My name is João Marques de Almeida and I am a staff member at the Associação de Cooperação Internacional (Association for International Cooperation) of the Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE) since 2012, where I have been realizing that working with mobility can be translated as the search for a broaden internationalization at the university, whether considered in a pragmatic perspective, with mobility programs, or in an ideological perspective, where internationalization is gaining ground in the perception of different departments of the university as a priority and as an indispensable aspect for the development of the institution.

I consider that the task of raising awareness about the importance of internationalization in higher education is something to be explored and better developed. It was quite noticeable during the last few years when Brazil has invested in large scale programs of academic mobility, and when internationalization has been seen as a priority. Personally, I have been able to observe how difficult it is to break some barriers and limitations that exist inside our current model of internationalization at the university. This can be translated, for instance, to giving access to the students to foreign language courses, which is a strong need for them.

Within this context of growth and greater visibility of the international scenario, we have had great success in creating an international office which aims at creating bridges and opportunities to the entire university body, breaking down the two kinds of borders: the  pragmatic ones, through the creation of partnerships, of international agreements, and consequently of exchange opportunities; but also the ideological borders, through extensive work in order to teach the University about the importance of internationalization.

The positive impact of Euro-Brazilian Windows+ program for UFRPE is unquestionable. EBW+ opened new and solid opportunities for mobility, including different levels of mobility: undergraduate, doctorate, academic staff and also administrative staff. It is worth to mention that administrative staff is not usually covered by mobility programs, although they are an important agent of the internationalization process of any institution.

Considering the training given to the partner institutions about the mobility opportunities, the transparence and quality of the application and selection process, the EBW+ project stands out for its good organization of the partnership and of the mobility flows. We were pleased to offer our students a program that respects and encourages the proposals of long-term study and research, a program interested in the development of the involved countries, careful in the search for quality during the whole process.

We have learned from the partnership its best practices of project management, both from Universidade do Porto and from UFRGS. The academic and administrative ties of our universities have been strengthened thanks to the events organized to promote EBW+, where all the managers and coordinators could discuss about internationalization and about the will to keep reinforcing the partnerships within Erasmus Mundus and EBW+ partner institutions.

This is only one of the many windows that are still waiting to be opened in the ongoing journey of this partnership.

Sapienza University of Rome (UNIROMA1), the first University in Rome and one of the oldest in Europe, has a several-year experience in the management of Erasmus Mundus Action 2 projects.
Cooperation with many countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, Middle East etc., since the starting of the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 programme, has contributed for the Institution’s internationalisation process and for the development of sustainable international relations.

With Brazil in particular, UNIROMA1 has started its partnership in 2012, making of this country one of its main strategic goals in the framework of its own internationalisation policy.

So far more than 500 Brazilian students have studied in our University under programmes such as Erasmus Mundus and other types of mobility.

We are the two people at UNIROMA1 who are responsible for all incoming and outgoing mobility for Brazil, taking care of the arrival and departure of students as well as all administrative aspects related to the projects.

Working with Erasmus Mundus programme EBW+ was for us an experience of significant professional and personal growth, which allowed us to understand how university cooperation may play a crucial role in a student’s life.

Before a student leaves or after (s)he comes back from the mobility, we always ask how the experience was. The answers have never let us down. Students tell us how the mobility period abroad constituted a single and unforgettable life opportunity and how it contributed for their growth. Knowing that our daily work may contribute to all of this make us very proud.

However, we too learn from this work. With EBW+ for example we had the opportunity to welcome a colleague from UFRJ, who made us have contact with a different way of working and different new methodologies which were in some cases extremely innovative.

Furthermore, cooperation with the University of Porto and all other project partners, always deeply collaborative and available, was indeed a very enriching experience for our work.

We are very glad for having had through this project the opportunity to experience an inspiring and reciprocal exchange, which has widened our vision at work.

For the second consecutive year, the University of Porto has organised a welcoming event for all scholarship holders selected within the scope of the EBW+ Project. More than 30 students, researchers and staff members who were selected in the second call for applications of this Erasmus Mundus – Action 2 project did a stopover in Porto for three days before reaching their final destinations in Europe.

Some of the scholarship holders will do their mobility periods in Portugal (University of Porto and University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro), but most of them will be hosted by other partner universities of this consortium: Technical University of Valencia (Spain), University of Lille and University of Rouen (France), Technical University Dresden (Germany), University of Rome – Sapienza (Italy), Riga Technical University (Latvia), Uppsala University (Sweden) and University of Malta (Malta).

