About me

I’m a Full Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of Instituto Superior Técnico, and a Senior Researcher at INESC-ID, working with the Group on Artificial Intelligence for People and Society. Additionally, I’m currently serving as Vice-President for Academic Affairs of IST in the 2024-2027 term.

Contact

Instituto Superior Técnico
TagusPark, Edifício IST
Av. Prof. Dr. Aníbal Cavaco Silva
2744-016 Porto Salvo
Portugal

Phone: +351 210 407 002
Fax: +351 214 233 290

fmelo (at) inesc-id (dot) pt

Research

My main research interests are in machine learning and decision-theoretic planning, and in the exploration of models and algorithms from these fields of AI that may enable the development of intelligent autonomous agents capable of interacting with other agents (human or artificial) in complex, possibly unknown environments. My research thus lies at the intersection of different sub-fields within artificial intelligence, such as decision-theoretic planning (and its applications to human-robot interaction and collaborative multi-agent scenarios), general reinforcement learning, active learning, and interactive machine learning.

Research Interests:

Machine learning (ML):
Reinforcement learning
Inverse reinforcement learning
Active learning
Online learning
Robotic applications of ML
Decision-theoretic planning (single and multiagent)

Publications

Research Projects

RELEvaNT FCT Project
TAILOR H2020 Project
Trustworthy Ad Hoc Teamwork, AFOSR Project
HOTSPOT FCT Project
ANIMATAS ETN
ILU FCT Project
Ad hoc teamwork with humans and robots, AFOSR Project
AMIGOS FCT Project
CMU-PT Project INSIDE
EU FP7 Project EMOTE
CMU-PT Project MAIS+S
EU FP7 Project LIREC

Teaching

Courses

Planning, Learning and Intelligent Decision Making
MSc in Computer Science and Engineering (Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2026)
Reinforcement Learning
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering (Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2023, Fall 2025)
Deep Learning
MSc in Computer Science and Engineering (Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023)
Learning and Intelligent Decision Making
MSc in Computer Science and Engineering (Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018)
Advanced Topics in Artificial Intelligence
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering (Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017)
Introduction to Programming
MSc in Information and Enterprise Systems (Fall 2013, Fall 2014)
Decision Support Systems
MSc in Computer Science and Engineering (Fall 2011, Spring 2013)
Foundations of Programming
BSc in Information Systems and Computer Engineering (Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014)

Students and post-docs

Current PhD students:

Guilherme Varela
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Diogo Carvalho
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering (co-advised with Pedro Santos)
Pedro Pinto Santos
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Fábio Vital
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Jacopo Silvestrin
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering (co-advised with Manuel Lopes)
João Caldeira
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering
Ana Carrasco
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering (co-advised with Filipa Correia and Alberto Sardinha)
Bernardo Esteves
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering (co-advised with Miguel Vasco)

Current MSc students:

Bernardo Sousa MSc in Computer Science and Engineering (co-advised with João Caldeira)

Past post-doctoral collaborators:

Pedro Sequeira, 2014-2016
(currently at SRI International)
Stefan Witwicki, 2011-2013
(currently at Nissan Research)

Past PhD students:

João Ribeiro
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering, 2025 (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Carla Guera
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering, 2024 (co-advised with Manuel Lopes)
Ali Kordia
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering, 2023
Miguel Faria
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering, 2023 (co-advised with Ana Paiva)
Miguel Vasco
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering, 2023 (co-advised with Ana Paiva)
Ramona Merhej
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering, 2023 (co-advised with Francisco C. Santos)
Silvia Tulli
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering, 2023 (co-advised with Ana Paiva and Mohamed Chetouani)
Filipa Correia
PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering, 2021 (co-advised with Ana Paiva)
Rui Silva
Dual PhD CMU-IST Program in Computer Science and Engineering, 2020 (co-advised with Manuela Veloso)
Kim Baraka
Dual PhD CMU-IST Program in Electrical Engineering and Robotics, 2020 (co-advised with Manuela Veloso)
Hang Yin
Dual IST-EPFL PhD Program in Computer Science and Engineering, 2018
(co-advised with Ana Paiva and Aude Billard, currently at KTH)
Pedro Sequeira PhD in Computer Science and Engineering, 2013
(co-advised with Ana Paiva, currently at SRI International)

