Tuesday, 1 September 2009

MIT PORTUGAL PROGRAM FOR DOCTORAL PROGRAMS & ADVANCED STUDIES

The MIT-Portugal Program is an international collaboration seeking to demonstrate that an investment in science, technology and higher education can have a positive, lasting impact on the economy by addressing key societal issues through quality education and research in the emerging field of engineering systems. The program has targeted bio-engineering systems, engineering design and advanced manufacturing, sustainable energy systems, and transportation systems as key areas for economic development and societal impact.

The MIT-Portugal Program is a large-scale international collaboration involving MIT and government, academia, and industry in Portugal to develop education and research programs related to engineering systems. The high-level partnership represents a strategic commitment by the Portuguese government to science, technology, and higher education that leverages MIT’s experience in these important areas in order to strengthen the country’s knowledge base through an investment in human capital and institution building.

The MIT Portugal Program offers PhD, Master’s and Executive Master’s programs in four distinct fields within the discipline of Engineering Systems: bio-engineering systems, engineering design and advanced manufacturing, sustainable energy systems, and transportation systems.

In so doing, the Program provides world-class training – including real-world preparation for future employment – in leading-edge areas of engineering, management and policy to top students who seek to become leaders in technological innovation. We offer postgraduate programs that expose top-level graduates in engineering, economics, science and other fields to systems thinking, and to an international group of students who together reflect the global teams in which our students work.

MIT Portugal has formed the first-ever consortium of universities across Portugal. This provides students in the program with opportunities to study at – or collaborate with students and faculty at – eight Portuguese universities and engineering schools, and to receive national degrees. Many doctoral students also have an opportunity to conduct research at MIT.

BIO-ENGINEERING SYSTEMS IN MIT-PORTUGAL PROGRAM

The Bio-Engineering Systems Focus Area consists of two educational programs:

i.)An Advanced Studies course (first year toward a PhD or an Advanced Certificate upon completion) offered jointly by the collaborating Portuguese universities.
ii.)A PhD course (three additional years after the Advanced Studies course) offered jointly by the collaborating Portuguese universities.

These educational programs are intended to educate students in bio-engineering technical innovation, with a strong emphasis on the specific emerging technologies targeted to complement and enhance existing Portuguese biosciences and technologies.

This includes first-rate education and research in: tissue engineering, biomaterials, computational and synthetic biosystems, drug development, neuroscience, biomedical devices and technologies, health and environmental systems, and innovation and leadership for future bioengineers.

Bio-engineering graduates will have a strong knowledge in these research areas and will be capable of conceiving, conducting or implementing research in scientific projects in bio-engineering laboratories and companies around the world.

Graduates will also have a strong background in innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship, and will possess the problem-solving and communication skills needed for successful careers in bio-engineering and bio-engineering systems—certainly among the most important areas of technological inquiry in the world today.

Candidates for Bio-Engineering educational programs will have a strong background in at least one of the following areas: biological and biochemistry engineering, molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences or other areas related with bioengineering. Applicants with an interest in technological innovation and entrepreneurship in the bioengineering field, a capacity to work in groups, and a strong motivation to work on R&D projects will be given particular consideration.

Many top MIT faculty/researchers are involved in the educational programs, including faculty from MIT's School of Engineering, the MIT Sloan School of Management, and MIT’s School of Science and the School of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences. Also involved are outstanding Portuguese faculty from the Technical University of Lisbon–UTL (Instituto Superior Técnico, IST), the New University of Lisbon (Faculty of Science and Technology–FCTUNL, the Institute of Chemical and Biologic Technology–ITQB), the University of Minho (School of Engineering–UMinho), and the University of Coimbra (Faculty of Science and Technology–FCTUC, and the Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology–CNC).

BIO-E Advanced Studies Course

The Advanced Studies Course is a one-year educational program. It serves as the first year of the doctoral course, or stands alone as a one-year graduate course.

The Advanced Studies Course includes training in innovation as well as brief laboratory placements and visits to research laboratories and industrial plants. The mandatory curriculum modules are taught in the fall semester, and the elective modules are taught in the spring semester. In the spring, students also initiate their research; get laboratory placements in one of the research groups involved in the Program, and work on the Innovation Teams project (i-Teams).

