Category Archives: News

YACC reaches the final of the Bosch Future Mobility Challenge 2026 and achieves the best result among the debutant teams

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The team “YACC – Yet Another Careless Car” achieved an excellent result in the final stage of the Bosch Future Mobility Challenge 2026, securing a place among the 8 finalist teams and finishing the competition in 6th place overall.

The team from the Department of Informatics Engineering (DEI) at FEUP also stood out as the best among all the newcomer teams in the 2026 edition. With this result, the team was awarded ownership of the vehicle used in the competition and a wildcard entry for direct participation in the next edition of the challenge.

The YACC team, the only Portuguese representative in the final stage of the competition, was composed of students from the Bachelor’s Degree in Informatics and Computing Engineering (L.EIC): Joana Azevedo Louro, Leonor Silva Bidarra, Luís Miguel Costa Gonçalves, Luís Miguel Rosa Santos, and Luís Wolffrom Barbosa, under the mentorship of Professor Bruno Lima. The initiative also benefited from the involvement of Professor Ricardo Cruz, who has been supporting the development of DEI activities in the field of autonomous vehicles.

The Bosch Future Mobility Challenge is an international technical competition promoted by the Bosch Engineering Center Cluj-Napoca, in Romania, which challenges university teams to develop autonomous driving and connectivity algorithms using 1:10 scale vehicles. During the final stage, teams test their solutions in scenarios that simulate a smart city, including autonomous driving, navigation at intersections, traffic sign interpretation, and interaction with other vehicles and pedestrians.

The 2026 edition was considered by the organizers to be the most competitive ever. Out of 141 applicant teams, only 22 reached the final stage, making YACC’s journey even more remarkable in a highly demanding international technical and scientific environment.

By achieving this result, YACC reinforces the presence of FEUP and DEI in one of the most prestigious international competitions in the field of autonomous driving and intelligent systems.
More information about the team’s journey can be followed on their Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/yaccbfmc/

DEI Talks | “The 2025 Turing Award: Secret Key Sharing Using Quantum Mechanics” by Prof. Sagar Pratapsi (DEI/FEUP)

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The talk entitled “The 2025 Turing Award: Secret Key Sharing Using Quantum Mechanics” will take place on June 3rd at 14:30, in room B022 .

About the Talk:

The 2025 Turing Award was awarded this year to Charles H. Bennett and Gilles Brassard for their work in quantum cryptography. In their 1984 paper, they introduced the famous BB84 protocol, showing how two parties can securely share a cryptographic key. The security of this protocol is guaranteed by the laws of quantum physics themselves.
In this talk, the speaker will explain this protocol and its significance. No advanced knowledge of quantum mechanics is required.

About the Speaker:

Sagar Silva Pratapsi is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Informatics Engineering (DEI) at FEUP. His research focuses on quantum computing and quantum information, particularly on the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics, quantum system control, and related algorithms.
He completed his PhD at Instituto Superior Técnico in 2024 and served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Coimbra until 2026, where he taught courses in quantum computing and quantum information. He was also a visiting research student at the University of California, Berkeley in 2024, funded by the Luso-American Development Foundation, and a visiting student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 2023, supported by a doctoral fellowship from the “la Caixa” Foundation.
Before his PhD, he worked as a Research Analyst at the European Central Bank. He has received several distinctions, including a scholarship from the Gulbenkian Foundation’s New Talents in Mathematics Programme, and is a medalist in the International Physics Olympiad.

DEI Talks | “Developing high-risk AI systems for mental health applications” by Prof. Lars Bongo (UiT The Arctic University of Norway)

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The talk entitled “Developing high-risk AI systems for mental health applications” will be given on 21 May at 2.30 pm in room I-105, moderated by Prof. António Coelho (DEI).

