Course Building and Leading Research Teams – 4th edition

8, 9, 22 January and 5 February 2026 | Meeting room A; i3S, Porto

Leadership in research is an increasingly essential skill to successfully meet performance expectations and to foster the development of the next generation of researchers. This course will equip research leaders with the knowledge base to effectively build, manage and inspire a research group in the academic enterprise.

Co-organization: Paula Lopez Perez, i3S Career Development Unit and Research and Projects Office of U.Porto

Requirements: Laptop

Target audience: Researchers (R2/R3/R4) responsible for leading and managing people in the development of scientific research projects and preferably with at least one supervising experience.
The selection of participants will be carried out based on a questionnaire, to be completed at the time of registration in order to assess the suitability of the course to their experience and expectations.

Course duration: 28 hours

Course language: Portuguese.

Certificate: The attendees must attend a minimum of 80% of the course duration.

Poster

8, 9 January (9.00-18.00); 22 January (9-00-13.00) 5 February (9.00-18.00) 2026 (28h total, distributed over 3.5 days)

1. The current work context and skills for the future
1.1. Critical trends and skills
1.2. Challenges in managing a research team

2. Culture and alignment: vision, mission and objectives

3. Leadership
3.1. Self- Awareness
3.2. Leadership styles portfolio

4. Team Management Toolkit - Build, develop, manage, motivate and retain research teams (in person or remote)
4.1. Recruitment and selection – background, qualification, experience, skills and motivation
4.2. Integration of new employees
4.3. Management by objectives
4.4. Employee and team development
4.5. Motivation, engaging, recognition
4.6. Retention

5. Team management Communication (on-site and remote)
5.1. Alignment and orientation tools
5.2. Internal and external communication
5.3. Communication styles
5.4. Giving and receiving feedback

6. Negotiation and problem solving

Consultancy Service in Work Psyhchology (FPCEUP)

Filipa Ferreira
Independent consultant in talent, leadership and career development, and external researcher at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto.
Lecturer in the Executive and Digital MBA programs at Porto Business School and Executive Education on topics such as Employee Experience, Career Design, Leadership and International People Management. Visiting Lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto in Organizational Behavior and Change.
With experience in corporate, startup, and scale-up contexts, she has led HR and transformation projects in sectors such as retail, banking, healthcare, and technology.
She holds a Master’s in Psychology, a postgraduate degree in People Management, an Executive MBA and executive training from London Business School and London School of Economics.
She developed works and publications in vocational exploration and career development as a researcher.

Marta Santos
Teacher and researcher at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto.
She has developed projects of scientific consultancy, in national and international context, on training, skills and professional development.
Member of the Center of Psychology of the University of Porto and of the Board of Laboreal Journal, of international and interdisciplinary nature.
Vice-President of the Scientific Council of FPCEUP, member of the Department of Psychology Council, and member of the Academic Council of Porto Business School

Cláudia Pereira
PhD Researcher at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences and member of the Consultancy Service in Work Psychology at FPCEUP.  
She has developed action-research projects in secondary and tertiary contexts, focused on the transformation of contexts and the development of people, within the scope of themes such as: the reconstruction of professional paths; professional training; team development and leadership; age diversity and aging at/by work; and safety, health and well-being at work 
Member of the Center of Psychology of the University of Porto and of the Direction Board of Laboreal Journal, with an international and interdisciplinary nature.

Admission criteria: Researchers responsible for leading/managing people in the development of scientific research projects and preferably with at least one supervising experience.

Limited number of participants: 25.

Fees:

i3S members / P.CCC Raquel Seruca members – free of charge*
U.Porto members – free of charge*

    *Participation for i3S and U.Porto members is free of charge with the compromise to attend at least 80% of the course. A no-show policy will be applied for this course. Course registrations may be cancelled up to ten working days prior to the beginning of the course unless otherwise stated. In the event of a no-show without timely notification or major reason (medical certificate in case of illness or certification in any other case a no-show fee of € 350 (total registration fee) will be charged to you.

Pre-registration deadline: 26 October 2025

Pre-registration form >>

Please note that your pre-registration does not confirm that you have been selected for the course.

Cancelation policy:
The i3S will apply the following cancelation policy.

Cancellation by the course participant
Substitutions will only be made in exceptional circumstances at the discretion of the course organizers.
    *Participation for i3S and U.Porto members is free of charge with the compromise to attend at least 80% of the course. A no-show policy will be applied for this course. Course registrations may be cancelled up to ten working days prior to the beginning of the course unless otherwise stated. In the event of a no-show without timely notification or major reason (medical certificate in case of illness or certification in any other case a no-show fee of € 350 (total registration fee) will be charged to you.

Cancellation by the Institution
Organizers reserve the right to cancel the course, in case of an insufficient number of participants, organizational reasons, or other unforeseeable events that render the execution of the course impossible. In case of cancelation by the organization, the fee will be refunded, if applicable.
In addition, i3S and U.Porto reserve the right to amend course times, dates, or published prices if absolutely necessary. The organizers shall immediately inform the pre-registered participants of these alterations. Any cancellation or substitution requests should be requested by e-mail.

                                       WITH THE SUPPORT:

More information:
Advanced Training Unit | E-mail: training@i3s.up.pt | Tel: +351 226 074 900