Secretaria de Relações Internacionais | Office of International Relations

This post is available in Brazilian Portuguese only. Please access the website in Portuguese to read it.

This post is available in Brazilian Portuguese only. Please access the website in Portuguese to read it.

The Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) participated in the IV International Forum on Human Rights, organized by the Association of Montevideo Group Universities (AUGM) Human Rights Chair, between 23 e 25 October 2024, at Universidade Nacional de Quilmes (UNQ), Buenos Aires, Argentina. Professor Juliana Viggiano, from the Department of Economics and International Relations, represents UFSC in the Chair and took part in the event which had as its theme “The university as a human right – building democratic spaces and solidarity resistance”.

Opening panel of IV International Forum on Human Rights, organized by the AUGM Human Rights Chair

The forum´s program includes panels and discussions between academics, civil society representatives and activists, who discussed challenges and strategies for strengthening human rights in higher education. The opening panel featured Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and the keynote speech by Dr. Eugenio Raúl Zaffaroni, who addressed the role of universities in tackling in inequalities and promoting democracy. The closing lecture, led by Professor Dr. Victoria Kandel, from the Universidade Nacional de Lanús, reinforced the need to make human rights education a continuous and integrated practice to fight against hate speech.

Human Rights Chair metting

Juliana Viggiano also took part in the annual meeting of the Human Rights Chair, where the representatives of the member institutions discussed strengthening the exchange of faculty, students and administrative staff in the area of human rights. The review of the Chair’s 2024-2026 Triennial Plan and the proposal for greater coordination between AUGM universities to develop joint projects were also topics discussed in the meeting.

According to the professor, UFSC’s involvement in the event is “an opportunity to promote the internationalization of research and outreach in the area of human rights, as well as to build joint strategies with universities from participating countries to strengthen human rights practices and activities in universities”.

Cultural Activity closing the event

This post is available in Brazilian Portuguese only. Please access the website in Portuguese to read it.

On 15 October 2024, the Brazilian delegation, made up of representatives from several universities and led by Brazilian Ambassador to Russia, Rodrigo Baena Soares, embassy attaché, Marcelo Böhlke and deputy minister of Education, Alexandre Brasil Carvalho da Fonseca, took part in strategic meetings in Moscow in order to strengthen academic partnerships. The mission was organized by the Brazilian Embassy in Moscow and was attended by the following Brazilian universities: UFSC; UDESC; UNESP; UNICAMP; UFRGS; UFRJ; UFMG; UFABC; UFES; UFJF; UFNT; UFOB; UFOP; UFPA; UFRN; FURG; UFSB; UFSB; UNB; UNIFEI, and CNEN (Centro Nacional de Energia Nuclear) [National Center for Nuclear Energy] of the Ministry of Technology and Innovation. The Secretary for International Relations, Prof. Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho represented UFSC in the mission.

Secretary for International Relations, Prof. Luiz Carlos Pinheiro and RSUH Vice-rector, Prof. Vera Zabotkina, signing the cooperation agreement UFSC-RSUH.

On the morning of 15 October, the delegation met with the Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH), which currently has an agreement underway with UFSC. The meeting featured speeches by the Russian authorities such as rector Audrey Loginov and Dr. Ksenia Trinchenko, director of International Cooperation Department at the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Russian Academy of Sciences. They emphasized the importance of cooperation between both countries. Brazilian representatives, in addition to the ambassador and the deputy minister of Education, the president of ANDIFES and rector of UFRN, José Daniel Diniz Melo, also reinforced the opportunities for academic cooperation.

UFSC stood out at the meeting when RSUH vice-rector, Prof. Vera Zabotkina, mentioned the role of the university in the UNESCO Chair, coordinated by Prof. Gilvan Müller. She also praised the student Gustavo Scalabrin Hübner, who was an exchange student at RSUH in 2023. Prof. Lyudmila Baturina, director of the International Russian-Brazilian Center, highlighted the work of UFSC professors Fred Campos and Beatriz Azevedo in the study group PRORUS, strengthening partnerships between the institutions.

Message from the student Gustavo Scalabrin Hübner, who was an exchange student at RSUH in 2023.

During the meeting, the universities discussed possibilities for scientific cooperation, joint research and mobility. RSUH demonstrated interest in co-supervision and funding for undergraduate and graduate students. RSUH is an institution of excellence, among the best in the world and very willing to work together with Brazil. For UFSC, this is a great opportunity. Some of the knowledge areas that RSUH stands out in are anthropology, through the Institute of Social Anthropology, International Relations and Political Science, the Institute of Psychology, with emphasis on L. S. Vygotsky studies, and language studies, including Portuguese. And other areas within the field of Humanities. An interesting observation is that there were RSUH students attending the whole event.

In the afternoon, the delagation visited the Skoltech Institute of Science and Technology, a cutting edge institute focused on innovation and partnerships with companies.

The mission was characterized by productive exchanges and celebrations, including a toast to the renewal of the cooperation agreement with RSUH, signaling a new phase of academic cooperation between Brazil and Russia.

Opening ceremony of the I UFSC International Week in the CCS Auditorium. Photo: Andrey Santiago/Agecom/UFSC

The first edition of UFSC International Week began on Monday, 21 October, with the debate on topics related to the internationalization of higher education and the need to strengthen academic partnerships. It was organized by the Prorectorate for Graduate Studies (PROPG), the Office of International Relations (Sinter) and the Prorectorate for Research and Innovation (Propesq). The event offers a program made up of panels, conferences, round tables and other activities aimed at sharing internationalization experiences.

