Student Exchanges
Belo Horizonte
The University of Wisconsin-Madison exchange program in Belo Horizonte allows students the opportunity to directly enroll at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG). This exchange program provides students the opportunity to improve their Portuguese language skills while learning about Brazilian culture.
Belo Horizonte, a city of over three million people, is located in the state of Minas Gerais which is known for its historical significance, natural beauty, and vibrant economy. This area includes wealthy colonial cities such as Ouro Preto, as well as beautiful baroque architecture. Belo Horizonte was founded in 1897 as the first planned city in the Brazilian Republic and was designated the capital of Minas Gerais. The city is also a leading cultural center, with more than three universities, a historical museum, numerous libraries, and sports stadiums. Belo Horizonte is built on several hills and is completely surrounded by mountains; this city is located in the center of the state of Minas Gerais and only six kilometers from the Serra do Curral, Mina Gerais’ highest point that offers a magnificent view of the city. With an average temperature of seventy degrees Fahrenheit and claims of having more culinary and entertainment establishments than most cities in Brazil, it is no wonder that the city was named the “city with the best quality of life in Latin America.”
Rio de Janeiro
The University of Wisconsin-Madison exchange program in Rio de Janeiro allows students the opportunity to directly enroll at the Pontificia Universidade Catolica (PUC-Rio). This exchange program provides students the opportunity to improve their Portuguese language skills while learning about Brazilian culture.
Rio de Janeiro is an exciting city perfectly situated between a lush tropical forest and the Atlantic Ocean. Rio provides its residents and visitors alike a majestic realm of colors, sounds and smells. With an intense cultural life, Rio de Janeiro is the perfect place for those who want to immerse themselves into the South American reality: plays, shows, concerts, exhibitions, street performances, scientific conferences, cultural debates – everything happens in Rio.
Science without Borders
In the Spring 2012 semester the University of Wisconsin-Madison is hosting the first group of Brazilian college students being sent to study abroad as part of the federal government’s recently launched CSF (Ciências sem Fronteiras; Science without Borders) program. This first contingent is made up of nine Engineering students; most of them are from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), which has a broad-spectrum collaboration agreement with the UW. More CSF students are expected to attend the UW each semester in the next two academic years.
Collaborations
We are pleased to count among our partners the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations (Itamaraty), through the Consulate General of Brazil in Chicago, currently led by Ambassador João Almino; the Fundação Joaquim Nabuco of Recife, Brazil; the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte, Brazil); the Law School of the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; and the Wisconsin Alumni Association.
We welcome suggestions, proposals and general feedback from UW alumni based in Brazil and from faculty, scholars and officers affiliated with Brazilian universities, government agencies, and businesses.
UW-Madison, Unicamp set stage for collaborations
The University of Wisconsin—Madison and the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), the top research university in Brazil, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to open the door for developing collaborations across a range of areas.
Unicamp President Fernando Costa and UW—Madison Chancellor David Ward signed the agreement during a two-day visit by Costa to the Madison campus.
Costa and Unicamp’s Director of International Relations Leandro Tessler also toured campus facilities and met with leaders from the Division of International Studies, the Brazil Initiative, the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, the Morgridge Institute for Research, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), and University Research Park.
“One of our top priorities now is to collaborate with good universities in the United States,” Costa says. “The University of Wisconsin—Madison is one of the very best universities in U.S. and we are very interested in collaborating with UW-Madison. Our visit here has been a very productive one and we are very impressed.”
“We are delighted to establish this relationship with Unicamp, one of the top research universities in Latin America,” said Gilles Bousquet, dean of International Studies and vice provost for globalization. “This relationship has tremendous potential, and provides us with a very strong partner in Brazil, an emerging power not just in Latin America, but globally.”
Professor Severino Albuquerque, who directs UW—Madison’s Brazil Initiative, says: “The signing of the MOU on August 23, 2011, is a major first step toward implementation of shared programs and productive collaborations between the two universities, ranging from student and faculty exchanges and dual workshops to long-range research agreements in areas such as physics and translational medicine. Unicamp’s profile is an attractive complement to that of the UW and both universities look forward to furthering advances in areas of current mutual interest as well as achieving exciting results in newly implemented shared projects.”
Founded in 1966, Unicamp is one of the three state universities in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. The Times Higher Education 2007 World University Rankings lists Unicamp among the world’s top 200 universities and the second best in Latin America. Like UW—Madison, the Brazilian university offers instruction across a broad range of disciplines and professions. Unicamp has become known and respected in the higher education and research community for its pioneering work regarding policies for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary work.
Costa pointed to several areas where the two institutions can collaborate, including health science, engineering, humanities, and social sciences.
“We think that one kind of cooperation that we could establish in a short period is exchange of undergraduate students to do research,” he said. “The Brazilian undergraduate students, for example, could come to Madison and do research for one, two months, and the American students could go to Campinas and do research there.”
— by Kerry G. Hill