Office of International Relations

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

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.

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From left to right: Marianne Scholze Behs, Cynthia Faby, Joana Passos and Luiz Carlos Pinheiro.

On 22 May, members of the U.S. Consulate General in Porto Alegre visited the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) in Florianópolis.

The Vice-Rector of UFSC, Prof. Joana Passos, and the Secretary for International Relations, Prof. Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho, received Cynthia Faby, Public Affairs Officer, and Marianne Scholze Behs, Public Affairs Specialist, at the Rector’s Office. Together, they addressed issues related to possible cooperation between U.S. universities and UFSC. Prof. Pinheiro also presented to the visitors the list of nineteen American universities that already have agreements with UFSC.

During the meeting, the Public Affairs Office and the Vice-Rector recalled the award received by the latter on International Women’s Day in 2022, “it was a very big surprise to be among the seven Brazilian women recognized by the 2022 Brazilian Women Making a Difference award from the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Brazil”, said the Vice-Rector, highlighting that it was an honor for UFSC too.

The cordial meeting with the Consulate opened new possibilities for cooperation and exchange between the North American university communities and UFSC, providing more international opportunities to our students, faculty and staff.

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

UFSC welcomes delegation from Universidad de Chile.

On 20 and 21 March 2023, the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) welcomed a  delegation from Universidad de Chile to strengthen the internationalization relations of doctoral programs in the areas of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at both institutions.

The delegation that visited UFSC, on behalf of the Rector of the Universidad de Chile, was composed of the University Senator and Professor of the Department of Organic Chemistry and Physical Chemistry, Prof. Arturo Squella, the Director of Innovation and Technology, Prof. Eduardo Soto Bustamante, and the Head of the Rector’s Office, Mr. Daniel Burgos Bravo.

During their visit to UFSC, the representatives of the Chilean institution visited the School of Biological Sciences (CCB), the School of Technology (CTC), the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM) and the School of Agricultural Sciences (CCA) in order to learn about the university’s research laboratories and analyze the graduate teaching perspectives at UFSC. This analysis was targeted at the possibility of establishing collaboration agreements between the institutions in these areas.

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

The administrative building of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.

The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya [Open University of Catalonia] (UOC) is a private university dedicated to distance learning, based in Barcelona, Spain.  It is the world’s first university with a virtual campus.

The Secretary for International Relations at UFSC, Prof. Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho, visited UOC and gave us this report:

“As I was registered to participate in the 32nd European Association for International Education (EAIE) Conference and Exhibition, I thought it was important to get to know a university in Catalonia as part of the “Campus Experience” activity. The university with the name Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) caught my attention, but what really surprised me was the meaning of “Open”. The name, for them, means that the student does not need to be present at the university. Thus, I got to know the first completely online university, founded in 1995. It was an interesting and unexpected experience.

This university has been growing year by year and in the period 2019-2020 had over 70 thousand students from 142 countries enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs, 478 permanent faculty members and 5300 collaborating faculty members, in addition to 667 administrative staff members. The practical classes, when needed, take place in other institutions located where the student is residing.

The pandemic forced us to undertake remote learning, and it certainly opened up the debate on online learning, which is very different from offering remote classes. At UFSC, we call distance learning (EaD) what others call online programs. It uses other teaching and learning methodologies that depend a lot on the students and their motivation. There are positive and negative aspects. It seems to me that the positive aspects include the fact that education is made possible for those who work, have a family, or cannot afford to live in the city where the university is based. From this perspective, it is inclusive, providing study opportunities for those who otherwise would not have them. In fact, the age group of UOC students is mostly above 30 years old. On the other hand, there is the very negative aspect of the student not experiencing the university and its daily life, not socializing, not knowing their colleagues and professors, and having to learn always through the cold contact of a computer screen. Online learning is there, and it is up to us (UFSC) to assess its relevance, utility and opportunity”.