Warwick’s relationship with the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil, stems from a strong foundation of academic collaborations. Building on a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two institutions in 2016, the partnership has gone from strength to strength. With over 40,000 students, UFMG is the largest federal university in Brazil, very highly ranked within the country and consistently top 20 in the Latin American QS rankings.

We have recently welcomed two early career researchers through our Rutherford Strategic International Fellows scheme, seed funded a collaboration between Professor Nicolini in WBS and the Engineering Department at UFMG, and will also be offering two Warwick undergraduates the opportunity to participate in UFMG’s 2019 Summer School.

As a selected overseas partner, Warwick was last week invited to explore opportunities for further collaboration at the launch of UFMG’s Institutional project of Internationalisation (InPrint). UFMG has recently secured InPrint funding from the Brazilian government to enable the expansion of their collaborative research across four major themes; Sustainability, Management & Governance, New Technologies & Frontiers of Science, Health & Welfare, and Human Rights.

Dr Gillian Olivieri, Associate Director of International Strategy and Relations, visited UFMG last week to participate in the InPrint workshop and begin to identify research synergies between our institutions. Dr Olivieri was joined by Professor Richard Walton (Chemistry) and Dr Murray Pollack (Statistics) who both have extensive experience of collaborating with UFMG. Dr Olivieri said:

It was a fantastic chance to meet with senior colleagues in the administration and attend researcher-led sessions to scope areas of potential collaboration.

We look forward to broadening existing joint projects and identifying new areas to further develop our partnership."

Dr Murray Pollack is currently hosting Dr Flavio Gonçalves, Assistant Professor, UFMG under the Rutherford Strategic International Fellows scheme. Dr Gonçalves said:

Funding opportunities like the Rutherford scheme have a huge impact on my academic life as they allow me to focus exclusively on my research. My research projects with Warwick focus on methodological development based on theoretical mathematical results and having meetings and discussions in person is crucial to develop our ideas and achieve our goals. I have visited Warwick twice this year under the Rutherford scheme and am looking forward to returning in December to continue our work.”

In 2019, Warwick has been invited to nominate two students to attend UFMG’s international Summer School. João Vicente Faustino, Portuguese Subject Lead in the Language Centre commented:

This is an excellent opportunity for our students, particularly those studying a BA in Modern Languages, to spend time in a lusophone country in addition to their other study abroad placements. Students will be able to build on their language and intercultural skills in a very open and supportive environment.”

For further information about our relationship with UFMG and to discuss future Print funding opportunities, please contact Emily Lim on e dot lim at warwick dot ac dot uk in International Strategy and Relations.