Contributions to information society policy and pilot experiments in Portugal will be explored through the participation of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) – the Portuguese governmental agency involved in information society policies – in particular in the areas of inclusion, accessibility to the handicapped and elderly, interactive learning environments, citizenship and public participation, and interactive content development.

ICES and the Portuguese institutions aim to put together an educational program in the area of advanced computing to appear as a sub-field in existing programs in Computer Science. In a first phase, this program will consist of a series of advanced courses that students can take both in Portugal and at UT-Austin that are automatically recognized as part of existing M.Sc. and Ph.D. offerings. Therefore, a student engaged in an existing post-graduate program and working towards the research projects aforementioned will be able to plan and take coursework, including courses in both Portugal and at UT-Austin as part of the academic curriculum. This allows students to keep pace in completing the academic requirements of the degrees they are engaged in while traveling and spending time on student exchanges between Portugal and UT-Austin.

In a second phase, the coursework mentioned above and the joint research projects between Portugal and UT-Austin may converge into a joint Ph.D. degree offered by the Portuguese institutions and UTA/ICES in the field of advanced computing. Such a Ph.D. degree may be awarded to students that complete a set of requirements to be defined by the schools involved. A M.Sc. degree might be offered after an academic curriculum has been completed and enough research presented. Students willing to pursue the joint Ph.D. degree must then pass qualifying examinations and defend their thesis.

In order to enable the application and exploitation of advanced and grid computing technologies, the following education and training initiatives will be promoted:

• Short courses and training seminars: The focus will be on advanced computing tools, environments, and systems administration for presenting overviews of advanced computing systems and technologies. An additional objective is to promote the utilization, application development, and management of advanced computing environments. Besides individual course units, the Advanced Computing Program will also consider the organization of intensive summer classes with practical, hands-on laboratory facilities.
• Advanced courses: Individual courses, covering the main dimensions of advanced and grid computing including: (i) user interfaces, advanced portals, and problem-solving environments; (ii) advanced application development, including parallel and distributed programming models, software environments, and tools; (iii) advanced middleware, services and resource management; and (iv) and advanced distributed infrastructures, and operating systems management including clusters, heterogeneous resources for computation, storage and communication. Such themes can be complemented with other courses with a focus on computational science or scientific computing themes such as simulation, numerical methods and algorithms. Such advanced courses can be offered as individual teaching units and attended by students with different backgrounds including: (i) students with a master’s degree in Computer Science/Informatics/Software Engineering who seek further specialization in advanced technologies; and (ii) students with a background on science and engineering who also seek complementary education on advanced technologies. For both kinds of students such advanced courses can contribute to course requirements for a PhD or to education on advanced technologies aiming at a professional integration in industry. By attending a collection of such advanced courses and obtaining a number of ECTS a student can obtain a certified 'Diploma de Formação Avançada.” Such a “Diploma” can also contribute to part of the course requirements for the 1st year of a PhD.
• PhD Program in the Advanced Computing areas of computer science and informatics with focus on high-performance, grid computing, and computational science and engineering: In Portugal, a PhD Program is now defined as a 3rd cycle graduate program in the context of the European Union Bologna Treaty reformulations of higher education. Such a program aims at enabling professional opportunities in fundamental research or research and development (R&D) in universities for both teaching and research activities and in industry. As such, it is required that the degree provides a specialization based on a broad and consolidated knowledge in computer science/informatics. Accordingly the cooperation between UT-Austin and selected Portuguese universities will work toward a PhD program in the Advanced Computing areas of computer science/informatics with a focus on high performance and grid computing, and on its relationships with computational science and engineering. Such a focus will be achieved through: (i) specialized and advanced courses; (ii) studying and working in a research environment at the participating universities and research centers integrated in projects related to advanced and grid computing and its relationships with computational science and engineering; and (iii) the preparation of a PhD thesis on a related theme within the scope of one of those projects. Overall there are some differences in the structure and operational details of the distinct PhD Programs of the universities involved in this program. In order to identify and define a common template for a joint PhD Program to be pursued under the cooperation protocol with UT-Austin, the Portuguese universities will prepare a joint proposal for a common program so that a participating student can transparently enroll in the Advanced Computing PhD Program by following a common and uniform model for PhD work independent of any one institution. Such a common template will also be used for meeting UT-Austin PhD program requirements and for the possibility of establishing a common protocol. It is a goal of the Advanced Computing Program to allow for a reasonable degree of flexibility in this mapping so that collaboration is enabled with UT-Austin without strong forms of a joint PhD Program that may require long-term discussions. It is also an important goal that all PhD students are held to the highest scientific standards and satisfy the PhD program requirements that are defined by the participating universities. Such matching protocols will address the following issues: (i) student admission requirements; (ii) PhD course structure; (iii) requirements for accepting the doctoral plan and for assessment of work progress; (iv) joint co-advising involving the Portuguese universities and UT-Austin; (v) residency requirements of the students and co-advisers at UT-Austin and in Portugal; and (vi) PhD thesis submission and defense.

