Carlos Teixeira: Reflections at Graduation

Teixeira, a 2020 Harvard Kennedy School graduate, was a Belfer International and Global Affairs Student Fellow

Carlos Teixeira graduated in May 2020 with a Master in Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard Kennedy School. A Belfer International and Global Affairs Student Fellow, his policy interests include the use of scientific expertise and advice in policy-making, innovation systems and European affairs. Previously, following his graduation from Nova SBE, he worked in the Cabinet of the EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, planning the EU’s R&I programme for several years, and in the Permanent Representation of Portugal to the Council of Europe, negotiating the revised Convention 108 on data privacy. 

Looking back at his Kennedy School journey, Teixeira has vivid memories of a packed Belfer Library where, he says, he “learned, discussed, and laughed with the best and brightest with whom I shared the many memories of this BIGA Fellowship experience.”

“I remember the open doors of faculty, fellows and staff.  I remember the words of advice, the thought-provoking ideas, and the challenges posed by the many symbols of expertise, public service, and leadership that I’ve met: John P. Holdren, whose wealth of knowledge and experience is endless and from whom I learned tremendously in both teaching and research projects; Eric Rosenbach, whose relentless sense of commitment to public service and pedagogical excellence has always been inspiring as both my professor but also as someone with whom I worked in course development; Sheila Jasanoff, who opened up new windows and doors in the way I think about the role of expertise, namely legal and scientific, in policy, politics and decision-making.”

“One of the projects I accomplished while part of the Belfer family was this year’s European Conference at Harvard,” Teixiera says. “It happened in extraordinary circumstances, amidst fears of a pandemic about to start in the U.S., but with the steady guidance and support from the team of the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship, led by Nicholas Burns and Cathryn Cluver Ashbrook, we placed - for three days - Europe at the core of the discussions on the Harvard campus.”

With the contribution of 50 key European thinkers and decision-makers, as well as several hundred students from universities across the United States and Europe, Teixeira recalls, “we asked what Europe should be doing, knowing 'the world is watching' what it does – something that seems even more real today in this pandemic.”

“Being part of the Belfer Center is being at an epicenter of fresh thinking and opportunities,” Teixeira says.  “But as we learned too well therein, the more we listen, see, read and get, the more we feel compelled to give back in a proportion as large as possible – and I will soon start working on a few projects of my own, in Portugal as well as with the OECD and the European Commission, around research and innovation and higher education policy reforms. ”

“When picking among the schools I was admitted to,” Teixeira says, “the Belfer Center was a key deciding factor that led me to pick HKS – and I was right to have thought that way.”