Secretaria de Relações Internacionais | Office of International Relations

The QS World University Rankings: Latin America & The Caribbean 2025, released on Thursday, 3 October, ranked the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) as the 21st best universities in Latin America, and 18^th best in South America. UFSC is among the top 5% of all evaluated universities. Within Brazil, the institution ranked 8th overall and 4^th among federal universities. UFSC achieved a final score of 76.6 (on a scale from 1 to 100), a notable increase from the 68.7 score it received last year, when it was ranked 23rd in Latin America. This marks a significant improvement in the university’s performance.

The QS Rankings, produced annually by the British company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), evaluated 437 institutions across 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Leading the rankings this year is the Universidade de São Paulo (USP).

UFSC’s indicator scores in the QS World Rankings: Latin America and the Caribbean 2025.

Universities are evaluated based on eight indicators, each with weighted differently: academic reputation (30%); employer reputation (20%); faculty student ratio (10%); staff with PhD (10%); international research network (10%); citations per paper (10%); papers per faculty (5%) and web impact (5%). In this edition, UFSC excelled particularly in web impact (99.4), staff with PhD (99.1 score), and paper per faculty (98.5 score).

According to UFSC’s Director of International Relations, Dr. Fernanda Leal, the results reflect the university’s strong reputation, a criterion that accounts for 50% of the overall score. She notes that UFSC’s position also highlights its role as one of the leading research universities in Latin America. However, Dr. Leal emphasizes the limitations of relying on rankings for decision-making and formulating institutional internationalization policies, particularly due to their competitive nature and the lack of consideration for key factors that shape Brazilian public universities, such as outreach and community engagement.

Evolution of UFSC over the years in the ranking.

A fundamental aspect in evaluating universities’ performance, especially public ones, is their impact on society, says the Secretary for International Relations, Prof. Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho. “This aspect has been addressed by university rankings, but still in an indirect way. The evaluations primarily reflect the academic work of universities, focusing on teaching, research and innovation. Faculty, staff and students engaged in academic work should therefore be congratulated, but those who work in the intermediary activities, which support these efforts, should also be recognized”, he states. The Secretary for International Relations aadded that the QS rakings assigned a 15% weight to the “global engagement” lens and that UFSC’s position in the ranking also reflects an internationalization effort by the entire academic community.

Regarding UFSC’s articles and external citations from 2018 and 2023, the primary focus was on research in the subjects of Life Sciences & Medicine.

Check out the complete ranking results on the QS website.

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

Members of “Great SINTER” and other participants in the PDI 2025-2029 public hearing.

On 4 September, the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) took another important step in preparing its Institutional Development Plan (PDI) for the period 2025-2029. The Office of International Relations (SINTER) promoted a public hearing to discuss the strategic institutional objectives related to the internationalization of UFSC.

The hearing took place in the School of Philosophy and Human Sciences (CFH) Building F Auditorium and was attended by members of “great SINTER”, including UFSC internationalization agents, members of the “SINTEGRA: International Student Trajectories: support and Integration” project; participants of the Institute for Studies on China (ICHIN), and members of the international community at UFSC, totaling an audience of nearly 25 people, in addition to those watching the online streaming.

The event highlighted the importance of collaboratively defining strategic objectives for internationalization, gathering valuable input from students, staff, faculty, and external stakeholders. Throughout September, SINTER’s executive technical group will synthesize the contributions collected during the hearing, which will then be forwarded to the management group. The next phase will involve defining strategic actions and key indicators for internationalization.
(more…)

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).

(more…)

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.

(more…)

The Office of International Relations (SINTER)  presents the NILT Guide, a resource for the university community detailing the services offered by the Institutional Center for Languages and Translation (NILT/SINTER) at UFSC, including information about its staff and the courses offered.

The guide, available in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, aims to promote NILT’s activities across the entire UFSC community. SINTER recognizes the importance of providing this information in multiple languages to support the University’s internationalization policy, ensuring it reaches a diverse global audience.

To access the Guide in all available languages, click here.