2026 Call for Expressions of Interest for Visiting Scholars at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under the MIT Portugal Program

The MIT Portugal Program through University of Minho, 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 Scholars Program, for visits to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under the MIT Portugal Program.

The present Call for Visiting Scholars is launched according to Regulation no 913/20211 of 15 October of the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology, I.P. (FCT), which sets out the rules and requirements for awarding financial support to individuals undertaking Knowledge and Technology Transfer Activities.

The Call is aimed at faculty members, researchers, and Master’s or PhD students affiliated with institutions in Portugal who wish to be considered for short-term research period (3-7 months) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The application submission period will run from February 23rd, 2026 to March 31st, 2026 (17:00 UTC), and all visits must be completed by the December 31, 2026.

OBJECTIVES 

Under the Visiting Scholars Program, beneficiaries can spend three (3) to seven (7) months working in research at MIT (Cambridge, MA, USA), being mentored by leading faculty and researchers, while immersed in the University’s culture. Through the Visiting Scholar Program, beneficiaries will have the status of visiting students or visiting scholars at MIT.

Applicants admitted to the scheme will benefit from an immersive experience in MIT’s ecosystem to explore and develop institutional/faculty/departmental-level collaborations, engage in interdisciplinary and collaborative research with scientific peers and acquire and transfer new knowledge. Funded visiting periods should offer a springboard to collaborative work (e.g. joint publications, joint projects) between hosts and visiting researchers well beyond the visiting period at MIT.

BENEFICIARIES AND ELIGIBILITY RULES

To be eligible for visiting period, applicants must be proficient in English and comply with the following criteria at the time of submission of their applications and throughout their stay at MIT:

a) Hold Portuguese nationality or, in the case of non-Portuguese citizens, have permanent residence in Portugal.

b) Hold a Master’s or Doctoral degree or, if not, be enrolled in a Master’s or Doctoral Program in Portugal.

c) Be officially affiliated with a non-business entity of the research and innovation ecosystem, namely:

     i. Higher education institutions, including their institutes and R&D units;
     ii. State Laboratories, Associated Laboratories, or international laboratories headquartered in Portugal;
     iii. Private non-profit institutions whose main activity is R&D, including Collaborative Laboratories (CoLABs) and Technology and Innovation Centers (CTIs);
     iv. Other public or private non-profit institutions engaged in or participating in scientific research activities;

d) Have a MIT faculty willing to support the application and host the candidate for the indicated period.

If the candidate has a valid work contract with a company or institution which is expected to overlap with the internship under the Visiting Students Program, then it should request to that entity a declaration in which the company or institution acknowledges and supports the candidate’s application to the Program.

Applicants who do not meet the required criteria for application submission and fail to submit any of the mandatory documents listed in the section “Application Procedure and Deadline | Mandatory Documents” of this announcement will be ruled ineligible. Their applications will not be evaluated.

SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION

The activities developed under the Visiting Scholars Program will be overseen by the MIT Portugal Program Co-Director Alexandre Ferreira da Silva, Assistant Professor at University of Minho and MIT Portugal Program Co-Director João Pedro Barreto, Associate Professor at University of Coimbra. The beneficiaries will hold a courtesy appointment at University of Minho while the visit is ongoing. 

The beneficiaries will be also integrated into a Department and/or Research Center at MIT and will have a MIT Faculty host. Before application submission, applicants must have identified the MIT faculty or researcher who will act as their scientific host and supervisor. Thus, applicants are encouraged to proactively look for potential hosts at MIT and contact them in advance because before the application submission. The Program is also available to assist candidates in this search through the following contact: info@mitportugal.org

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

The monthly amount of the internship is two thousand and five hundred euros (2.500,00 €). Apart from the monthly internship stipend, the beneficiaries will also have their health insurance covered up to one hundred and fifty euros (150,00 €) per month while at MIT, and will also receive a one-time travel fee of one thousand euros (1.000,00€).

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Applications will be evaluated by the MIT Portugal Program Directors on a scale from 0 to 5, based on the following criteria:

– Analysis of the applicant’s motivation and support letters (20%);
– Scientific robustness and quality of the proposed work plan (25%);
– Curriculum vitae of the applicant (35%);
– Alignment of the proposed work with the main research areas of the MIT Portugal Program (20%).

The assessment of the documents and curricular components will account for 85% of the final evaluation. The remaining 15% will result from an interview, for which a selected group of top-running candidates will be invited based on the results of the initial evaluation.

The selection process is expected to take one month after the application deadline, and all the applicants will receive feedback by email.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE AND DEADLINE

The application period will open on February 23rd, 2026 and close on March 31st, 2026. 

All applications should be submitted through an online application form available https://mitportugal.slideroom.com/#/login/program/87698 with personal information, period of visit, work plan, hosting department at MIT and supervisor at MIT. For further information, please contact the MIT Portugal Program at info@mitportugal.org.

The supporting documents listed below must be submitted in pdf. form. Applications without the requested documents may not be considered and 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: 

a) Motivation Letter
b) Support statement from the host at MIT.
c) Support statement from the school/department lead, project PI or student advisor from a Portuguese Higher Education Institution.
d) Detailed curriculum vitae, exported from CIÊNCIAVITAE platform.
e) Statement of work (maximum 3 pages), including an annex with a detailed Gantt chart aligned with the statement of work.
f) Contract statement, Declaration of enrolment or declaration of registration in a Portuguese Higher Education Institution Master Program in the case of candidates who are master/PhD students.
g) Degree certificates*.

*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 

For more detailed information, please consult the Notice of the Call (pdf). If you have any questions, please contact MIT Portugal by email – info@mitportugal.org

EVALUATION PANEL

The evaluation process will be overseen by the MIT Portugal Program Directors and will involve an evaluation panel, whose members are:

– Rodrigo Ventura, Associate Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico;
– Ana Sofia Guimarães, Associate Professor at Faculty of Engineering from University of Porto;
– Marta Lopes, Coordinating Professor at the Agricultural School of the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra;