Olá! UTS broadens its horizons in Brazil

Students from undergraduate through to doctoral level are set to benefit from growing partnerships between UTS and a number of Brazilian universities, as part of UTS's increasing engagement with the Latin American region.

Since UTS became an approved institution for the Brazilian government's Science without Borders (SWB) program in 2012, a record 65 undergraduate students have been accepted to study at UTS. It's a figure soon to be overtaken.

"Next semester we are expecting 91 students," said Simon Watson, UTS International's Manager of International Mobility and Services. "They are a mix of engineering, science, architecture and design students, each undertaking four subjects of study per semester that add to their degree back home."

Brazil, recognised worldwide for its beautiful beaches, festival parties and football fever, happens to also be one of the world's fastest developing higher education economies. This "work hard, play hard" mentality can be one of the reasons that make Australia such an attractive place to study.

"There are certain similarities between Australia and Brazil – our love for the beach and great outdoors, and our relaxed, laid-back attitude," Watson said. "We are both known as personable, friendly and easy-going people, but underneath all of that, Australians and Brazilians are hard workers. The students add a real vibrancy to the classroom because they are outspoken and aren't afraid to push our academics.

"As we are preparing to accept 70-100 Brazilian students each year from 2015, we are also working to establish an exchange program where our students can experience study, living and making connections in Brazil."

UTS officials meet with representatives from the University of Sao Paulo. Picture courtesy the University of Sao Paulo

Away from the classroom and into the boardroom, UTS has been working with a number of carefully selected Brazilian universities to establish formal research linkages between institutions. A recent trip to Brazil saw Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Attila Brungs, Executive Manager Strategic Partnerships, Innes Ireland and UTS International Director, Tze-Ay Chuah, visit five leading universities in Brazil to start the process of engaging more deeply across mutual research areas.

According to Ireland, "Looking at the quality of the research and the quality of the students, it makes perfect sense for UTS to be engaged in countries like Brazil. We are focussed on developing mutually beneficial research-led partnerships that can result in joint publications, research projects, and two-way research student opportunities. There are existing or developing links in areas such as sports science, physics, robotics and climate change."

In addition to the senior executive visit, UTS was invited to attend the Australian Technology Network (ATN) Brazil Research Delegation earlier this month. Its objective was to reinforce the ATN's commitment to a long-term and sustainable relationship with Brazil underpinned by research collaboration, industry engagement and two-way student recruitment.

The UTS contingent included Dean of the Graduate Research School, Professor Nicky Solomon, Institute for Sustainable Futures Director, Professor Stuart White and Director of the Centre for Quantum Computation and Intelligent Systems, Professor Chengqi Zhang.