About the talk:

“In the TRUSTING project, we are developing a speech-based tool to predict relapse in psychosis. The tool is being designed for six languages and will be evaluated in a clinical trial. While large language models offer promising opportunities for cognitive testing, their use in high-risk AI systems raises significant challenges. These include ensuring safety, trustworthiness, and compliance with emerging AI regulations. In this talk, I will present the key challenges we encounter in data collection, infrastructure development, and cognitive test design, and reflect on the added complexity of developing high-risk AI systems across multiple languages. Finally, I will present our design principles and lessons learned.”

About the Speaker:

Dr. Lars Ailo Bongo is currently a Professor in health technology at the Department of Computer Science, UiT The Arctic University of Norway. His main research interest is to build and experimentally evaluate infrastructure systems that support the methods under development by our bioinformatics and health science collaborators. He is the principal investigator in the Health Data Lab. Bongo is also active in building a culture for entrepreneurship at UiT, He is the co-founder of Medsensio AS, innovation coordinator in SFI Visual Intelligence, and the co-founder of the Digital Technology Innovation Lab at UiT. Bongo has an adjunct Professor position at Sámi University of Applied Sciences, where he recently co-founded the Sámi AI Lab that aims to use AI to improve the Sámi society for the better.

DEI Talks | “Hybrid neural systems: neuromorphic computing for real-time control of brain activity” by Paulo Aguiar (i3S-U.Porto)

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The talk, entitled “Hybrid neural systems: neuromorphic computing for real-time control of brain activity“, will be given on 15 June at 2:00 pm in room I-105. Henrique Lopes Cardoso (DEI) will chair the session.

Abstract:

The brain is a powerful model for fast, adaptive and energy-efficient information processing. Translating these principles into computing systems is a major challenge with direct relevance for the next generation of intelligent neural interfaces. In this talk I will present work from my research group where we developed a hybrid neural system combining biological neurons with neuromorphic hardware, where artificial spiking neurons process ongoing brain activity in real time. By converting biological signals into spike-based representations, we trained spiking neural networks (SNNs) to identify short-lived electrophysiological patterns and deployed them on neuromorphic hardware. This system was integrated with open-source electrophysiology tools to create a closed-loop pipeline capable of detecting ongoing brain states and triggering targeted stimulation with low latency. Using this approach, we show that hybrid systems linking artificial and biological neurons can support real-time interaction with living neural circuits. These results provide a proof-of-concept for accessible neuromorphic neural interfaces and open new possibilities for adaptive, low-power and biologically inspired computing technologies.

About the Speaker:

Paulo Aguiar graduated in Physics (U. Lisbon, PT), and completed his PhD in Computational Neuroscience at the Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation (U. Edinburgh, UK). Since 2016, he leads the Neuroengineering and Computational Neuroscience Lab (i3S-UPorto, PT). His group uses a bottom-up approach, focusing on understanding how neural circuits process and store information. The team combines expertise in neurobiology, advanced analytical methods and computational models, to reveal and repair neural function. He has already been the (co)PI/Task Leader in 20+ national and international research projects obtained through competitive calls.

23rd Information Science Conference: Innovation and Societal Transformation at FLUP

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On 19 May, the 23rd edition of Jornadas de Ciência da Informação will take place, under the theme “Information Science: Innovation and Societal Transformation”, in the Nobre Amphitheatre of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto (FLUP), between 09:00 and 17:00.

This year’s edition offers a reflection centred on the role of Information Science in innovation and the transformation of society, through a varied programme that includes presentations, panel discussions and opportunities for scientific and professional exchange.

This is an annual event, organised as part of the Information Science program, which has established itself as a prime forum for reflection, sharing and debate on current and relevant topics in this field of knowledge. Throughout its editions, the Conference has promoted dialogue on the trends, challenges and opportunities shaping the evolution of Information Science, bringing together students, lecturers, researchers and professionals.

