The government has now approved the new governance model, which includes the creation of a national council to “expand, deepen and maximise the impact” of these partnerships.

“The government approved in the Council of Ministers a resolution that establishes the new governance model for the fourth phase of international partnerships with North American universities (Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin and University of Berkeley)”, highlights the Ministry of Education, in response to questions asked by ECO.

According to Fernando Alexandre's office, the “significant investment” involved in this new phase of partnerships (“more than 93 million euros” between 2025 and 20230) requires a new governance model, “in order to boost the activity of the partnerships and maximise their impact and return on the national scientific, technological, innovation and industrial systems”.

This new model has now received the green light in the Council of Ministers, is governed by four main points, as explained by the aforementioned ministry: integrated strategic monitoring of partnerships with a national vision of the scientific, technological, innovation and industrial system; Transparency and equal opportunities in the participation of national institutions, scientists and companies; Accountability through regular and joint monitoring of partnerships; and involvement of different areas of government.

The ministry led by Fernando Alexandre highlights that, until now, “there was no national body with an aggregating and integrated vision of partnerships with North American universities”, which limited its impact. Therefore, the National Partnership Monitoring Council and the Global External Partnership Evaluation Committee have now been created.

The first of these bodies will be responsible for “expanding, deepening and maximising the impact of partnerships, formulating strategic guidelines, recommending new initiatives and expanding areas of scientific and technological collaboration, and approving a framework for monitoring performance indicators.”

This council will be composed of a representative of the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities, the Coordinating Council of Polytechnic Higher Education Institutes, the National Council of Science, Technology and Innovation, the Council of Associated Laboratories, the Portuguese Association of Private Higher Education, the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation, the Ministry of Territorial Cohesion and the Ministry of Economy.

The Global External Evaluation Committee will have the mission of “carrying out a global scientific and technical evaluation of the partnerships, on an annual basis, formulating contributions on the selection of the main projects of each partnership to be presented at an annual conference and presenting a detailed interim technical evaluation, by December 31, 2027, and a final detailed technical evaluation, by June 30, 2029”.

“The renewal of international partnerships and the establishment of a new governance model reveals the Government’s commitment to excellence and the internationalisation of the national higher education system and scientific and technological system,” adds the Ministry of Education.