Winter Schools dedicated to Space start in February
The first Winter Schools of the Portuguese Space Agency, a short-term training initiative for higher education students, will kick off in February. In 2025, four schools were approved.
The first edition of the Winter Schools about Space kicks off in February. The Portuguese Space Agency’s new educational initiative focuses on a short-term training approach for higher education students, centred on practical, collaborative formats. The programme was created to promote up-to-date knowledge of the space sector through interaction among universities, companies, and institutions, encouraging learning that differs from the traditional classroom model and reinforcing collaboration among ecosystem players, with a direct impact on participants’ experience.
The Winter Schools are part of the national-level work carried out by the Portuguese Space Agency to boost the space sector in higher education and strengthen the link between academia and industry. Focusing on key topics in the field of space, it provides intensive training in specific areas, strengthening skills and bringing students closer to the challenges and contexts of the sector, with an emphasis on cooperation and teamwork, in line with initiatives such as EuRoC – European Rocketry Challenge and CubeSat Portugal.
“The aim is for Winter Schools to attract young people to the sector and become an important moment in the training of future professionals. The approved training proposals are quite different among themselves, focusing on diverse topics, which reflects not only the broad scope of space as an area of knowledge, but also the curricular diversity that exists in Portugal,” points out Marta Gonçalves, Education and Science Programme Manager at the Portuguese Space Agency.
The 2025 edition integrates four schools with programmes that combine concentrated curricular units, project-based learning methodologies, workshops, and interactive activities, including hackathons, bringing training closer to concrete challenges in the space sector. “These are short, intensive courses designed to enable students to quickly acquire knowledge in a specific area. At the same time, they help to clarify interests and career paths, supporting decision-making about academic and professional futures,” adds Hugo André Costa, Executive Director of the Portuguese Space Agency.
Among the approved applications is, for example, the Space Medicine Winter School, developed by the University of Minho in partnership with the Centre for Aerospace Medicine Studies (CEMA-FMUL) and the Abel Salazar School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS UP). The initiative begins with an online phase dedicated to the transmission of fundamental knowledge, followed by an in-person phase between February 23rd and 27th, grounded in project-based learning and focused on human health challenges in space environments, with an emphasis on the future permanent presence on the Moon.
On February 2nd, the Space SML Winter School – Space Safety, Space Weather, and Space Debris, organised by the University of Coimbra node of the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA), starts. The initiative aims to provide introductory training in space safety, space weather, and space debris, areas of particular relevance to the Portuguese Space Strategy – Portugal Space 2030.
Shortly afterwards, on February 9th, the Portuguese Space Resources Academy begins, organised by the Mining Department of the Instituto Superior Técnico, with sessions running until February 11th. The programme combines technical lectures with roundtables, workshops, and interactive activities, with the goal of informing and motivating students to pursue careers related to the exploration and use of space resources, including in situ resources.
Lastly, the NewSpace Winter School, organised by the Espaço ao Cubo Association, comprises five curricular units over the first three days and culminates in a hackathon, reinforcing a practical approach geared towards applying the knowledge acquired.
