CV
Contact Information
| Name | Joana Brito |
| Professional Title | PhD Student in Computer Science & Engineering |
| joana.b.brito@tecnico.ulisboa.pt |
Professional Summary
PhD student and researcher at GAIPS (INESC-ID), Instituto Superior Técnico, working on assistive robots that give cognitive support while preserving people’s sense of autonomy. My research spans human-robot interaction and assistive technology, with a focus on autonomy, cognitive support, and executive functions. Background in biomedical engineering and physiological computing. Part of the lab’s social media team, engaged in science communication to share its research with the public.
Experience
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2023 - present Lisbon, Portugal
Researcher
Group of Artificial Intelligence for People and Society, INESC-ID
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2023 - present Lisbon, Portugal
Teaching Assistant
Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa
- Bachelor courses: Logic for Programming (1st year) and Artificial Intelligence (2nd year).
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2022 - 2023 Lisbon, Portugal
Research Assistant
Instituto de Telecomunicações
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2019 - 2021 Vienna, Austria
Research Trainee
Technische Universität Wien
Education
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2023 - present Lisbon, Portugal
PhD
Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa
Computer Science and Engineering
- Expected completion: December 2027.
- Supervised by Prof. Joana Campos (INESC-ID) and Dr. Filipa Correia (ITI/LARSyS).
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2025 - 2025 France
University of Grenoble
Unite! Winter Research School
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2023 - 2023 Ljubljana, Slovenia
University of Ljubljana
Advanced Summer School on Artificial Intelligence (ESSAI & ACAI)
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2018 - 2021 Vienna, Austria
MSc
Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien)
Biomedical Engineering
- Major in Biomedical Signals & Instrumentation.
- Thesis: “Elliptical method for the time-domain quantification of the arterial baroreflex”, advised by Prof. Eugenijus Kaniusas and Univ. Ass. Babak Dabiri.
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2015 - 2018 Lisbon, Portugal
BSc
Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa
Biomedical Engineering
Publications
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2027 “It Was Me Who Corrected It”: Designing and Evaluating Autonomy-Preserving Robotic Support for Older Adults
ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI'27). Under review.
Brito, J.; Correia, F.; Campos, J.
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2027 Validating Gameplay as Executive Function Assessment: A Multi-Game Study with Neurodivergent Children
ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'27). Under review.
Brito, J.; Belbute, M.; Stillwell, D.; et al.
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2026 Unlocking Emotions: The Impact of Robot Question-Asking and Reciprocal Sharing on Self-Disclosure during Emotion Learning
ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI'26), Edinburgh, 316–325.
Brito, J.; Neerincx, A.; Soares, A.; Dong, H.; Antunes, A. T.; Paiva, A.; de Graaf, M. M. A.; Campos, J. doi:10.1145/3757279.3785562
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2026 Promoting User Autonomy Through Adaptive Robotic Cognitive Support for Neurodivergent and Aging Populations
ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS'26), Doctoral Consortium, Porto, Portugal, 25 Oct 2026. Accepted.
Brito, J.
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2026 Workshop YOUR Study Design!
ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI): 2026, Edinburgh; 2025, Melbourne; 2024, Boulder, CO (workshop proposals).
Mohan, M.; Brito, J.; Neerincx, A.; et al. (first author in 2025). doi:10.1145/3776734.3793852; doi:10.1109/HRI61500.2025.10973827; doi:10.1145/3610978.3638167
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2025 Assistant Robots with an Agenda Foster Uncooperative Behaviors
2025 IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), Eindhoven.
Brito, J.; Brito Duarte, R.; Fonseca, H. C. doi:10.1109/RO-MAN63969.2025.11217891
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2024 Social Robotics in Psychological Interventions for Children
In Digital Technologies for Learning and Psychological Interventions. Springer Nature.
Neerincx, A.; Brito, J.; Couto, M.; Campos, J.; et al. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-76414-1_6
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2024 A Real-World Dataset of Group Emotion Experiences Based on Physiological Data
Nature Scientific Data.
Bota, P.; Brito, J.; Fred, A.; Cesar, P.; Silva, H. doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02905-6
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2021 Cardiovagal Baroreflex Hysteresis Using Ellipses in Response to Postural Changes
Frontiers in Neuroscience 15:720031.
Dabiri, B.; Brito, J.; Kaniusas, E. doi:10.3389/fnins.2021.720031
Funding & Fellowships
- 2026–Present · PhD Student Fellow – FCT, Fundação para a Ciência e para a Tecnologia (2025.01710.BD). Design and evaluation of an assistive robot that provides cognitive support through autonomy-supportive interactions rather than task-oriented assistance alone.
- 2022–2025 · PhD Student Fellow – EMPOWER, European Commission (Horizon Europe, GA 101060918). Design and evaluation of technological support tools to empower stakeholders in digital education.
- 2022–2023 · Research Fellow – Neurosecurity and Experimental Communication, European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC/IPR/2021/VLVP/3145).
Professional Service
- 2026 · Student volunteer, ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI’26, CORE A*), Edinburgh.
- 2024–2026 · Organizing Committee, Workshop “YOUR Study Design”, ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI’24 in Boulder, CO, HRI’25 in Melbourne, HRI’26 in Edinburgh).
- 2025 · Proceedings Chair, Social Media Chair & Student Volunteer Chair, IEEE 2025 Conference on Games (CoG’25, CORE B), Lisbon.
- 2024 · Student volunteer, 4th TAILOR Conference “Trustworthy AI from Lab to Market”, Lisbon.
Science Communication & Outreach
- 2024–Present · Social Media Team, Group of Artificial Intelligence for People & Society, INESC-ID: science communication of the lab’s research to the public.
Awards
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2021 Academic Distinction
Technische Universität Wien
Average below 1.5.
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2018 Diploma of Academic Merit
Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa
Top 10% of students, 2015–2018.