Designing and Managing Complex Systems

Design, implementation, and continuous improvement of decision-support systems and human-centred intelligent operations.

04

Connected disciplines

12

European regions

24/7

Systems intelligence

The research area

Designing and managing complex socio-technical systems for resilient, sustainable and human-centred operations.

Research Challenge

Grand societal challenges, fragile global supply chains and fast-moving digitalisation are putting organisations, industries and value chains under pressure. Decisions must be taken in complex, uncertain and dynamic environments, with many stakeholders and competing goals of performance, resilience and sustainability, while new technologies raise questions of trust, adoption and user engagement.

Our Response

INESC combines optimisation, simulation, AI and digital twins with service science, information systems and innovation management to design human-centred systems that perform under real-world conditions. Our research supports sustainability transitions and builds responsive, resilient and circular value chains. It also develops dynamic decision support for uncertain environments, tested with stakeholders in living labs and industrial settings.

What INESC brings

Better Decisions, From Operations To Innovation.

A coordinated capability spanning complex systems end to end, from operations, value chains and mobility to decision support, data-driven information systems and innovation management.

Operations, Value Chains & Mobility

Manufacturing systems design, supply chain and logistics management, circular supply chains and remanufacturing, critical infrastructure, and urban mobility and freight services

Decision Support under Uncertainty

Optimisation, metaheuristics, hybrid simulation, digital twins and reinforcement learning, supporting decisions from daily operations to the full system lifecycle

Data, AI & Information Systems

Industrial AI, data ecosystems and governance, industrial digital platforms, IoT and cyber-physical systems, information systems engineering, and human-in-the-loop, trustworthy AI Services.

Innovation & Sustainability Transitions

Service design and business-model innovation, technology adoption, Responsible Research & Innovation, innovation policy, and support for SME innovation

Power systems

Planning and operation of reliable, resilient grids with high shares of renewable energy.

Energy markets

Market design, flexibility strategies and data-driven valuation for fair energy systems.

Sensing & optimisation

Forecasting, state estimation and optimisation under uncertainty for real-time decisions.

Power electronics

Advanced converters, control and integration for storage, e-mobility and distributed resources.

People behind the research

Expertise with impact.

Lia Patrício
Lia Patrício

Cluster / Scientific Coordinator

António Almeida
António Almeida

Co-Head / Centre Coordinator for the Industrial & Systems Engineering domain

Grasiela Almeida
Grasiela Almeida

Assistant Coordinator / Advisor to the Centre Coordinator

José Coelho Rodrigues
José Coelho Rodrigues

Contact person and cluster contributor

Dr. Elias Vermeer

Power Systems

Grid Intelligence Lab

Dr. Elias Vermeer

Power Systems

Grid Intelligence Lab

Dr. Elias Vermeer

Power Systems

Grid Intelligence Lab

Dr. Elias Vermeer

Power Systems

Grid Intelligence Lab

Related infrastructure

Where research becomes real.

INESC-ID
Location: Lisbon
Smart grids, power electronics, EV and energy storage research and testing environment.

Energy dream lab

Location: Lisbon
Smart grids, power electronics, EV and energy storage research and testing environment.

Smart Grid Laboratory

Brussels, Belgium
Real-time simulation, validation and grid control

Energy Data Platform

Leuven, Belgium
Secure data spaces, forecasting and market analytics

Power Electronics Lab

Liège, Belgium
Converters, drives and storage integration

European context

Enabling resilient, circular and human-centred value chains.

Systems engineering and management capabilities support European research and innovation by addressing complex challenges in manufacturing, supply chains, services and mobility. They draw on decision support, optimisation, simulation, AI and digital twins, alongside service science and technology and innovation management. INESC research in this domain contributes to European priorities on resilient and circular value chains, industrial data ecosystems, sustainability transitions, Responsible Research & Innovation and SME innovation. It helps organisations, value chains and policymakers make better decisions in uncertain and dynamic environments, strengthening Europe’s competitiveness and its green, social and digital transitions.

Latest thinking

Policy output

Publication Date: 04/03/2020
With Commission services sketching portfolios of eighteen, twenty-four or twenty-eight partnerships, down from sixty, and a consultation open until 16 October, the vision must come before the arithmetic.
Publication Date: 10/05/2024
A summary report capturing the key discussions, findings and follow-up actions from the INESC Brussels HUB’s 2026 Summer Meeting on European research infrastructure priorities.
Publication Date: 10/05/2024
A summary report capturing the key discussions, findings and follow-up actions from the INESC Brussels HUB’s 2026 Summer Meeting on European research infrastructure priorities.
Publication Date: 10/05/2024
A summary report capturing the key discussions, findings and follow-up actions from the INESC Brussels HUB’s 2026 Summer Meeting on European research infrastructure priorities.
Publication Date: 10/05/2024
A summary report capturing the key discussions, findings and follow-up actions from the INESC Brussels HUB’s 2026 Summer Meeting on European research infrastructure priorities.
Publication Date: 07/07/2026
A summary report capturing the key discussions, findings and follow-up actions from the INESC Brussels HUB’s 2026 Summer Meeting on European research infrastructure priorities.

Policy brief

12 May 2026

Flexibility markets for a decarbonised energy system

Research insight

03 Apr 2026

Data-driven forecasting for renewable integration

Analysis

18 Mar 2026

Power electronics for a resilient grid transition