On 3 July, INESC-ID welcomed members of its Advisory Board for an on-site visit to the institute, the first since November 2022.

The very hot summer day didn’t stop the Advisory Board members, most coming from across the Atlantic,  from visiting INESC-ID’s headquarters at Alves Redol and to Instituto Superior Técnico, where they were received by the Board of Directors alongside the Board of the Scientific Council. Rodrigo Rodrigues, President of the Scientific Council, coordinated the organisation of the visit, while Miguel Pupo Correia, President of the Executive Committee, hosted the closing plenary session where the Advisory Board shared its conclusions.

The programme opened with an overview of the institute’s recent evolution, before presenting two of its most significant new initiatives: the Sustainable Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL), an awarded €27 million Horizon Europe project that will position INESC-ID as a Centre of Excellence in sustainable and trustworthy AI, and the recently inaugurated Energy Dream Lab, a new research and testing infrastructure expected to support more than 250 students per year while strengthening ties with industry partners.

The day continued with presentations from all four Thematic Lines and ten Scientific Areas, and an overview from the institute’s Innovation Management, Knowledge Transfer and Communications and Outreach offices. One of the day’s highlights was the PhD student poster session, a particular favourite of the Advisory Board during these visits, which gave members the chance to engage directly with INESC-ID’s early-career researchers and their work.

In the closing plenary session, held before a packed room of INESC-ID researchers, students and staff, and which ran until nearly 7pm, Advisory Board members reflected on what they described as an unprecedented moment for the field, shaped by the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and a corresponding growth in complex problems to address: one that brings, alongside its many challenges, a richness of opportunity for research to respond. Chair Srinivas Devadas encouraged INESC-ID to sharpen its focus on the challenges with the greatest potential impact, leaning into interdisciplinarity and closer collaboration across its research areas to make full use of the high quality of research present at the institute.

Composed of a renowned international body of researchers and academics who provide independent guidance and strategic assessment to the institute, the members of the INESC-ID Advisory Board present at this visit were:

• Srinivas Devadas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States) — Chair of the Advisory Board

• Ricardo Baeza-Yates, NTENT (United States)

• Marija Ilic, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States)

• José Carlos Príncipe, University of Florida (United States)

• Fernando Pereira, Chief AI Scientist, Inceptive

INESC-ID thanks the Advisory Board for its time, insight and continued engagement with the institute’s community.

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