This stay in Porto offered them a three full-day programme at one of the E-Learning Cafés of the University, which included several sessions related to the project and their academic and future professional activities, as for example:

• Useful tools for the academic path: the LaTex tool and study support techniques
• Knowing to live with multiculturalism
• How to efficiently manage the monthly allowance
• How to use the insurance
• Competences and skills valued by employers
• Stress management

Apart from the team of the International Office that is responsible for the management and implementation of this project, the Welcoming Days 2016 also counted with the contribution for the sessions of other members of U.Porto, such as guest professors, the Erasmus Student Network, and several national and international U.Porto students. Representatives from the insurance broker Atlas Seguros and from the online recruitment platform Jobmatching were also invited to collaborate in this event.

In the last day of their stay in Porto, scholarship holders had the opportunity to get to know Porto through a walking city tour offered by the City Hall.

Some of the pictures can be checked here and watch the video produced by TVU:

At the end of November, the EBW+ project launched its last call for applications, specifically targeted at doctorate students from the fields of Engineering/Technology and Creative Arts.

In this last call, all European partner universities offer again some vacancies even though priority will be given in selection to those institutions that have welcomed less scholarship holders in the previous calls. This decision seeks to favour the balance between all consortium partners, and the same criterion applies to Brazilian partner institutions when sending their students.

The application process is individual and carried out in the project’s official website (http://ebwplus.up.pt), even though formal support of the institution where the student is enrolled in the doctorate programme is needed. In some cases also the support of the institution to which the student wishes to apply to undertake a 6-month mobility period is required.

All selected applicants will receive full support for the preparation and implementation of the mobility, as well as a significant financial support from the Erasmus Mundus Programme, which includes:

• monthly allowance of 1500 €;
• two-way travel;
• tuition fee waiving at the host institution;
• full accident, health and travel insurance.

This will be the last chance for students of any Brazilian Higher Education Institution to apply to an EBW+ scholarship to undertake a period of studies or research in a renowned European University and obtain full academic recognition for the developed activities.

Applications may be submitted until the 29^th of January 2017 at http://ebwplus.up.pt, and here is also detailed information available about this scholarship and the application process.

The Institutional Award for Innovation in Internationalisation, the most important award of European Association for International Education (EAIE), which distinguishes every year the European Higher Education Institutions more actively engaged in innovative international strategies, was this year awarded to the University of Porto.

With this prize the largest association on this field recognises the strategy for promotion of internationalisation that U.Porto has been following in recent years, particularly concerning the participation and coordination of consortia and European projects for the international mobility of students, teachers and administrative staff.

In a context of economic and financial crisis in the country, which was worsened by the cuts in the budget of public universities and consequent reduction in the financial support to international mobility, the University of Porto has redefined its internationalisation strategy, putting a stronger emphasis in alternative funding sources.

The proactive attitude adopted by the International Relations Office concerning the applications to European programmes for Education and Training – namely Erasmus Mundus and Erasmus+ - has allowed the University of Porto to take part in a record number of 72 international partnerships involving roughly one thousand universities from the five continents, more than 7600 mobility flows and a global budget of 165 million euros.

The best example of this proactive attitude of the institution is the fact that the University of Porto coordinates itself 14 of these 72 consortia of Higher Education Institutions, directly managing projects of 41 million euros.

In this way, and despite the country’s economic and financial crisis, the University of Porto managed to reinforce and widen its international visibility by diversifying the funding sources of its internationalisation process.

But more importantly, by taking part in these international consortia, the University of Porto has ensured automatic entrance in a network of roughly 1000 universities from all parts of the world, including the ACP countries (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) and Asia, a region with which U.Porto didn’t had yet a tradition of international cooperation.

In fact, the openness to new markets is one of the pillars of the current internationalisation strategy of the University of Porto. Apart from the participation in consortia, the institution has been putting emphasis on the establishment of bilateral cooperation agreements with universities in countries where U.Porto did not have a significant cooperation.

All these efforts resulted in the increase of the number of international students at U.Porto. Only in the academic year 2015/16, the university welcomed a record number of 3.607 international students and researchers from 167 different nationalities. On the other hand, 1.250 students from U.Porto had the opportunity to do an exchange period in 45 foreign countries.