Past MSc students:

André Matos MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2025 (co-advised with Miguel Faria)
João Costa MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2025 (co-advised with João Caldeira)
Diogo Nogueira MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2024 (co-advised with Fábio Vital)
Guilherme Salvador MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2024 (co-advised with Pedro P. Santos)
Henrique Martins MScMSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2024 (co-advised with Diogo Carvalho)
André Dias MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2024 (co-advised with Rui Prada)
Guilherme Jardim MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2024 (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Afonso Fernandes MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2023 (co-advised with Miguel Vasco)
Eduardo Paiva MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2023 (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Sofia Carvalho MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2022 (co-advised with Ana Paiva)
Rustam Zayanov MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2022 (co-advised with Manuel Lopes)
Filipe Sousa MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2022 (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Gonçalo Querido MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2022 (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Gonçalo Barbas MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2022 (co-advised with António Reis)
Inês Vieira MSc in Applied Mathematics, 2022 (co-advised with Pedro Santos)
Bernardo Esteves MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2022
Miguel Coelho MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2021 (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Cassandro Martinho MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2021 (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Fábio Vital MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2021 (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Pedro Matias Santos MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2020 (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Pedro Pinto Santos MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2020 (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Ricardo Santos MSc in Applied Mathematics, 2020 (co-advised with Pedro Santos)
Gonçalo Lopes MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2020 (co-advised with Manuel Lopes)
Ricardo Sequeira MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2019 (co-advised with Rui Prada)
Renato Cardoso MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2019 (co-advised with Manuel Lopes)
João Barbosa MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2019 (co-advised with Francisco C. Santos)
Diogo Carvalho MSc in Mathematics and Applications, 2019 (co-advised with Pedro Santos)
Daniel Alves MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2019 (co-advised with António Reis)
Miguel Vera MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2019 (co-advised with Manuel Lopes)
Gonçalo Rodrigues MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2018 (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Henrique Carlos MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2018 (co-advised with Sofia Pinto)
João Ribeiro MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2018 (co-advised with João Dias)
Luís Henriques MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2018 (co-advised with Luísa Coheur)
Ricardo Costa MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2018 (co-advised with Rui Prada)
João Abreu MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2018 (co-advised with Manuel Lopes)
Ana Rita Salta MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2017 (co-advised with Rui Prada)
Daniel Brandão MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2017 (co-advised with João Dias)
Gonçalo Castilho MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2017 (co-advised with Manuel Lopes)
Tiago Gomes MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2017 (co-advised with Manuel Lopes)
Tomás Alves MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2017 (co-advised with Sandra Gama)
André Santos MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2017 (co-advised with Pedro Santos)
Hugo Martins MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2017 (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
João Cruz MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2017 (co-advised with Rui Prada)
Miguel Faria MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2016 (co-advised with Ana Paiva)
Rodrigo Monteiro MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2016 (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Ana Narciso MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2016 (co-advised with Alberto Sardinha)
Beatriz Bernardo MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2016 (co-advised with Ana Paiva)
Filipa Correia MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2015 (co-advised with Ana Paiva)
Pedro Gusmão MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2015 (co-advised with Rui Prada)
João Quitério MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2015 (co-advised with Rui Prada)
Daniel Magarreiro MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2014 (co-advised with Luísa Coheur)
Ricardo Carvalho MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2014 (coadvised with Alberto Sardinha)
Rui Silva MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2014
Joana Botelho MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2013 (co-advised with Ana Paiva)
João Prioste MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2013 (co-advised with Rui Prada)
Diogo Simões MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2012 (co-advised with Ana Paiva)
Carlos Fraga MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2011 (co-advised with Rui Prada)
Vivek Maganlal MSc in Computer Science and Engineering, 2011 (co-advised with Ana Paiva)