The visit, which the British Council organised with FAUBAI, the Association of Brazilian Higher Education Institutions’ Offices for International Relations, aimed to raise awareness of the UK higher education sector in order to foster sustainable collaboration between Brazil and the UK; to foster long term academic collaborations; and to increase the understanding of the Brazilian HEI sector across the UK.

Professor Richard B Davies, Vice-Chancellor of Swansea University gave a warm welcome to the delegation, which comprised representatives from the University of Brasilia; Federal University of São Carlos; Federal University of Minas Gerais; São Paulo State University; State University of Campinas; Federal University of Santa Catarina; Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte; Federal University of Pernambuco; Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul; University of São Paulo; Federal University of Ceará; and the State University of São Paulo.

Picture:  the Brazilian delegation on the steps of the Abbey building at Swansea University

FAUBAI is the leading institution for international education in Brazil. It was founded in 1988, and has around 250 institutional members. It aims at support the internationalisation of Brazilian higher education, to promote the diversity and potential of the Brazilian higher education system abroad.

The visiting 13 FAUBAI member institutions were selected according to the number of students sent to the UK through the Science Without Borders (Ciência sem Fronteiras) programme, a Brazilian Government scholarship scheme which aims to send 101,000 Brazilian students on undergraduate sandwich courses, PhD sandwich courses and full PhDs to study in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and creative industries at top universities around the world.

The UK will welcome up to 10,000 Brazilian students through the programme and Swansea University is one of a select group of top British universities participating in the programme, which is supported in the UK by Universities UK.

Swansea University will host 82 Brazilian students through the Science Without Borders programme in the 2014-2015 academic year and has hosted almost 300 students over the course of the programme since 2012, when it began.

Speaking after the visit, Professor Richard B Davies said: “It has been fantastic to welcome such a prestigious delegation of Brazilian Universities to Swansea University. Raising the level of engagement with Brazilian institutes is a key part of our internationalisation strategy and we are looking to grow our research collaborations, student exchanges and collaborative programmes.

“Swansea has one of the largest cohorts of Brazilian Science without Borders students in the UK, and they make a huge contribution to the vibrancy of our university community.”

During their visit, the Brazilian delegation toured the University’s Institute of Life Science (ILS) 1 and 2, where they received presentations from the Colleges of Engineering, Medicine, and Science. They also visited Singleton Abbey and enjoyed tea with Swansea University Science Without Borders students and academics.