Turning Citizens into Sensors: Designing a Digital Platform for Smart Health Decision-Making
Projects: PUREPOLIS
This master’s thesis, integrated into the European project PUREPOLIS (Horizon Europe), proposes the development of a Smart Health mobile application that enables citizens to actively contribute to urban pollution monitoring and the promotion of healthier cities.
The objective is to transform citizens into active participants in the collection of data related to pollution exposure, mobility patterns, and perceptions of environmental quality and smart health improvement, thereby creating a new dynamic in decision-support processes related to health and sustainability.
The student will design and develop a functional application prototype using the Design Science methodology, widely applied in engineering for the development and evaluation of technological solutions to real-world problems.
The application will enable the collection of anonymised data on geolocation, mobility, and environmental perceptions, as well as include interactive features for citizen engagement (e.g., notifications, feedback on exposure, or healthy mobility challenges). This data may subsequently be used to feed decision support systems and smart city models.
The thesis will be developed at the Digital Health Factory, in collaboration with international teams from the PUREPOLIS project and European cities such as Funchal, Nantes, and Valencia. The student will interact with researchers and municipal decision-makers, contributing to a European project that connects biomedical engineering, environmental health, data science, and smart cities, and aims to develop innovative digital solutions to reduce pollution and improve urban health.
If you are interested, please get in touch with Prof. Luís Lapão: l.lapao@fct.unl.pt
Virtual Reality for Training and Decision-Making in Complex Healthcare Contexts
Projects: EUROMAID, Erasmus+
This master’s thesis, integrated into the European project EUROMAID (Erasmus+), proposes the development of a Virtual Reality (VR) simulation system designed to support clinical reasoning training and decision-making in complex healthcare settings. The aim is to create an immersive environment in which nursing students and other healthcare professionals can safely and systematically practice the analysis of challenging clinical situations, following evidence-based training protocols and realistic clinical scenarios.
The student will design and develop a VR system prototype, integrating a structured clinical training protocol that guides users through different stages of assessment, decision-making, and reflection. The system will enable the simulation of interactions with patients and healthcare teams, record user decisions, and provide educational feedback.
The work will also involve collaboration in the analysis of pedagogical requirements, user experience design, and the implementation of decision-support mechanisms to better understand clinical reasoning processes.
The thesis will be developed in collaboration with international partners from the EUROMAID project, allowing the system to be tested with students from different countries and educational contexts. This work will provide experience in virtual reality applied to healthcare, clinical decision-support systems, and simulation in medical education, contributing to the development of new digital training tools that enhance clinical skills, critical thinking, and ethical preparedness in complex healthcare situations.
If you are interested, please get in touch with Prof. Luís Lapão: l.lapao@fct.unl.pt