Tomás Amorim has a degree in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. He is currently in his final year of a Master's degree in Artificial Intelligence. He shares his experience at M:IA here.
"After a complicated initial application process, I enrolled in the very first edition of the Master’s in Artificial Intelligence (M:IA), a collaboration between FEUP and FCUP–DEI/DCC. The reason for this turbulence was the under-representation of graduates in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (IACD), precisely the first cohort to hold such a degree. For the master’s programme to get off to a strong start, it was crucial to have a student body properly prepared for what the curriculum set out to offer; equally crucial for that same student body was the possibility of continuing their pioneering learning path.
The M:IA was, at the time of its launch and very likely still at the time of writing, a unique opportunity for graduates of the BSc in IACD (and also of the BSc in Computer Science who had specialised) to deepen the knowledge acquired in artificial intelligence and machine learning, as no other master’s programme in the country provided a true continuation of this learning path.
The first year, as dynamic as expected, had a lengthy start-up process, adapting to the diverse academic backgrounds of the students. The workload was demanding, a by-product of modern higher education culture and of an ambitious programme. Nevertheless, there was always room for students to reconcile their research, whether personal or professional, with the proposed course projects. It is true that there is limited room for curriculum personalisation; this has been partially offset by the freedom of approach allowed in coursework assignments, and it is expected that, as more optional courses become available, the range of choices will gradually expand.
In any case, I am very much in favour of the U.Porto option, whether in pursuing knowledge in information theory, notions of computational complexity, or even philosophical reflections on agency, topics that are fundamental to the development of AI. In its second year of existence, at least as of the first semester, the M:IA has seen the gaps of its first edition addressed with innovation and seriousness. The current wave of enthusiasm surrounding AI has been carefully considered by the teaching staff, who, in this new phase of the first dissertations, are working to ensure that mysticism and novelty do not overshadow the substance and relevance of the theses being developed.
From the collaboration between faculties, the best aspects are combined: the rigour of the Sciences alongside the resources of Engineering. In four years of study, the first opportunity that my colleagues and I had to work with non-simulated robotics was in the M:IA, through the DEI/DEEEC component (even though I had been part of the university’s robotic football team and participated in international competitions). With intelligent robotics as my professional goal, this master’s programme was always the path that best enabled me to pursue it.
I particularly recall the satisfaction of my colleagues in seeing concepts learned during the bachelor’s degree taken seriously and properly addressed in courses designed by the DCC. Now, with the relocation of the master’s programme to the DCC, I am confident in the continuity of the refinement process of the M:IA’s contents within a forward-looking environment.
I believe that the university’s most valuable resource is, in fact, its people, the teaching and student body. In this respect, the M:IA is very well served and supported by a broad interdisciplinary network that brings students lectures, projects, and contacts with a wide range of relevant entities. Despite this sharing network, I must admit that the most valuable insights came from my peers; it would be hard to find elsewhere such a concentration of different personalities, each exploring in their own way a field that is expanding so rapidly.
At the moment, I am preparing my dissertation on multi-agent systems, with a collaboration with Aalto University on the horizon. This opportunity would certainly have escaped me had I not been part of the M:IA ecosystem — an ecosystem that would not be possible without the continuous effort and commitment of my esteemed colleagues, fellow “lab rats” who always fought to ensure we received a high-quality education."
(January 2026)