Participation is free of charge, although registration is mandatory and must be completed using the following form: https://shorturl.at/rdEXV

The detailed programme for the event is available at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jornadascienciainformacao/

DEI Talks | “nanoML: Pushing the Limits of Edge AI with Weightless Neural Networks” by Prof. Lizy John (UT Austin)

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The talk entitled “nanoML: Pushing the Limits of Edge AI with Weightless Neural Networks”, will be given by Prof. Lizy Kurian John (University of Texas at Austin) on 6 May at 2.30 pm in room I-105. The session will be moderated by Prof. Pedro Diniz (DEI).

About the Talk:

“Mainstream artificial neural network models, such as Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) are computation-heavy and energy-hungry. Weightless Neural Networks (WNNs) are natively built with RAM-based neurons and represent an entirely distinct type of neural network computing compared to DNNs. WNNs are extremely low-latency, low-energy, and suitable for efficient, accurate, edge inference. The WNN approach derives an implicit inspiration from the decoding process observed in the dendritic trees of biological neurons, making neurons based on Random Access Memories (RAMs) and/or Lookup Tables (LUTs) ready-to-deploy neuromorphic digital circuits. WNNs are a natural fit for edge AI due to the low area, energy and latency properties offered by them. This talk will describe the state of the art of Weightless Neural Networks, and their applications for edge inferencing.”

About the Speaker:

“Lizy Kurian John is Truchard Foundation Chair in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include workload characterization, performance evaluation, and high performance architectures for emerging workloads. She is recipient of many awards including Joe J. King Professional Engineering Achievement Award (2023), and The Pennsylvania State University Outstanding Engineering Alumnus Award (2011). She has authored 3 books and has edited 4 books including a book on Computer Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking. She holds 18 US patents and is an IEEE Fellow (Class of 2009), ACM Fellow, AAAS Fellow and Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).”

Acknowledgement: Lizy K. John is currently a Fulbright Specialist. Her research is supported in part by the Unites States National Science Foundation (NSF) Grants #2326894, #2425655, Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) Task 3148.001, and NVIDIA Applied Research Accelerator Program Grant.

DEI/FEUP Faculty Lead AI Project Driving Innovation at FC Porto

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By Nuno Teixeira, SICC/FEUP

“Futebol Clube do Porto (FC Porto) and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) have formalised a strategic Research and Development partnership that aims to reshape the future of data at the Club. The project, developed in direct collaboration with FEUP and with the participation of DareData, is a central pillar of FC Porto’s Strategic Plan and, in particular, of the organisation’s Digital Transformation Programme.

The two institutions involved – FC Porto, an international sporting icon, and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, one of the country’s most prestigious engineering schools and internationally recognised for excellence in fields such as Informatics Engineering, Intelligent Systems and Data Science – are thus strengthening a long-standing relationship. This collaboration brings together the Portuguese club with the most honours to the leading engineering education institution in Portugal, ranked amongst the most reputable in Europe for teaching and technological research.

This collaboration involves Professors André Restivo and Sérgio Nunes, lecturers at the Department of Informatics Engineering (DEI) at FEUP, who will take on the technical and scientific coordination of the project, with the primary aim of providing FC Porto with a robust and scalable technological architecture capable of supporting advanced Artificial Intelligence solutions. The project will enable the club to optimise critical areas such as sporting performance, scouting and business management, basing decision-making on the analysis of large volumes of data.

For André Restivo, this collaboration enables “the application of software engineering and information systems methodologies in a real-world and demanding environment. Furthermore, it is a natural step for two of the city’s leading institutions to work together, bringing academic research closer to the practical reality of the club”.

This partnership joins other projects that build bridges between the Club and academia, such as the technical-scientific cooperation agreement with the Faculty of Sport (FADEUP), reinforcing a joint dynamic with ambition and global impact.

A new data ecosystem

The objective is clear: to consolidate the organisation’s technological foundations, design a new data ecosystem at both the sporting and corporate levels, and elevate FC Porto to a new level of excellence that underpins the Club’s position as a leading international data-driven organisation.
Under the guidance of FEUP researchers, work is underway to design a new technological architecture that is agile, modular and scalable, and ready for the future. With solid data foundations, FC Porto will be able to leverage the use of Artificial Intelligence in areas such as Sports Performance, Scouting, Health, and the personalisation of relationships with members and supporters, with a view to bringing the Porto community even closer together.

