Biography

  • name Francisco Manuel Gonçalves Coelho
  • birth 1968-07-30, Lisbon, Portugal.
  • work Assistant Professor, Computer Science Department, University of Evora.
  • academics
  • research
    • Logic programming.
      • Answer Set Programming.
      • Inductive Logic Programming.
    • Artificial Intelligence.
    • Probabilistic Reasoning.
  • contacts
    • email: fc ∈ uevora · pt
    • address: Rua Romão Ramalho 59 / Departamento de Informática / Universidade de Évora / 7000-671 ÉVORA / Portugal
  • cv @CienciaVitae
  • ids
    • Ciência ID: AF10-03F3-E074
    • ORCID: 0000-0002-3586-8745
    • Google Scholar: ioTSiDcAAAAJ
    • Scopus Author: 34569120100

It's men who make laws, and enforce them, and break them, and think the whole performance is wonderful. — Ursula K. Le Guin

Courses

MSc (2nd Cycle) — Computer Science Course

Graduation (1st Cycle) — Computer Science Course

Short Courses

  • Programming in Julia for Digital Humanities & Social Sciences - 2024-01-27 — 2024-02-17
    • ONLINE COURSE - FREE OF CHARGE
    • 4 SESSIONS (16 hours: Tutorial and hands-on classes)
    • 2 ECTS (EUROPEAN CREDIT TRANSFER SYSTEM)
    • 14 Contact hours + 38 Individual work hours including final project
    • General Overview:
      • Online training course
      • Hands-on activities
      • Languages: English
      • Level: Beginner
  • Programming in Julia for Digital Humanities & Non-technical Sciences - 2023-04-13 — 2023-04-29
    • ONLINE COURSE
    • 4 SESSIONS (16 hours: Tutorial and hands-on classes)
    • 2 ECTS (EUROPEAN CREDIT TRANSFER SYSTEM)
    • 14 Contact hours + 38 Individual work hours including final project
    • General Overview:
      • Online training course
      • Hands-on activities
      • Languages: English
      • Level: Beginner/Intermediate

Mini-projects

Workshops

  • Julia4Scholars 2024-06-04 — 2024-06-07, Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand (Support material).
  • Julia4Scholars 2024-01-08 — 2024-01-12, Birla Institute of Technology & Science Pilani, Pilani, India.
  • Introdução ao LaTeX (Curso de Formação Transversal do IIFA), with supporting overlays, document templates and a cheat sheet.

Students

Current

  • Dionísio Ximenes is working on Visual Programming and Pedagogy Tools for his PhD thesis.

  • Filipe Vieira is starting his PhD thesis on the use of Answer Set Programs with Weights.

  • Diogo Pinto MSc work is CodinSpace: a Serious Game to self-learn programming themed on Astronomy.

  • Tomás Lima is completing his MSc dissertation about Analysis and Visualization of Astrophysics Data.

  • Bruno Encarnação is starting his MSc dissertation SetMindset: Serious Games for Mental Well-being.

  • Vanderley Gondim is writing his PhD thesis about Smart Cities and civil engagement.

Former

  • Francisco Rodrigues Meta-Game inspired in Recommender Systems 2023 (MSc student).

  • Alice Martins had a scholarship to help in the Zugzwang | Logic and Artificial Intelligence project.

  • Rita Leitão, Online Learning and Dropout, 2022 (MSc student).

  • Carlos Figueiredo, E-Learning Imersivo - Atividades na Perspetiva da Primeira Pessoa, 2022 (MSc student).

  • Tony Chaveiro, Realidade Virtual e e-Aprendizagem - Especificação de Perguntas de Escolha Múltipla, 2021 (MSc student).

  • Yushra Tehereem, The X in Balance – A serious game to learn how to solve mathematical equations, 2016 (MSc student).

  • Filipe Vieira, Autómatos Recursivos, 2010-01-19 (MSc student).

  • Sara Silva, Introdução à Computação Quântica, 2009 (Graduation student).

Research profile

My key interest is Artificial Intelligence grounded in the Logic representation of problems. In particular, Statistical Relational Learning to address noise and incomplete knowledge.

In my current research project, Zugzwang | Logic and Artificial Intelligence, we try to address a major limitation of logical representations, the implicit assumption that the Background Knowledge (BK) is perfect. This assumption is problematic if data is noisy, which is often the case. Here we aim to explore how ASP specifications with probabilistic facts can lead to characterizations of probability functions on the specification's domain.

I am associated member of the Intelligent Systems group of NOVALINCS, a leading research lab in the area of Computer Science and Informatics, hosted at the Departamento de Informática – NOVA School of Science and Technology | FCT NOVA – Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, a pioneering national institution in the field. NOVA LINCS also integrates branches at Universidade de Évora, Universidade da Beira Interior and Universidade da Madeira. NOVA LINCS research team currently engages 61 integrated members and 23 associated members.

I completed my PhD in Computer Sciences in 2006 at the University of Lisbon; MSc in Mathematics in 1997 at the University of Lisbon; and graduation in Mathematics in 1993 by the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon.

I participated as Principal Investigator (PI) in one FCT project and as project member in several other funded projects.

Also, see my publications.

Events

2025

2023

Publications

(Selected) Papers in Journals with Peer Review

Monographies

  • Francisco Coelho, Emergência e Colapso de Poder, PhD thesis, Computer Science, University of Lisbon, 2006;

  • Francisco Coelho, Polinómios, Réguas e Compassos — Problemas de decidibilidade e de computabilidade, MSc dissertation, Mathematics, University of Lisbon, 1997;

Books

Online

Printed

Software