It is understood that any joint degree program will require a specific protocol to be established by means of procedures to be determined and approved by the UT-Austin and the involved Portuguese partners. It is intended that these protocols be defined 'on top' of the existing PhD Programs and not by creating a new PhD program.

The graduate program, whose typical duration is four years, will consist of up to two years of courses followed by up to two years of thesis preparation with possible advanced coursework. Taking into account the desired mobility of both graduate students and researchers, students are expected to spend two years in each country. In a typical program, the student would spend his/her first year in Lisbon, the second and third years at UT- Austin and the fourth year in Lisbon. Other arrangements would be possible upon agreement of the supervising committees.

A student may apply to LUTAMath if he/she meets one of the following conditions:

• Has concluded the “primeiro ciclo” in mathematics or any collateral area, with a minimum of 35 ECTS in mathematics, in any European university in accordance with the “Bolonha Process”, and the equivalent of 60 ECTS in a “segundo ciclo” in mathematics or collateral area
• Has the equivalent to the previous points in the context of the UT-Austin curricula, namely, a degree in mathematics or collateral area, like physics or engineering
• Has other degrees that are considered equivalent

Applicants should submit three letters of recommendation, the results of TOEFL and GRE general and subject tests, and their transcripts to both the UT-Austin and the Portuguese selection committees. A student will be accepted into the program if he/she meets the requirements of both committees. In this case, the student will be assigned an advisor from the Portuguese team and one from UT-Austin. These need not be the student’s future scientific advisors, but will be a “tutor” who will follow the student’s progress and will provide guidance within the first years of the program and should be encouraged to be completely independent from the future doctoral supervisors.

In the first year, the student, if in Portugal, will be enrolled in about 5 courses, totaling 60 credits (ECTS) at the Portuguese Universities. These courses, taught in English, will be selected from among those available at the graduate level by the student under the supervision of his/her Portuguese practical advisor. Possible examples of admissible courses, whose syllabus are to be accepted by the faculty of UTA’s Mathematics Department, are functional analysis, ordinary and partial differential equations, measure and integration and numerical analysis. During the first year, if in Portugal, students may also have access to UT-Austin courses through teleconferences.

The courses completed in Year 1 will be considered towards the requirements of the UT-Austin Master of Science Degree as well as the Portuguese degree of “Mestre em Matemática” or other academic diplomas, awarded by the Portuguese Universities.

During the second year the student will attend courses at UT-Austin under the guidance of his/her UT-Austin practical advisor. The syllabus of these courses should be accepted by the Portuguese team. By the end of this second year, the student should have acquired a level of knowledge that will enable him/her to begin research work. This basic knowledge will be tested no later than the beginning of the third year by means of a qualifying exam.

