Eight researchers at Portugal’s University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD) will spend the next 30 months testing a new way to help young athletes develop—not by treating talent as a fixed quality, but as something shaped over time. The project, TALENTODROME-PT, has secured €150,000 from the Portuguese Olympic Committee, the maximum grant available to a single project.
The award comes from the committee’s grants for applied research in sports development. Five projects were selected from 20 applications, sharing about €750,000 in funding. The program covers areas including performance monitoring, artificial intelligence, talent development and technological innovation. It plans at least 10 grants in total: five funded by the Olympic Committee and five by the Portuguese Paralympic Committee.
Led by UTAD researcher Jaime Sampaio, TALENTODROME-PT aims to bring scientific research closer to the everyday needs of athletes, coaches, sports federations and organizations. The team will develop and test its approach with young athletes from different sports. It will combine varied sports experiences, creative thinking and new training methods with injury prevention and attention to mental health. The project will also use advanced technology and artificial intelligence.
Sampaio, a lecturer at UTAD and researcher at the Research Center for Sport, Health and Human Development (CIDESD), says talent should not be judged from a single moment in a young person’s life. “Talent is not a photograph taken at 12 or 14,” he said. It is a path that develops through interactions among people, experiences and surroundings, often in ways that are hard to predict. The project will study and reshape the settings in which talent can emerge, grow and reach excellence.
The team includes six UTAD researchers: Sampaio, Sara Santos, Nuno Mateus, Eduardo Abade, Catarina Abrantes and Nuno Leite. They are joined by Diogo Monteiro of the University of Leiria and Oeste, and Maria João Lagoa of the University of Maia.
The project’s central idea is that spotting promise early is only part of the work. Young athletes also need training and support that can adapt as they grow. By testing a model that brings together physical development, creativity, health and technology, the researchers hope to turn findings into methods that coaches and sports organizations can use.
The Olympic Committee has already transferred the first installment, 25% of the grant, allowing work to begin. Committee president Fernando Gomes said investment in applied research can help Portuguese sport make better decisions by bringing knowledge into training and to federations, athletes and organizations. Over the coming 30 months, TALENTODROME-PT will put that goal to the test with young athletes across different sports.