Secretaria de Relações Internacionais | Office of International Relations

On Friday, 8 August, the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) will hold its traditional International Community Welcome Day, marking the start of the second semester of 2025 and welcoming all international students arriving at UFSC. The event will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the Shared Building (EFI) Auditorium, Trindade Campus, Florianópolis.

The initiative is promoted by the Office of International Relations (SINTER), in partnership with the Prorectorate for Undergraduate Studies and Basic Education (PROGRAD), through the Institutional Program for Educational Support to Students (PIAPE) and the “UFSC Without Borders” project, with additional support from the SINTEGRA Program, a collaboration between SINTER and the UFSC Department of Psychology.

The event aims to foster the integration of international undergraduate and graduate students—both degree-seeking and exchange students—into university life and the city where they will live and study. The study buddies who support international students are also invited.

This semester, UFSC will welcome around 127 international undergraduate students from 20 countries. Among them, 120 are participants in the Incoming Exchange Program, coming from countries such as Germany, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Spain, the United States, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Peru, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Russia and Switzerland. Additionally, seven students will be welcomed through the Escala Estudiantes de Grado Program of the Association of Montevideo Group Universities (AUGM), coming from Argentina and Uruguay. Another four students will be joining UFSC through the Programa de Estudantes-Convênio de Graduação (PEC-G), coming from Angola, Cape Verde, Chile, and East Timor. One of them will be studying in Joinville (Science and Technology program) and the others in Florianópolis (Law, Nursing, and Medicine programs).

The morning session will open with an official welcome ceremony, attended by UFSC’s Rector, Professor Irineu Manoel de Souza. Following his welcome speech, UFSC’s Secretary of International Relations, Professor Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho, will present essential information about the structure and services offered by SINTER and the University. The session will also include a coffee break and cultural performances, featuring a Kuduro dance and a presentation by the Devassa Percussion Band, from the Medicine Student Athletic Association (AAAMEDUFSC). Students will then attend specific orientation sessions for the Incoming, AUGM, and PEC-G programs, as well as for undergraduate degree-seeking students*.

In the afternoon, cultural and social activities will include visits to the São José da Ponta Grossa Fortress and the UFSC Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (MArquE), a guided tour on the Trindade Campus (promoted by the SINTEGRA program), and cultural workshops on Kuduro dance (with members of the Association of Angolans in Florianópolis), Samba dance (with the Samba Manezinho group), and Capoeira (with Mestre Daniel).

Participation in both the morning and afternoon sessions requires prior registration and is open to all international students, including graduate students and refugee, asylum-seeking and humanitarian visa-holding students.

👉 Click here to access the full schedule and register.

*Note: International graduate students should contact the Protectorate for Graduate Studies (PROPG) directly for specific guidance.

UFSC hosts event to welcome and integrate new international students

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.

Students and staff present at the UFSC 2024.2 International Student Welcome Session. Photo by Maria Fernanda Honório/SINTER

On 22 August, the Office of International Relations (SINTER), in partnership with the Prorectorate for Undergraduate Studies and Basic Education (PROGRAD) – through the Institutional Program for Educational Support to Students (PIAPE) – held a welcome session for international students arriving at UFSC in the second semester 2024. The event took place in the School of Philosophy and Human Sciences (CFH) Building E – Annex Auditorium, on the Trindade campus.

The session was attended by eighteen students arriving at UFSC through the Incoming Exchange Program and the Association of Montevideo Group Universities (AUGM) Escala Estudiantes de Grado Program, in addition to eleven students admitted to UFSC through the Programa de Estudantes-Convênio de Graduação (PEC-G) and through the special selection process for refugees, asylum seekers and humanitarian visa holders. Eleven international students’ study buddies – participating in the SINTER Study Buddy Program – also joined the event.

International students walk on campus during the “SINTEGRA around UFSC” tour. Photo by Maria Fernanda Honório/SINTER

In the morning, the Director of International Relations, Dr. Fernanda Leal, and the International Programs Coordinator, Guilherme Costa, delivered their welcome speeches and introduced SINTER and the main institutional information about UFSC. This was followed by a coffee break with Brazilian food and drinks, where participants had the opportunity to interact with each other. Also in the morning, the students went on a guided tour around campus – called “SINTEGRA around UFSC” – to get to know the main university facilities in Florianópolis. The tour was guided by the Internationalization Agents Eduardo Schiller, from the School of Biological Sciences (CCB), and Thiago Cabral, from the School of Socio-Economic Sciences (CSE).

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This Thursday, 22 August, the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) welcomes its international student community for the second semester of 2024.  A welcome session will be held by the Office of International Relations (SINTER/UFSC), in partnership with the Prorectorate for Undergraduate Studies and Basic Education (PROGRAD), through the Institutional Program for Educational Support to Students (PIAPE).

The session will start at 9 a.m. in the Building E – Annex Auditorium at the School of Philosophy and Human Sciences (CFH) on the Trindade Campus (Florianópolis). The event is aimed at both exchange students and degree-seeking students. The international students’ buddies are also invited.

This semester, UFSC is welcoming 29 undergraduate exchange students from 7 countries. Out of the 29 students, 21 are coming from France, Germany, China and Portugal through the UFSC Incoming Program and 8 are coming from Argentina, Uruguay and Chile through the Escala Grado Program of the Association of Montevideo Group Universities (AUGM). Our University is also welcoming 2 degree-seeking students from Ecuador and Panama, who have been admitted to the Medicine Program and the Administration Program through the Programa de Estudantes-Convênio de Graduação (PEC-G), a mobility program managed by the Brazilian government. In addition, UFSC expects to welcome around 10 refugees, asylum seekers and humanitarian visa holders admitted to UFSC through a special selection process.

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The Office of International Relations (SINTER) held a Welcome Session for the International Community, on 11 March, for international students arriving at UFSC for the first semester of 2024. The event took place at the Bosque da Ilha Auditorium, located at the UFSC Culture and Events Center, on Trindade Campus, in Florianópolis.

From left to right: rector Irineu Manoel de Souza; director André Ramos; prorector Dilceane Carraro; coordinator Amália Borges Dário. Photo: Maria Fernanda Honório

The Rector, Prof. Irineu Manoel de Souza, the Prorector for Undergraduate Students and Basic Education (PROGRAD), Prof. Dilceane Carraro, the Internationalization Coordinator of the Prorectorate for Graduate Studies (PROPG), Amália Borges Dário, and the Director of Internationalization, Prof. André Ramos, welcomed the students.

Recitation of the poem “Ser Imigrante” [Being an immigrant], written by the student Richardson Yonel Civil. Photo: Maria Fernanda Honório

Presentation of Bateria Universitária Devassa da Associação Atlética Acadêmica de Medicina da UFSC [Student percussion band “Devassa” of UFSC Medicine Student Athletic Association] at the Welcome Session for the International Community. Photo: Caroline Finatti

In addition to welcoming the students, the event included the presentation of important information about UFSC to the newcomers, and specific guidance to the groups. The schedule also encompassed two cultural moments: the first one with the recitation of the poem “Ser imigrante” [Being an immigrant], written by Richardson Yonel Civil, from Haiti, UFSC medicine student and member of the Associação des Jeunes Haitiens en Sciences de la Santé -AJHASS [Association of Young Haitians in Health Science]; and the second moment, during the coffee break, with the performance by the group Bateria Universitária Devassa da Associação Atlética Acadêmica de Medicina da UFSC [Student percussion band “Devassa” of UFSC Medicine Student Athletic Association].

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