The student will now be in a position to select a scientific advisor from UT-Austin and one from the participating Portuguese university. If different from the practical advisor(s), the latter cease(s) his (their) functions. The student will spend up to two years at UT-Austin working on his/her PhD dissertation under the supervision of his/her UT-Austin scientific advisor. During his/her stay at UT-Austin the student will be eligible to be a teaching assistant. To this extent, he/she will be required to attend the International Teaching Assistant’s Workshop at the Mathematics Department and pass the corresponding ITA test.

Since one of the main goals of the UT-Austin/Portugal Mathematics Program is to reinforce research interactions between Portuguese and UT-Austin faculty, one of the advisors could join his/her student at Lisbon or UT-Austin for a period of up to a semester’s length in order to engage in a research collaboration with his/her Lisbon or UT-Austin colleagues. Short-term visits of the advisors to Portugal and to Austin are also be encouraged.

The student’s progress will be reviewed annually by a UT-Austin Committee and a Portuguese counterpart. Under exceptional conditions, the program can be extended for a sixth year, if recommended by both scientific advisors.

Each of the three Portuguese Institutions will, in turn, be in charge of student registration, records and other secretarial work, including Internet support, for a period of three years. A student enrolled in this program will be considered a graduate student of both UT-Austin and the Portuguese Universities. The student will be provided with office space and will have access to the libraries, computer facilities at all of the participating schools. In recognition of completion of the course of studies, the aforementioned Universities will confer on the student two degrees in Mathematics: A PhD in Mathematics conferred by UT- Austin and a “Doutor em Matemática” conferred by the Portuguese Universities in association (joint degree), in the terms of article 42º of “Decreto-Lei” 74/2006 of March 24.

An effort will be made to recruit and attract international students to the UT-Austin Portugal Mathematics Program by publicizing it appropriately. In order for such a program to be viable, it is necessary that scholarships be made available for the selected students covering up to 4-years of studies in Portugal and in the USA.

The number of students in the program should be proportional to the number of UT- Austin and Portuguese faculty involved. Taking this into account, it is expected to have in all years of the program about 15 to 20 students enrolled. It is believed that additional faculty will join the program, so that, at a later stage, around 25 students will be enrolled. In any case, the number of students under UTAustin’s advisory guidance will be, at most, one- half of the total number of students in the collaborative program.

In accordance with the previously listed goals, financial aid should also be secured to allow for short-term visits of the scientific advisors. The advantages of these visits are twofold. On the one hand, they enable a closer monitoring of the student’s progress by both advisors simultaneously and, on the other hand, they reinforce the scientific ties between the researchers. Similarly, in order to have a successful post-doc and junior faculty exchange program financial, partial funding will be provided in order to enable a reduced teaching load. Between one to two exchange positions per year are expected. Additionally, adequate funding for the workshops will also be important for at least one small workshop per year.

It is crucial that the teaching and administrative duties of the Portuguese involved in this program match those of their UT-Austin counterparts. Therefore, it is suggested that the teaching load of these participating faculty, during their visits to UT-Austin be half of the norm and concentrated in one semester. The financing of the program will reimburse the Portuguese universities accordingly.

Education and training programs will explore academic, business, and government differences when adapting US S&T commercialization models to Portugal. It is believed that European, Portuguese, and North American university cultures and operations, as well as regional institutions, are different in important aspects relevant to S&T commercialization. The development of successful technology commercialization initiatives and mechanics and even the mindset at Portuguese research institutions and personnel requires an in-depth and long-term collaboration with Portuguese champions from select Portuguese public and private sectors that will work together with IC² Institute personnel to:

• Catalyze change and build entrepreneurial capacity within Portuguese universities and other related institutions
• Identify select technologies with international market potential as they are being developed
• Assist Portuguese researchers in successful S&T commercialization and entrepreneurship and international market access
• Transfer technology expertise and know-how to Portuguese personnel and institutions

Industry-specific training and education will emphasize knowledge acquisition by immersion through internship programs for:

