IST-Phys​Front'25 

1st IST-Ph​​ysics Frontier Symposium

10th September 2025
Técnico Innovation Center (TIC)

Focus Topic​ Session:

MACHINE LEARNING applied ​​to Physics research at IST

Research Highlight Session (all Scientific Areas)

Student Poster Sessions

Outstanding Student Invited Talks

Research Opportunities

The IST-PhysFront Symposium is an annual scientific event organised by the Department of Physics at Instituto Superior Técnico (DF-IST). It showcases cutting-edge research conducted by DF-IST researchers and students.

In this first Edition, a dedicated Focus Topic session highlights research done at the IST Department of Physics, aligned with the field recognised by the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Students from all three Physics cycles of study are invited to present their work in any subject/scientific area during poster sessions. A prize will be awarded for the best LEFT, MEFT and PhD poster. If you wish to submit a poster fill the form available here.

To highlight the excellence of student contributions, the symposium will feature a selection of outstanding student talks covering a range of research topics.

Registration is mandatory to everyone who wishes to attend/participate. Register here.

Organising Committee | António Ferraz (DF & CeFEMA), Beatriz Lima (NFIST), Carlota Pataca (NFIST), Filipe Joaquim (DF & CFTP), Filipe Mendes (DF & IN+), Ilídio Lopes (DF & CENTRA), Madalena Fontes (NFIST), Margarida Nóbrega (NFIST), Patricia Muiño (DF & LIP), Rafael Almeida (DF & IPFN), Rita Paraíba (NFIST)

Secretariat | Paulo Guerreiro & Sandra Martins

Scientific Secretariat | Diogo Capelo, Gabriel Almeida, José Rocha, Leonor Gonçalves

Contact |  physfront25@fisica.tecnico.ulisboa.pt

IST-PhysFront'25 Focus Topic Session

MACHINE LEARNING APPLIED TO PHYSICS RESEARCH AT IST

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping both physics and engineering, offering powerful tools to analyze complex data, model systems, and drive innovation. In Physics, it's accelerating discoveries, while in engineering, it's enhancing design, automation, and real-time decision-making. The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics, awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton, highlighted the foundational role of machine learning in modern science. This recognition marks a turning point : machine learning is not just supporting research — it’s redefining how we explore and engineer the world.

The IST-PhysFront'25 Focus Topic session will be dedicated to projects carried out by researchers and students of the IST Department of Physics using artificial intelligence methods.

Focus Topic Keynote Speakers

Frederico Fiuza

Professor Frederico Fiuza is using artificial intelligence and interpretable machine learning tools to accelerate the development of more efficient models and numerical algorithms in Physics.

Giuseppe De Tomasi

Professor Giuseppe De Tomasi is currently employing ML–based techniques to understand and characterise quantum phases out of equilibrium and their associated entanglement properties.

Marco Piccardo

Professor Marco Piccardo is using analog neural networks encoded in optical diffractive architectures to unlock advanced forms of light manipulation, aiming to create and explore artificial photonic life.

Ruben Conceição

Professor Ruben Conceição is currently exploring the use of ML algorithms to enhance the performance of astroparticle physics experiments.

Susana Freitas

Professor Susana Freitas is using Machine Learning in the development of  Spintronic Sensors Beneath Magnetic Skins.

Vasco 
Guerra

Professor Vasco Guerra is currently working on a new method for physics-consistent ML and on neural networks for optimisation of kinetic models of reactive plasmas.

IST-PhysFront'25 Research Highlights

Research at the IST Physics Department is done in four scientific areas: Astrophysics and Gravitation, Condensed Matter and Nanotechnology, Particle Physics and Nuclear Physics, Plasmas, Laser and Nuclear Fusion, Interdisciplinary Physics. 

Research Highlight Keynote Speakers

Andreas 
Trautner

Centro de Física Teórica de Partícul​as
(CFTP)
Andreas Trautner is exploring the quantum theoretical description of Nature and its fundamental symmetries. He aims at improving our understanding of elementary particles and their interactions including the violation of matter-antimatter symmetry observed in our Universe.

Liliana
Apolinário

Laboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas
(LIP)
Liliana Apolinário studies the strong force - the fundamental interaction that binds particles inside nuclei - by analysing high-speed jets from hadronic collisions. These jets act as messengers from the early universe, revealing how matter behaved just after the Big Bang.

Marta 
Fajardo

Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear
(IPFN)
Marta Fajardo investigates the interaction of intense laser light with matter to understand and control extreme states of plasma. Her research combines high-power laser experiments with advanced X-ray imaging to explore conditions found in stellar interiors and fusion reactors, bridging fundamental physics with practical applications.

Richard 
Brito

Centro de Astrofísica e Gravitação
(CENTRA)
Richard Brito works in relativity and gravitation, focusing on black holes and gravitational waves. His research explores how these phenomena can test gravity in extreme regimes and shed light on potential dark matter candidates.

OUTSTANDING STUDENT TALKS

Get ready to be inspired by the remarkable research conducted by our students! Through a series of dynamic short talks in a various range of topics, you'll discover the depth, creativity, and ambition that define the scientific work happening across our Department. These presentations celebrate student-led research and aim to spark curiosity, collaboration, and new ideas among peers.

Duarte
Lopes
(LEFT)

Duarte is investigating particle injection mechanisms in astrophysical collisionless shocks, aiming to uncover the plasma conditions that enable particles to enter acceleration processes. His work uses numerical simulations to better understand the origin of high-energy cosmic rays.

Gonçalo
Roriz
(LEFT)

Gonçalo is involved in the development of cutting-edge, ultra-fast electronics specifically designed to meet the demands of FLASH Radiotherapy and perform the first experimental validations of FLASHGuard - a project that is paving the way for the safe clinical implementation of FLASH Radiotherapy.

