Secretaria de Relações Internacionais | Office of International Relations

The Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) will receive until early 2016, a total of 38 foreign students by the Programas de Estudante-Convênio de Graduação ( PEC- G) and Pós-Graduação (PEC- PG). Of the 75 members of the PEC-PG supported this year, seven will study at UFSC, which according to data from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Capes), is the second university in the south of the country that receives the majority of students in the program.

The professor and deputy secretary of Internatinal Relations at UFSC, Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho assesses that the agreement student programs reinforce the multi-ethnic character of the University. “In addition to the provided solidarity , we received young people from different countries and continents , to enrich the cultural and academic atmosphere of UFSC . It is thus a two-way cooperation”, he says.

Pinheiro estimates that, although the University has 110 vacancies for the PEC- G per year, only 30 foreign students (on average) are received  by program notice . “The reasons for this are multiple. Not always the program’s disclosure in different countries is efficient, or students of some nationalities are not interested in it because have good universities in their home countries. There are also concentrated interests in some courses, especially the traditional ones. Furthermore, as the vacancies are generally per course, there are only a few graduations known abroad which do not receive candidates. Finally, there are candidates who have difficult access for financial reasons.”

Assim como o , o PEC-PG foi criado em 1981 para conceder bolsas de mestrado e doutorado para graduados de países que assinaram acordos culturais e estudantis com o Brasil. Administrado pelos Ministérios da Ciência e Tecnologia, Relações Exteriores e Educação, os benefícios incluem matrículas gratuitas em cursos de pós-graduação e bolsas de pesquisa de R$ 1.500 (mestrado) e R$ 2.400 (doutorado), durando um e dois anos, respectivamente. Entre 2008 e 2015, o programa recebeu 786 pós-graduandos de 32 países, em sua maioria vindos da Colômbia, Peru, Cuba, Moçambique e Cabo Verde.

As the Programa de Estudante-Convênio de Graduação, the PEC-PG was created in 1981 to grant master’s and doctorate scholarships for graduates from countries that have signed student and cultural agreements with Brazil . Administered by the Ministries of Science and Technology, Foreign Affairs and Education, the benefits include free enrollment in postgraduate courses and research grants of R$ 1,500 (master) and of R$ 2,400 (PhD), lasting one and two years , respectively. Between 2008 and 2015 , the program received 786 graduate students from 32 countries, mostly coming from Colombia, Peru, Cuba, Mozambique and Cape Verde.

Experiences

Whitin the 523 students qualified for the PEC-G to study in Brazil, 31 chose UFSC, filling vacancies in 18 courses on campuses of Florianópolis, Joinville and Araranguá. Seventeen of the selected students enrolled in the first semester, while eight were approved for the second semester and six will begin their studies in 2016 .

The combination of a diverse culture and internationally recognized undergraduate areas are the main reasons that attract the interested people to student-partnership programs. By knowing the PEC-G, the Bolivian student Bruna Contreras was convinced to attend his graduation in Brazil, joining the UFSC in the first semester of this year . Coming from the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bruna is the second of her family to do the graduation by PEC-G. “I heard this alternative from my father, who participated in the program when he was younger .”

Aided by the Brazilian consulate, the student found in UFSC habits similar to the youth of her country, a spicy food and especially a warm welcome. “Brazil is a very cool place to study, and the staff here is very happy”, she says.

Currently, the PEC- G is governed by Decree 7.948/13 and serviced jointly by the Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs. Today, through the program, students complete their degrees in Brazil and return to their home countries to apply the acquired knowledge. When she finishes the course of Civil Engineering, Bruna intends to use what she learned in her father’s construction company, since her hometown is expanding.

Covering 59 countries – 27 in the Americas , 25 in Africa and 7 in Asia – the PEC-G has served almost nine thousand students in the last decade, many of them coming from Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Angola . The highest number of vacancies available for foreign graduate students in Brazil are in the Letters courses, Media, Business, Life Sciences and Pedagogy. According to Capes, in the last 15 years, the continent with the largest share in PEC-G is Africa (77%) , followed by South America (15%) , Central America (7%) and Asia (1%) .

Text by Gabriel Daros (Estagiário de Jornalismo)

Published by Elisa Teixeira (Estagiária SINTER)