Talent and organisational culture

The project also encompasses the design of a governance model and data policies, establishing new critical skills and roles to implement and develop this strategy. The aim is to create an organisational culture where data is a vital strategic asset, adding value and bringing elite professionals to FC Porto, linking alumni, lecturers and students from the University of Porto with FC Porto and new partners.

The future on the horizon

Beyond the immediate horizon, there are plans for the joint development of academic work within the context of advanced study programmes and internships, promoting the continuous transfer of knowledge and bringing academia and the Club even closer together.

The future also involves extending this collaboration to other fields of knowledge, enabling the creation of a unique multidisciplinary innovation hub within the international sporting landscape. The sustainability of this vision rests on continuous investment in human capital. To this end, FC Porto will strengthen its teams by integrating technological and management profiles that share this culture of rigour and excellence, in a virtuous blend of passion and knowledge.”

DEI Talks | “When AI meets Performance Engineering: Challenges and Opportunities” by Prof. Lizy John (UT Austin)

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The talk entitled “When AI meets Performance Engineering: Challenges and Opportunities”, will be given by Prof. Lizy Kurian John (University of Texas at Austin) on 29 April, at 2.30 pm, in room L119 (DEMec). The session will be moderated by Prof. Pedro Diniz (DEI).

About the Talk:

“Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) has transformed hardware design, software systems, and system architectures. Emerging hardware for AI accelerators have become heterogeneous and complex, that traditional modeling methodologies, benchmarks, and metrics for prior systems may not work for assessing AI models and AI hardware. The single-most commonly used operation in AI is matrix multiplication. Hardware accelerators like GPUs have created Tensor Cores to support matrix multiplication. Google TPUs support matrix multiplication by the hardware systolic arrays. However, matrix multiplication cannot be a reliable benchmark for benchmarking, due to its high sensitivity to optimizations. The MLPerf consortium creates ML benchmarks, however those benchmarks are prohibitively difficult to manage for many small companies and academic researchers. What are good benchmarks for AI/ML? How can you evaluate AI hardware in pre-silicon and post-silicon stages? Complete system simulation was a popular mode of pre-silicon evaluation but prohibitively expensive. This talk will describe some of the opportunities and challenges when AI meets Performance Engineering.”

About the Speaker:

“Lizy Kurian John is Truchard Foundation Chair in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include workload characterization, performance evaluation, and high performance architectures for emerging workloads. She is recipient of many awards including Joe J. King Professional Engineering Achievement Award (2023), and The Pennsylvania State University Outstanding Engineering Alumnus Award (2011). She has authored 3 books and has edited 4 books including a book on Computer Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking. She holds 18 US patents and is an IEEE Fellow (Class of 2009), ACM Fellow, AAAS Fellow and Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).”

Acknowledgement: Lizy K. John is currently a Fulbright Specialist. Her research is supported in part by the Unites States National Science Foundation (NSF) Grants #2326894, #2425655, Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) Task 3148.001, and NVIDIA Applied Research Accelerator Program Grant.

New PhD graduates honoured at the 2026 Conferment Ceremony

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The José Carlos Marques dos Santos Auditorium, at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), hosted on April 16 2026, at 5:00 p.m., another edition of the Conferment Ceremony – Doctoral Awards & Career Award, a ceremony that officially honors those who completed their doctoral degree and defended their thesis in the previous academic year.

This formal session constitutes the highest academic distinction awarded by FEUP and began with the traditional entrance of the academic procession, followed by the opening address by the Director of FEUP, Prof. Rui Calçada.

During the ceremony, the New PhD Graduates of 2026 were honoured, and the Institutional Awards were presented. The 2025 Career Award was also presented to Eng. Jorge Vasconcelos, a member of the Board of Directors of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, followed by a speech by the honouree, one of the highlights of the ceremony.