Mariana
Abreu
(MEFT)

Mariana’s research focuses on many-body localization transitions driven by quasiperiodicity. In particular, she aims to determine the effects of electronic (i.e. spinful) interactions on the localization transition and establish whether these interactions become relevant near criticality.

Gonçalo
Martins
(MEFT)

 Gonçalo is using astrostatistical tools to investigate how differences in type Ia supernovae (SNe) and their host properties might affect the late-time Cepheid-based distance ladder determination of the hubble constant. He also brings observational experience with the ESO’s New Technology Telescope (NTT), as part of the ePESSTO+ collaboration.

TIMETABLE

8h45 - 9h45 | Collect your badge at the TIC Reception
9h45 - 10h00 | ​Opening
 10h00 - 11h00 | FOCUS TOPIC SESSION
(Machine learning Applied to Physics Research at IST)
10h00 - 10h20 |  Frederico Fiúza
The AI Physicist: learning equations from data
10h20 - 10h40 |  Susana Freitas
Decoding Touch: Machine Learning and Spintronic Sensors Beneath Magnetic Skins
10h40 - 11h00 |  Giuseppe de Tomasi
When Machine Learning Meets Quantum Systems Out of Equilibrium
11h00 - 11h45 | COFFEE BREAK AND POSTER SESSION
11h45 - 12h45 | FOCUS TOPIC SESSION
(Machine learning Applied to Physics Research at IST)
11h45 - 12h05 | Vasco Guerra
Physics consistent machine learning
12h05 - 12h25 | Rúben Conceição 
The Rise of Machine Learning in Astroparticle Physics Experiments
12h25 - 12h45 |  Marco Piccardo 
Optics that learn
12h45 - 14h45 | LUNCH
14h45 - 15h00 | PRIZE ANNOUNCEMENT
15h00 - 16h20 | DF RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT SESSION 
15h00 - 15h20 | Andreas Trautner
Quantum information theory of Higgs couplings and Flavor
15h20 - 15h40 | Liliana Apolinário
Heavy-Ion collisions and the Quest for the Early Universe
15h40 - 16h00 | Marta Fajardo
When Light Becomes Stronger Than Matter
16h00 - 16h20 |  Richard Brito 
The Discovery Potential of Gravitational Waves
16h20 - 16h30 | PRIZE ANNOUNCEMENT 
16h30 - 17h15 | COFFEE BREAK AND POSTER SESSION
17h15 - 18h15 | OUTSTANDING STUDENT INVITED TALKS
17h15 - 17h30 |  Duarte Lopes
The mystery behind the most powerful accelerators in the universe
17h30 - 17h45 |  Gonçalo Martins
Supernovae, Host Galaxies, and the Hubble Tension
17h45 - 18h00 | Gonçalo Roriz 
FLASHGuard: How to Revolutionise Cancer Treatment With a Prototype
18h00 - 18h15 |  Mariana Abreu
Phase transitions in quasi-periodic systems
18h15 - 18h30 | PRIZE ANNOUNCEMENT & CLOSURE

TIMETABLE

8h30 - 9h15 | Registration
9h15 - 9h30 | Opening
09h30 - 12h30 | FOCUS TOPIC SESSION
(Machine learning Applied to Physics Research at IST)
9h30 - 9h50 | Frederico Fiúza
9h50 - 10h10 | Susana Freitas
10h10 - 10h30 | Giuseppe de Tomasi
10h30 - 11h30 | Coffee Break and Poster Session
11h30 - 11h50 | Vasco Guerra
11h50 - 12h10 | Ruben Conceição
12h10 - 12h30 | Marco Piccardo
12h30 - 14h30 | Lunch
14h30 - 15h50 | DF RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT SESSION
14h30 - 14h50 | Andreas Trautner
14h50 - 15h10 | Liliana Apolinário
15h10 - 15h30 | Marta Fajardo
15h30 - 15h50 | 
15h50 - 17h00 | Coffee Break and Poster Session
17h00 - 18h00 | OUTSTANDING STUDENT TALKS
17h00 - 17h15 | Duarte Lopes
17h15 - 17h30 | Gonçalo Roriz
17h30 - 17h45 | 
17h45 - 18h00 | 
18h00 - 18h20 | Best poster and best PIC2 video winner announcement
18h20 - 18h30 | Closure

PRIZES @ IST-PhysFront'25

During PhysFront’25, several prizes will be awarded:

Best LEFT/MEFT/PhD Posters
T​he best posters will be selected by votes from registered participants of IST-PhysFront’25. To vote, simply choose your favourite poster in the Google Form (the link is displayed at every poster stand). Each participant may submit one vote per category (LEFT / MEFT / PhD). Please use the same email address you registered with to authenticate your vote.
Poster Winners here!
  
Best PIC2 video
Winner: Bruno Semião (MEFT)








LEFT/MEFT Student Innovation Prize
Candidate Projects:

FlashGuard Project 
(Gonçalo Ribeiro, Gonçalo Roriz, Carolina Ribeiro)
Noisr (Winner)
Bernardo Grandela, Ricardo Ribeiro, João Paulo Rodrigues, Duarte Cardoso, Duarte Fernandes, Henrique Pereira, Telmo Vaz, Pedro Manuel de Figueiredo, João Pedro Barbosa
Representation of the nonlinear propagation of laser pulses through sound, using a granular synthesis technique
André Nabais
Complements of Mathematics for Physics
Gabriel Almeida, Tomás Gaspar, Filipe dos Santos
Printable Labs
Pedro Monteiro
RFID communication of triboelectric wearable sensors
Carolina Antunes