• Technology managers and staff
• Incubator managers and staff
• Entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs within large firms
• Technology transfer officers (TTOs)
• University faculty and students working on Portuguese industry-supported research and commercialization projects

Select innovation and entrepreneurship courses will be a combination of “think” and “do” and will assist Portuguese “talent” to become (1) successful entrepreneurs, and/or (2) successful mentors, teachers, and trainers of Portuguese entrepreneurs in established and start-up firms. Again, the experience of IST through its VECTORe Program and the leading role of the Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research, IN+, should be used for these purposes and arranged in way to be expanded at a national level. Innovation and entrepreneurship program courses will leverage and build on IC² Institute’s established and innovative Internet and class-based MS in Science and Technology Commercialization (MSSTC). IC² Institute’s MSSTC student teams are international, with team members working on real S&T commercialization projects. The hands-on-the-job experience of MIETE in University of Porto, which contains many of the envisaged features, should also be taken into account and fully used to boost UTEN’s activities. With the UTEN Program these teams could focus on select Portuguese technologies and entrepreneurs for US and global market access.

Quality training, internships, and research related to S&T commercialization will:

• Encourage Portuguese participants to gain important insights into US and global marketplace realities in relation to Portuguese S&T commercialization realities within the framework of the European Commission
• Benefit Portuguese university and The University of Texas at Austin faculty and students in terms of research collaborations and education exchange
• Contribute to quality education and training programs by informing current curricula and developing new courses and course content
• Encourage research programs that are conducted according to the highest academic demands, including publications on science and technology commercialization processes and capacity building in leading international peer-reviewed journals

Select courses will be taught by Portuguese faculty with IC² Institute and UT-Austin faculty consultation, whereas other courses will be taught by UT-Austin and other US and international faculty. Industry-specific courses will be taught by faculty and practitioners most knowledgeable in the targeted industry. Select courses will be compressed for 1-2 week deliveries. An integrated environment will be developed that will accommodate the existing videoconference capacities of institutions involved while offering state-of-the-art collaborative tools for file sharing and content management. Over the course of this 5-year program education and training programs will contribute to the development of state-of-the art professional, globally linked Portuguese academic and business communities dedicated to S&T commercialization.

Integrated knowledge communities will work to expand research programs to deepen knowledge generation processes and to enlarge the network of Portuguese research groups working with researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. This work will foster projects through which firms can engage in research and development activities, both in-house and through collaborations with the research system in Portugal and at The University of Texas at Austin. There will be a focus on new ideas in applied science, engineering, and broader technologies. Attention will also be focused on:

• Work on broad-based problems that require innovative solutions, or a better understanding, in order for policy recommendations to be developed
• Models and structures for collaboration: better understanding of the different models currently existing in Portugal and the differences between these models and models in the US and in other nations
• Areas where comparison and knowledge sharing with the United States may be of particular relevance to Portugal in terms of wealth and job creation
• Partnerships with leading US and European companies, broadening The University of Texas at Austin-Portugal collaboration to international leaders and corporations
• Curriculum Development by sponsoring projects that transfer successful course materials and faculty expertise from The University of Texas at Austin to Portuguese institutions and vice versa
• Analyzing and attempting to solve problems associated with the commercialization of university research conducted according to the highest scientific demands, with an objective of having publications in leading international peer-reviewed journals

Considerations in structuring the proposed collaborations for S&T commercialization, and training and education will include legal, governance, and institutional aspects. The institutional framework governing Portuguese academic and for-profit organizations as well as The University of Texas at Austin and US and Portuguese business communities need to be considered and assessed. Of particular interest are:

• Legal issues associated with public-private and international S&T collaboration including intellectual property protection
• Reliable and useful metrics for continuous monitoring and evaluation of UTEN programs and activities. In addition to specific tasks, the overall collaborative program needs to be regularly monitored and evaluated. As needed reviews will guide the development of the UTEN program as well as its restructuring when necessary.