Secretaria de Relações Internacionais | Office of International Relations

This week, the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) welcomed a delegation of representatives from the Universidade Nacional de Timor Lorosa’e (UNTL), an East Timorese institution with which UFSC has had an agreement for over 15 years. During the visit there were meetings and presentations by both institutions, as well as a study into expanding partnerships. A reception has been organized for this Friday, 21 June, to present the entire UFSC structure to the rector and vice-rector of UNTL.

The reception was attended by authorities such as the rector of UFSC, Irineu Manoel de Souza, the rector of UNTL, João Soares Martins, the vice-rector of UNTL, Afonso de Almeida, the dean of the School of Education, Arts and Humanities of UNTL, Professor Teodoro Soares, and the representative of the Embassy of Timor-Leste in Brazil, Filomena Noronha Mesquita. Other UFSC authorities present at the event included the Prorector for Graduate Studies, Werner Kraus and the Secretary for International Relations, Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho, as well as the deans of the Schools of Education, Hamilton de Godoy Wielewicki, and of Philosophy and Human Sciences, Alex Degan.

“We are very happy with the visit from the Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa’e, welcome everyone,” said rector Irineu Manoel de Souza. “Despite the difficulties and even during a strike period, our professors, administrative staff and students are here in an effort given the great importance that internationalization has for our University”.

As well as UFSC and UNTL authorities, there were many students present from Timor-Leste. (Photo: Mayra Cajueiro Warren/Agecom/UFSC)

The rector of UNTL, João Soares Martins, also highlighted the “willingness and good will” of UFSC and emphasized the importance of the partnership for the “growth and sustainability” of his country. UNTL is the only public university in that country and has around 25,000 students duly enrolled, 43 undergraduate programs, 11 master’s  programs and 1 doctoral program.

The partnership between UFSC and UNTL has already led to the exchange of dozens of Brazilian and Timorese professors and students in international mobility opportunities between the institutions. Among the academic and scientific cooperation projects, between 2009 and 2016 there was a Faculty Qualification and Portuguese Language Teaching program; and there is currently a technical cooperation project between professors from UFSC’s Graduate Program in Science and Technology Education and professors from UNTL’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities for the implementation of a Master’s Degree in Education, which will begin in 2023 and which motivated a visit by a delegation of researchers from UFSC in January this year. The Master’s Program is being coordinated at UFSC by Professor Suzani Cassiani and is funded by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The first class of the Master’s Degree in Education of this partnership currently has 31 students.

According to UFSC’s Graduate Studies Superintendent, Rui Daniel Prediger, the University and UNTL are also discussing the possibility of offering an Inter-institutional Doctoral Program (DINTER) in Science and Technology Education at the Timorese institution. The proposal is coordinated by Professor Patrícia Giraldi from UFSC and Professor Manuel Belo de Carvalho from UNTL, and is funded by the Human Capital Development Fund, an initiative of the Timorese government. It is hoped to provide 15 doctoral places for faculty from the School of Education, Arts and Humanities at UNTL.

Merita Pereira Gonçalves, photographed with professor João Batista Calixto, PROPG superintendent, Rui Predinger, and the rector and vice-rector of UNTL, will be the first Doctor in Pharmacology in her country. Photo: Personal archive)

“This DINTER proposal has been approved by all UFSC bodies and was recently submitted to the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and we are very optimistic that it will come into force next year,” announced the superintendent.

The visit to UFSC on Friday included presentations about the institution by the Office of International Relations (Sinter), the Prorectorate for Graduate Studies (PROPG), the Prorectorate for Undergraduate Studies and Basic Education (Prograd) and the Prorectorate for Student Affairs and Retention (PRAE). There were also presentations by the Prorectorate for Affirmative Action and Equity (Proafe) and the Prorectorate for Outreach and Extension (PROEX), as well as a visit to the UFSC laboratories at Sapiens Parque.

Mayra Cajueiro Warren | mayra.cajueiro@ufsc.br
Agecom Journalist | UFSC