UGPN Partners in Brazil to Engage with Government Initiative

Representative from University Global Partnership Network (UGPN) partner universities the University of Surrey, North Carolina State University and the University of Wollongong travelled to São Paulo, Brazil, from 9-12 September 2019 to take part in a large-scale internationalisation event hosted by UGPN partner the University of São Paulo (USP).

Featured image: UGPN colleagues at University of São Paulo ‘1st Workshop of the Internationalization Program (PrInt/CAPES)’.

The University of São Paulo (USP) hosted the ‘1st Workshop of the Internationalization Program (PrInt/CAPES)’, which aimed to stimulate further research collaboration and PhD mobility with key strategic partners. The ‘CAPES/PRINT’ programme is federal funding for select Brazilian universities to fund international engagement (annual investment of R$300 million). USP has been one of the main beneficiaries of this programme and is delivering on a strategy to direct their allocation towards funding impactful collaborations with strategic partners.

UGPN representatives engaged with the workshop event as well as a range of other meetings, visits, and talks involving colleagues from across a range of USP faculties and other partners in Brazil, including: São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Brazilian Federal Funding Agency (CAPES), and the UK government.

USP has received substantial funds to pursue its internationalization plan from 2019 to 2022. The plan is divided in five thematic areas:

• Arts and Humanities – AAH
• Earth and Space – EAS
• Health and Disease – HAD
• Translational Plant and Animals Sciences – TPAS
• TEC – Technology

PRINT funds will be applied in 6 different lines of funding, all of them bound to annual calls specific to the eligible USP graduate programs and thematic areas. More information is available on the USP website here.

The UGPN is a key element of USP’s international strategy and so the UGPN network will be engaging with PRINT opportunities via mobility for research students and staff, Sandwich PhD mobility / Dual PhDs, research development workshops/events, and potentially longer-term sabbaticals.