Words: Salome Branco, Deputy General Coordinator of FCCN, Digital Services Unit of the Foundation for Science and Technology
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has long ceased to be a technology in development with potential; it is now regarded as indispensable across multiple sectors. However, its adoption in the education sector, centred on providing access to students, teachers and researchers, requires redoubled efforts and care to ensure equality of access and a safe and fair framework.
It is in this context that IAedu emerges in Portugal – a digital solution developed by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), through its digital services unit FCCN, and created in partnership with Microsoft Portugal.
Launched in May 2025, the initiative has a clear ambition: to democratise access to AI in Higher Education and Research sector, by making large language models (LLMs) – such as OpenAI GPT-4o, OpenAI o4-mini and Mistral – available to the academic community. Through a single platform, access is provided via federated authentication, using institutional credentials of the users. This allows IAedu to break down technical and financial barriers and ensures that Portuguese academic community can explore the potential of AI on an equal footing.
The creation of personalised virtual agents, designed to perform specific functions according to the needs of each user or institution, is already available. Reserved for the Teacher profile, this feature enables teachers to provide their students with, for instance, a thematic assistant dedicated to a particular course unit. To this end, the teacher feeds the agent with their knowledge base, making it reliable and aligned with their teaching methodology.
Currently in a pilot phase, IAedu already counts its first participating institutions, which are now testing the solution and sharing their feedback to prepare and refine the service for wider deployment across Portuguese higher education and research institutions.
In developing this solution, one of the central goals of FCT/FCCN is to ensure its responsible and secure use, offering additional guarantees of protection through centralised access. Moreover, users’ data are not used to train the models, thereby safeguarding their privacy.
IAedu thus contributes to the construction of a regulated and trustworthy ecosystem for the use of Artificial Intelligence, offering Portuguese Higher Education and Research an infrastructure designed to meet their needs.
In addition to being a milestone in Portugal’s positioning in the responsible and innovative adoption of this technology in an academic context, IAedu is also an invitation to innovation. It is an opportunity to rethink the way we teach, research and collaborate – leaving no one behind.
About the author
Salomé Branco is the Vice President of AGSE (Agency for the Management of the Education System) and Deputy General Coordinator of FCCN, the digital services unit of FCT. Over the years, she has played a key role in defining and implementing Portugal’s national strategy for connectivity and technology applied to education and research. With more than 20 years of experience at FCCN, where she previously led the Control, Planning, and Management division, she has also represented the country in several international councils, such as the ccNSO and ISOC.She holds a degree in Management from ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon, and has complemented her education with a postgraduate degree in Communications and Multimedia Management from ISEG, and more recently, a postgraduate degree in Leadership in Technology from Instituto Superior Técnico
