIC students.

Congratulations to all!

All the students who took part in the competition will receive 1.5 ECTS credits towards their course, in addition to the prizes and the knowledge acquired during the week prior to the event in pitch, electronics, tools and IT training.