Bárbara Santos has a degree in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. She is currently in her final year of a Master's degree in Artificial Intelligence. Here, she shares her experience at M:IA.
"Since the BSc in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, I clearly realised that I wanted to work with Artificial Intelligence. It was during that period that I began to develop a deeper interest in practical applications and the real-world impact of this field, which led me to seek an academic path that would allow me to consolidate and expand this knowledge.
The Master’s in Artificial Intelligence therefore emerged as the follow-up path that best suited my profile. The curriculum made it possible to deepen essential AI topics while simultaneously engaging with more advanced and up-to-date subjects, contributing to a solid and coherent education well aligned with the state of the art, in addition to the pleasure of once again being taught by several DCC lecturers whom I already knew from my undergraduate studies.
During the master’s programme, I also had the opportunity to be part of the INESC TEC Centre for Robotics and Autonomous Systems, where I work with Computer Vision and Reinforcement Learning, two areas that I came to discover as my favourites within the AI field. This experience allowed me to understand how much of the knowledge acquired in the MIA fits into real-world contexts, while also bringing a more practical perspective to the course regarding the challenges and limitations of AI.
Despite being the first edition of the M.IA, I consider the experience to have been overall very positive and to have contributed significantly to the expansion of my knowledge in AI. It was an essential stage of my academic path, better preparing me for future challenges and helping to solidify my enthusiasm for the field."
(January 2026)