The planned activities began in the morning, and the opening ceremony was held on Monday night, in the School of Health Sciences (CCS) Auditorium, on the Trindade Campus, in Florianópolis. The ceremony was attended by the Rector of UFSC, Irineu Manoel de Souza; the Prorector for Graduate Studies, Werner Kraus Jr.; the Secretary for International Relations, Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho; the Prorector for Research and Innovation, Jacques Mick; the Director of International Relations of the Fundação Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Capes) [Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel], Rui Vicente Oppermann; and the Prorector for Research and Graduate Studies of the Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (Udesc), Sérgio Henrique Pezzin.

>Watch the opening ceremony of the Week

Coordinator of the UFSC I International Week, Professor Werner Kraus, highlighted the “intense schedule of activities” of the five-day event. In addition to holding a conference and three main panels, the prorector highlighted the number of works registered for the parallel sessions (about 50 presentations, most of them linked to the Capes-PrInt Program). “It will be a very fruitful week. I am sure that we will all be very pleased with what will be discussed and with the prospects that lie ahead of us, “said Werner.

In turn, Prof. Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho stated that the implementation of UFSC’s internationalization policy has been built on basic principles, such as reciprocity, academic excellence, solidarity and diversity. In his speech, he also stressed that this process should involve the entire university community, including professors, students, and technical-administrative staff (TAEs).

Professor Sérgio Pezzin, who represented the Udesc Rectorate at the time, defended a closer action between both universities, with the objective of expanding academic partnerships and strengthening relations between the institutions. “UFSC is a very important partner for Udesc, just as Udesc is for UFSC. We have many complementary areas in which we can, together, be stronger, strengthening our work and working as a network, “he said.

The Rector of UFSC, Irineu Manoel de Souza, reinforced that the internationalization of the University must occur in a comprehensive way, involving undergraduate and graduate programs, research and outreach. “I am sure that the Week will pave the way for important discussions for our University. Despite the financial difficulties, we have the prospect of new moments, dialog, expanding knowledge and making the University really the motivating factor of a new society, nationally and internationally, “said Irineu.

Shortly after the session, Capes’ Director of International Relations, Rui Oppermann, gave a presentation on the activities of the Foundations. He highlighted that “internationalization is in the DNA of CAPES”, since the first activities developed there were faculty development programs in countries such as France, the United States and England. Opperman also presented a panorama of stricto sensu Graduate Studies in Brazil. According to data from 2022, the country today has 4,592 graduate programs, with 7,027 courses, distributed in 425 institutions, 49% of them public and 33% belonging to the federal network.

Capes is the main distributor of scholarships in Brazil, responsible for financing 79% of the total. Currently, the Coordination maintains 47,187 master’s scholarships and 52,895 doctoral scholarships. Next, it is the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), with only 8% of the total: 4,310 master’s scholarships and 6,097 doctoral scholarships.

Afterwards, Professor André Brasil, from the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands, spoke about the evaluation methods in the context of internationalization. Also affiliated with Capes, André is a researcher at the Center for Science and Technology Studies (CSTs) and a member of the UNESCO Chair on Diversity and Inclusion in Global Science. His research focuses on national evaluation systems, scientometrics, academic publishing, open science, responsible research and innovation (RRI), and diversity in science, especially with regard to multilingualism and geographic inclusion.

Throughout the week, the program was full of additional activities — proposed by the UFSC community itself — and lectures on internationalization in Higher Education, with the participation of UFSC authorities and professors, as well as guests from institutions abroad and professionals related to Internationalization.

The UFSC I International Week closes this Friday (25 October).

> Watch the event on UFSC Internacional YouTube channel

For more information access: sinter.ufsc.br/semanainternacional.

Reproduced by the UFSC Communication Agency, with additions by the Office of International Relations (SINTER/UFSC).

Between 21 and 25 October 2024, the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina will held the I UFSC International Week, an event that will bring together experts, scholars and the university community to discuss issues related to the internationalization of higher education. The event organized by the Office of International Relations (SINTER), the Prorectorate for Graduate Studies (PROPG) and the Prorectorate for Research and Innovation (PROPESQ) will offer panels, conferences, round tables and other activities aimed at sharing internationalization experiences.

The official opening of the event is scheduled for 21 October 2024, at 6:30 p.m., in the Auditorium of the School of Health Sciences (CCS). The keynote will be delivered by Professor André Brasil from the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands. Throughout the week, participants can look forward to thematic panels exploring key topics such as internationalization of scientific research and graduate programs, as well as future opportunities for the international collaboration at UFSC. Notable participants include Hans de Wit, professor emeritus at the International Higher Education, Boston College, in the United States, and Rui Oppermann, director of International Relations at Capes.

In addition to the panels, the Week will include activities related to UFSC’s subprojects within Capes’ Institutional Internationalization Program (Capes-PrInt), as well as other internationalization initiatives proposed by the university community.

The I UFSC International Week is expected to be a significant milestone for the university, enhancing international cooperation networks and reaffirming its commitment to academic excellence and global solidarity.

(more…)