The programme also included a musical interlude, as well as the traditional tributes to FEUP PhD graduates marking 25 and 50 years since graduation and to lecturers who have attained the Habilitation. As part of the tributes marking 25 years since graduation, Jorge Manuel Gomes Barbosa, from DEI, was honoured.

The session concluded with a closing address by the Vice-Rector of the University of Porto, Prof. Pedro Costa, who is responsible for Built Heritage and Sustainability, followed by the departure of the academic procession and a reception hosted by FEUP.

Honoured PhD graduates associated with the DEI

Doctoral Programme in Informatics Engineering

Bernardo José Coelho Leite
Eliseu Moura Pereira
Filipa Marília Monteiro Ramos Ferreira
Gabriel de Jesus
João Ferreira de Carvalho Castro Nunes
José Eduardo Ferreira Ribeiro
Lázaro Gabriel Barros da Costa
Leonardo da Silva Ferreira
Martin Joseph Aubard
Pedro Rodrigo Caetano Strecht Ribeiro
Sara Filipa Couto Fernandes
Tiago Filipe Mendes Neves

Doctoral Programme in Digital Media

Adriana Aguiar Aparício Fogel
Alexandre Resende Clément (Cum Laude)
Diogo Miguel Filipe Cocharro
Haline Costa Maia
Inês Dias Koch
Joana Machado Cerejo de Araújo
João Pedro Silva Ribeiro (Cum Laude)
Pedro Miguel Sá Couto Condeço Ribeiro

Doctoral  Programme in Computer Science (Joint programme between U.Porto, UA and UM)

Ehsan Aminian

Andrés Isaza awarded an INPhINIT PhD scholarship from “la Caixa” Foundation

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Andrés Isaza Giraldo, a PhD student on the Doctoral Program in Digital Media (PDMD) at the University of Porto, is one of the recipients of an INPhINIT Retaining scholarship from the “la Caixa” Foundation, one of the most prestigious awards for young researchers in the Iberian Peninsula.

The award-winning project, entitled “Geological Studies of Images-in : Stratigraphic Analysis of Media for the Co-creation of Fictional Audiovisual Archives”, proposes an innovative approach to the study of the history of Amazonian cinema, drawing on analytical tools from geology, notably stratigraphy, to interpret the evolution of moving images as layers sedimented over time.

Andrés Isaza is a Colombian filmmaker and audiovisual artist, born in Manizales and based in Portugal since 2021. With a degree in Film and Television from the National University of Colombia and a Master’s in Multimedia Art from the University of Lisbon, he is currently pursuing his PhD within the PDMD program. His research is hosted by i2ADS — the Institute for Research in Art, Design and Society at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Porto, under the supervision of Professor Miguel Carvalhais.

A sediment made of Light

The research draws on a geological metaphor: just as soil strata preserve millennia of environmental history, so too can the history of cinema be ‘read’ in layers — a technique that Isaza terms ‘cinema cubes’ or ‘sediments of light’. Applied to Amazonian cinema, this methodology allows for an analysis of the transformation of audiovisual representations of the Amazon in the early days of cinema in that region, a period marked by external perspectives driven by commercial, political, scientific and religious interests; hence the need to study this period in a different way. But the research goes further: it also aims to use generative artificial intelligence to co-create, in partnership with individuals in the Amazon region, new fictional audiovisual archives that disrupt the linear history of cinema, just as magma bursts through sedimentary layers.
The project brings together film studies, computational cultural analysis, visual anthropology, participatory design and AI ethics — questioning who has access to new technologies and how these can be used fairly in historically marginalised territories whilst preserving their own ontological traditions.

The INPhINIT Retaining grant from the “la Caixa” Foundation has a maximum duration of four years and funds labour costs, research expenses and tuition fees for the doctoral programme, supporting researchers developing their projects in any scientific field in Portugal or Spain.