Graduates of the Advanced Course in Bio-Engineering Systems will have developed a strong knowledge base, as well as a significant number of technical skills and competences in the advanced areas of:

Bioprocess engineering
Computational biosystems
Cell and tissue engineering
Nanobiotechnology and biomaterials
Biomedical devices and technologies
Drug development practices and neuroscience


Graduates also will be capable of the following:

i.)Integrating different research areas in bio-engineering in problem-solving
ii.)Identifying the best path for commercializing a novel technology through an innovation process based on a go-to-market strategy
iii.)Using bioengineering technical skills and competences in research projects (which might include a PhD thesis) in different fields of Bio-Engineering Systems
iv.)Coordinating multiple, interdisciplinary tasks in order to achieve an objective

To know more details of advanced studies,Click here.


BIO-Engineering Doctoral Course

The Bio-Engineering Systems Doctoral Course attracts the highest-performing students and involves exchanges with MIT faculty and their laboratories. Curriculum development as well as teaching activities involves the Portuguese institutions as well as MIT faculty.

The PhD course will continue for 36–48 months past the Advanced Studies Course(1st Year), and will accommodate extensive training periods at MIT (approximately 12-18 months).

Depending on student interest and expertise, placements in other laboratories are possible. At the end of the Ph.D. course, the student is also expected to have completed a significant amount of original research work which represents an important contribution to extend the knowledge in the Bio-Engineering field and that has quality enough to be published in peered reviewed international scientific journals and communicated at international conferences.

To know more details about Doctoral Programs, Click here.

Doctoral Program Requirements

Candidates to the Bioengineering PhD Course must hold a Bologna 2nd cycle degree or a Master's degree or a 5 year degree (Licenciatura). Candidates in the final year of these degrees are welcome to apply.

Doctoral Program Host Institutions

The PhD course is offered jointly by the following institutions:

University of Coimbra
Faculty of Science and Technology (FCTUC)
Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC)

Technical University of Lisbon
Instituto Superior Técnico (IST)

New University of Lisbon
Faculty of Science and Technology (FCTUNL)
Institute of Chemical and Biologic Technology (ITQB)

University of Minho
School of Engineering (UMinho)

Scholarships

In each academic year, scholarships are available for outstanding PhD candidates in each of the four program areas. In 2009 post-doctoral candidates will also be welcomed in Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing.

The best students with a scholarship will have the opportunity to conduct some of their doctoral research at MIT.

The description and stipends of the FCT scholarships can be found at http://alfa.fct.mctes.pt/apoios/bolsas/regulamento.phtml.en and http://alfa.fct.mctes.pt/apoios/bolsas/valores.phtml.en. Note that at these pages, BD refers to PhD scholarships and BPD to post-doctoral scholarships.

In the Transportation Systems Master’s degree (CTIS), a few corporate scholarships are available; they only cover tuition fees. In extraordinary circumstances, candidates who can demonstrate need may be able to obtain further funding to support living expenses.

The Advanced Study courses do not offer scholarships.

Apply for a scholarship

If you indicate on the application form that you would like to be considered for an FCT scholarship (PhD or post-doc), your candidacy information will be sent to FCT automatically.

To know contact details about the faculties , click here.

Bio-Engineering Systems Contacts

Dava Newman
Bio-Engineering Systems Co-Director
dnewman@mit.edu | 617 258-8799

Manuel Nunes da Ponte
Bio-Engineering Systems Co-Director
mnp@dq.fct.unl.pt

Manuel Mota
Bio-Engineering Systems Co-Director
mmota@reitoria.uminho.pt

Bruce Tidor
Bio-Engineering Systems Co-Director
tidor@mit.edu

Joaquim Sampaio Cabral
Bio-Engineering Systems Co-Director
joaquim.cabral@ist.utl.pt

Robin Pringle
Administrative Assistant
rpringle@mit.edu

Flavia Cardarelli
Administrative Assistant
flavia@mit.edu | 617 253-5843

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