The European Union provides many different sub-programs inside Erasmus+. One of them labeled Key Action 2 is directed towards “Capacity Building”. As the name indicates it aims at developing the skills of communities so that they can overcome their shortcomings and develop in an autonomous way. The goal is not purely to provide people with new technical skills, but more deeply to enable them to be capable of transforming their surrounding society through the new skills that they acquire. The benefit is thus individual but also collective.

For International Offices, the most obvious example of an action of Capacity Building would be to train staff to manage academic mobility. It really fits in the definition, since the subjects of the training would in the end be able to support an activity (international mobility) that in turn is considered as a transforming tool. Notice that even in this case mobility is not the end by itself and cannot be the goal of the project.

Yet, Capacity Building is by no means restricted to the training of International Officers. The Web site https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/sites/eacea-site/files/cbhe_2016_results_by_region.pdf provides a list of approved projects in 2016. You find many examples of capacity building in public administration (risk management, financial management, quality management of heritage and cultural tourism…), but also in basic or pre-school education, in entrepreneurship, in curriculum development...

Differently from Erasmus+ projects for credit mobility that are bilateral, E+ Capacity Building projects are based on consortia of higher education institutions – just like an Erasmus Mundus project for mobility used to be, EBW+ being the perfect example.  For projects with Latin America, there should be partners from at least 2 L.A. countries and 3 so-called Program countries (roughly: European countries). There should be at least 2 HEI per L.A. country, and at least 1 HEI per Program country – thus, there are at least 7 HEI in an E+ KA2 project. They last for two to three years, and have budgets from 500.000 to 1.000.000 euros. These are large projects, and the team and staff necessary to manage them need to be strongly qualified.

There are today (to the best of the writer’s knowledge) at least three projects E+ KA2 involving Brazilian universities: CAMINOS, RIESAL, and PONCHO.

PONCHO has been approved at the end of 2015. Its main objective is to transfer competences on internationalization from “major universities” to “peripheral HEIs”. PONCHO works at three levels: at technical level, through the training of the IROs staff; at academic and students level, through the organization of Info days and Students Camp where academics and students will receive training and awareness session to approach them to internationalization; and at institutional level, through an online platform to share good practices. Poncho is coordinated by Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canarias (Spain). The Brazilian universities that are part of PONCHO are UFCSPA, UF Góias, UF Grande Dourados, UFMG, and UFPR. (See here for more information.)

RIESAL (see https://youtu.be/OUzmCV9c9lM) also deals with internationalization, in a comprehensive way. As in PONCHO the project includes meetings for training, exchange of good practices, online resources and visits of European HEIs. From Brazil, you find in RIESAL the following universities: UNESP and UFRJ, plus the Brazilian Association of International Educators FAUBAI. The coordinating university is Universidad de Guadalajara (Mexico) – indeed, non-European universities can submit and coordinate an E+ KA2 project.

CAMINOS has been approved in Sept. 2016 and will start in December of the same year. It gathers 28 HEIs to deal with capacity in managing student mobility in Latin America. A handbook should be created by the partners. The coordinating institution is OBREAL (Barcelona, Spain). From Brazil, UFScar and UFRGS are partners of the project.

Some references to go further:

• Site Web: http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/
• Capacity Building in the field of higher education 
• PDF: Erasmus+ Program Guide

When you speak about exchange, you normally think about how wonderful it is to travel, to learn, to have contact with other cultures, to meet new people, make friends, etc. This is all true, but I think that you won’t understand the real meaning until you go, and do, and feel what it is to do an exchange period. At least I didn’t. You know that “a travel changes you”, but you have no idea that such change can happen in so many unexpected ways.

I am writing this text one month after returning to Brazil after the exchange period in Portugal, and I still haven’t processed it all. I lived the wonders of travelling with a different purpose than tourism (which is also great, but different), I have met extremely interesting people, made friends… I had the opportunity to dive into the Portuguese culture and to get together with other nationalities thanks to the international and multicultural environment that a university that is open to programmes such as Erasmus Mundus brings.
I have learnt many things, not only in the professional sphere, and still nowadays I get surprised with new discoveries that arise from that experience and that become more logical the more I return to my daily routine...

Roughly one year ago I had not planned to do an exchange period. Not that the idea was not motivating, but being a public servant and having concluded a professional master, married and older than “twenty something”, I was happy and conformed with the choices I had done in other phases of my life when you normally have more flexibility to study or work abroad, still having a way to build ahead.

