Secretaria de Relações Internacionais | Office of International Relations

As part of the international cooperation agreement negotiated with Zhejiang University International Business School (ZIBS), from China, the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) hosted this Thursday, 22 June, a delegation from the institution on the Florianópolis Campus. The agreement foresees international mobility among students from both institutions and research cooperation. The visit was organized by the Office of International Relations (SINTER) and the Prorectorate for Research and Innovation (PROPESQ), with the support of the Rector’s Office (GR) and the Institute for Studies on China at UFSC (ICHIN).

Delegation was welcomed at the Rector´s Office. Photos: Lethicia Siqueira/ Agecom/UFSC

The delegation from the Chinese university comprised Professor Ben Shenglin, Dean of ZIBS; his wife, Deng Yuhua; the CEO of the company LianLian, Zhu Xiaosong; and the Executive Director and the Partnerships Coordinator of the ZIBS Latin American Center, Rodrigo Moura and Mariana Rodrigues.

They were welcomed at UFSC by the Rector, Irineu Manoel de Souza; the Director of the Rector’s Office, João Luiz Martins; the Head of the Director’s Office, Bernardo Meyer; the Prorector for Research and Innovation, Jacques Mick; the Prorector for Graduate Studies, Werner Kraus Junior; the Prorector for Undergraduate Studies, Dilceane Carraro; the Director of International Relations, Fernanda Leal; the International Agreements Coordinator, Amanda Drehmer; SINTER’s communication assistant, Caroline Finati; Sinter’s translator and interpreter, Paula Michels; and the Institute for Studies on China (ICHIN) Coordinator, Raúl Burgos, accompanied by professors Daniel Martins and Fernando Spanhol and doctoral student Yasmin Lenz.

The group was welcomed by the Rector, who greeted the participants and gave a brief speech in which he presented data about UFSC, qualifying it as a very important university for society, recognized for its quality in the areas of teaching, research, and outreach. The Rector defined the agreement as a very important milestone for UFSC’s internationalization process, bringing opportunities in the area of research and exchanges.

Global Connectivity

The Dean of ZIBS said it was a great honor to visit UFSC, on his second trip to Brazil. He presented information about Zhejiang University (ZJU) and also about the province in which it is located. “We are here to say that we want to work closer to you,” said Professor Ben Shenglin.

The Dean of ZIBS and the Rector of UFSC sign cooperation agreement for international student mobility

The Executive Director of the ZIBS Latin American Center, Rodrigo Moura, said that the partnership not only provides opportunities in the academic area, but also an alignment between the business ecosystems of the two countries. Despite the challenges, he believes that the exchange of students can grow: currently ZIBS has about 6 thousand international students, of which only approximately 3% are Latin American, and the number of Brazilians is still low.

After that, Professor Bernardo Meyer showed an institutional video of UFSC in English. After the signing of the cooperation agreement, the participants headed to the Councils Room, where a meeting was scheduled between the representatives of the Chinese university and UFSC researchers, professors and students.

The meeting began with the presentation of an institutional video from ZIBS. Then, Professor Irineu greeted the audience, communicated about the signing of the cooperation agreement, and stated that it will be fundamental to strengthen the relations with China.

Dean Ben Shenglin continued presenting Zhejiang University, made up of 37 schools with teaching and research activities in almost all areas of knowledge. He said that ZJU has one of the largest and best medical schools and probably the best engineering school in China. “Me being here represents the desire for greater global connectivity,” he said.

Next, Professor Jacques Mick gave a presentation on the research structure at UFSC, with data on the number of researchers, laboratories, research groups, and patents registered, among other indicators. According to the Prorector, the main objectives of UFSC in the cooperation with China are to establish a Confucius Institute or a Luban Workshop at UFSC; to develop research in central areas under development at UFSC (sustainability and climate change; health and quality of life; technology and social studies for development); and to participate in the mission of Brazilian rectors to China.

After the Prorector’s presentation, Professor Daniel Martins talked about the creation of the Institute for Studies on China (ICHIN) at UFSC. The Institute began its activities in 2018, with the participation of volunteers, and was made official in 2019. Since last year, it has been registered as an Outreach Program. ICHIN was one of the initiators of the partnership between ZIBS and UFSC.

The floor was opened for comments and questions from the participants in the Councils Room.

The visit schedule also included events at Sapiens Park, where the delegation had lunch with entrepreneurs at the Senai Institute of Innovation, linked to the Federation of Industries of Santa Catarina State (Fiesc). In the afternoon, they visited UFSC projects at Sapiens Park, such as the Fotovoltaic/UFSC Laboratory and the facilities of UFSC’s Center for Innovation, Research, Entrepreneurship and Technology (Impetu Hub), with the participation of the Secretary for International Relations, Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho; the Prorector for Research and Innovation, Jacques Mick, and researchers from ICHIN.

Article writtem by the GR/UFSC Press.