Secretaria de Relações Internacionais | Office of International Relations

The UNESCO Chair on Language Policies for Multilingualism (UCLPM) was renewed for a second quadrennium (2022-6). Coordinated by Prof. Gilvan Müller de Oliveira, the Chair is the first one based at UFSC and it was created in May 2018 with the signature of the cooperation agreement between UNESCO/Paris and the university.

UCLPM comprises an international research network on four continents, involving 26 universities in 16 countries, which carry out research and teaching acitivities in 11 different languages. UCLPM has brought to UFSC ten international agreements so far,  in countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Chile, South Africa, Indonesia, India, China (Macau), Russia, France and Spain. New institutions continue to request membership to the Chair, and later this year, the Universidad de Antioquia, in Colombia, and the Indian Statistical Institute, in Calcutta, will become member institutions.

The research network aims to generate knowledge on the different contexts of multilingualism, on the language policies developed in these contexts, and their implications for the sustainable development of citizens, linguistic communities, countries and regions. The Chair promotes events, publications, academic mobility, and training of master’s and doctoral students, in addition to advisory services to linguistic communities and governments. The Chair has as deputy coordinators Prof. Suzani Cassiani and Prof. Irlan von Linsingen and is linked to several units at UFSC such as the School of Communication and Arts (CCE), the Office of International Relations (SINTER), the Department of Vernacular (Portuguese) Language and Literature (DLLV), the Department of Foreing Languages and Literatures (DLLE), the Graduate Program in Translation Studies (PGET) and the Graduate Program in Linguistics (PPGLIN), among others.

Learn more about the Chair here.

On 5 September, the Secretary for International Relations, Prof. Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho, and the Director of International Relations, Dr. Fernanda Leal, carried out a visit to the president of the Santa Catarina State Foundation for the Support of Research and Innovation (Fapesc), Fábio Zabot Thausen. On the occasion, they discussed partnership opportunities between UFSC and Fapesc, in the internationalization area. Fapesc has promoted several Calls for Proposals aimed at the internationalization of Santa Catarina’s ecosystem, such as the Programa Catarinense de Internacionalização da CTI: Missão Japão e Singapura 2022 [Santa Catarina Internationalization Program in Science, Technology and Innovation: 2022 Japan and Singapore Mission], in which UFSC was accepted. In all possible joint internationalization initiatives to be undertaken, the aim is to involve several institutions of Santa Catarina.

On 6 September, the Director of International Relations, Dr. Fernanda Leal, and the Head of International Support at the Office of International Relations (SINTER), Marcelo Koerich, visited the Coordinator of the Immigration Police Office in Santa Catarina, Alessandre Mauro Tomaz. Through the existing partnership between SINTER and the Police Office, SINTER carries out the first instructions and assistance to the international community at UFSC concerning the National Migrant Registration (RNM). At the meeting, the importance of the partnership was reinforced and the possibility of expanding the assistance to Araranguá, Blumenau, Curitibanos and Joinville campuses – a topic that will be presented to the campuses during SINTER visits between September and October – was discussed. In addition, the possibility of conducting joint social projects on issues related to immigrants in Santa Catarina was considered.

Photo: EdTech Hackathon Release.

The undergraduate student in English Language and Literature  at UFSC, Vitor Pluceno Behnck, was part of the award-winning team of the first edition of German-Brazilian EdTech Hackathon – Digital Education, which took place between 22 and 24 August at the Goethe-Institut, in Sao Paulo. The event gathered  German mentors and organizers with skilled hackers from all over Brazil.

The project created by the team is called Tech_Ia and proposes the development of an application for teaching music in an accessible manner. In addition to Behnck, the team was composed by professors and students from several institutions: Igor Borges, from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Priscilla Prueter, from the Universidade Federal do Paraná; Johanna Kirchner, from the Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná; Alice Xavier, from the Universidade Federal de Itajubá; and Igor Niemeyer, from the Universidade Federal de Lavras.

“Tech_Ia is an educational solution to introduce music education, especially for children. It is a project of a website that has challenges and teaches you the basics of music notation and rhythm, step by step. In addition, there is the possibility of using a low-cost keyboard that we developed”, explains Behnck.

The event aimed to promote debate on news and experiences with digital transformation in teaching at universities and schools. It was organized by the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (WWU), by the start-up re:edu, by the Society for Academic Study Preparation and Test Development (g.a.s.t.), by the Technische Universität München (TUM), Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin), and by the Goethe-Institut São Paulo, in addition to the collaboration of the German Center for Research and Innovation in São Paulo (DWIH-SP).

The 29 participants proposed technological solutions to current challenges in digital education. During three days, they carried out activities such as workshops, lectures, pizza dinner, hacking sections, project pitching sections, evaluation by the jury, and an award winning ceremony on the last day of the event.  The winners received a certificate and an invitation to participate in the German-Brazilian Innovation and Sustainability Congress, organized by the German-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which will be held on 29 and 30 September, in São Paulo.

According to Behnck, the Hackathon was an enriching experience. “I was able to see my field of study intersecting with several others, which was very important for me since I am enrolled in the last semester of the program. I recommend everyone to follow SINTER’s website and social media to get to know the opportunities beyond the university walls, which was what I did”, he affirms.

Click here to go to the UFSC International Opportunities page.

The Office of International Relations (SINTER) held a Welcome Session, on 22 August, for international students arriving at UFSC for the second semester of 2022. The session took place at the Rectorate Building Auditorium, on the Trindade Campus, in Florianópolis. The event aimed to broaden the reception to the entire international student community at UFSC. Thus, in addition to the exchange students, the event was also targeted at all degree-seeking international students on campus.

From left to right: Prof. Dilceane Carraro, Prof. Irineu Manoel de Souza, Prof. Joana Célia dos Passos and Fernanda Leal.

UFSC community gathered at the Rectorate Building Auditorium to welcome international students.

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The Director of International Relations at UFSC, Dr. Fernanda Leal, participated in the round table “Internacionalização da pós-graduação brasileira: a relevância dos acordos Sul-Sul” [Brazilian Graduate Internationalization: the relevance of South-South agreements], on 6 July, together with the ambassador Irene Vida Gala and the graduate student Eliza Feres. The table is part of the local stage of the 28^th Brazilian Congress of Graduate Students (Congresso de Nacional de Pós-Graduandos – CNPG), promoted by the Brazilian Association of Graduate Students (Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduandos – ANPG), which took place at the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF).

The participation of the Director of SINTER in the event endorses the concept of internationalization that UFSC seeks to deepen, which is: internationalization as an instrument of international solidarity and academic excellence, through multilateralism and multilingualism.

The Office of International Relations (SINTER) has prepared a guide to assist in the writing of institutional documents and correspondences in English at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC).

Aiming to contribute to the university’s internationalization efforts, the guide includes instructions on how to write a formal correspondence in English, brings a series of useful phrases and expressions for letters and emails, and makes other recommendations about the use of English, besides providing document templates to be used by the academic community.

You can view the document by clicking here or by browsing the “internationalizing” menu on our website.