That was why back in September 2015 after receiving an email from a co-worker about a place for a staff mobility in the communication department of a university in Portugal, I thought: could it be?

Today I am thankful for having taken that opportunity, for having dedicated a little bit of my time to submit my application to the project, and especially for having taken the risk to get out of my (dis)comfort zone and having had the time to live all these experiences.

Vila Real is one of the most incredible cities that I have ever got to know, in a picturesque way and hard to describe, with the taste of nata and the sound of tuna. More than a place in Portugal, it is now and forever a place also in myself; a place that I called of Vila Surreal and that I can visit whenever I want to. In this place I have an imaginary bookshelf with never-ending room where I keep all the experiences that I brought from there. Nothing weighs there, not even the clichés such as fridge magnets reading “Souvenir of Portugal”.

Even that each new place that you know means a new nostalgia, a new goodbye… After all even the famous line of “Mar Português”* has a new meaning for me: it is true, “All is worthwhile if the soul is not small”.

To live one month in Portugal was certainly one of the most surprising and superlative things I have ever done. Time is relative. It went fast when I was abroad, but it seems a year when I think about everything that I have lived.

Thank you, Erasmus Mundus! Thank you to the University of Porto, to the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro and to all who made this project to be a reality. My special thanks goes to the team of the Rectorate of the University of Porto and of the International Relations and Mobility Office of UTAD, as well as to Rosa Rebelo and other members of the Communication Department of UTAD, who have made efforts so that everything went well and so that my stay could be as pleasant as possible. Lastly, thank you to the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) for the good moments and to the friends that have spent this special time with me, and whom I am taking in my heart.

* Poem of Fernando Pessoa

The experience has been far more satisfactory than I had imagined. The city of Porto is very beautiful. It has lovely parks and squares. Everything is very charming!

I have also had the opportunity to meet and interact with people from other countries, what is culturally very relevant as through these interactions I was able to get to know traditions and uses from other countries and also share information about my own country.

Knowing a little bit of the University of Porto, its history and its leading position as host university of mobility students, I am totally convinced that this was the best choice than I could have made, as I will be able to meet and exchange experiences not only with Porto’s scientific community – which is very renowned – but also with other countries’ communities through their exchange students.

About the University in general: the University of Porto is incredible! The buildings have beautiful architecture.

The academic traditions are very rich, people are very kind and friendly, especially the representatives of the University who have welcomed me with care and who are always available to guide me regarding any doubt related to mobility or adaptation to the University.

In a word, the feeling that can best express my perception about this mobility experience is nothing more than contentment. In such a short time, it is already clear for me: the University of Porto will change my life forever!

There is today in Brazil a national policy of Academic Outreach (Extensão), that has been elaborated through the vast participation of universities and of external forums since 1999 when the first documents have been written which have led to an approval in 2012.

This national policy stipulates concepts, priorities, principles and objectives of Outreach, respecting the principle of academic autonomy, and is defined as followed:
“Academic Outreach is an interdisciplinary process, educative, cultural, scientific and political, that promotes a transforming interaction between the University and other sectors of the society.”

At Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul – UFRGS, the practice of Outreach is structured at the administrative level by a Vice-Presidency (Pro-Reitoria) of Outreach (PROREXT); by the Council of Outreach (CAMEX); and by the Commissions of Outreach at the level of the Department (COMEXs). The participants of the projects and programs of Outreach are faculty members, students and administrative staff. All categories of staff can lead outreach projects as long as they have a higher education degree (this is not mandatory for some categories of administrative staff).

As of 2016, the PROREXT has registered more than 2.000 activities, 612 grants for Outreach. Out of these, 512 have been granted through public calls, and 100 through the Funding Program for Outreach: these ones are offered to students who work in outreach projects in whatever field, as a means to qualify for their academic or professional degree.

Some examples of these activities are in Health, in Civil Construction and Architecture, in Education, in Culture, in Administration, Law and Justice, among others. In Health, and in particular in Nursing, one can give the example of the project called “Growing Up with Us 2016”, that offers to nurse students to live together with children hospitalized in the paediatrics units of the Clinical Hospital of Porto Alegre (HCPA), thus stimulating the ludic expression of the children and allowing interactions between the faculties, the children and their families. Regarding Education and Cultural Diversity, the project “Action for Indigenous Knowledge at School” aims at training indigenous professors (Guarani and Kaingang) in the native schools of Rio Grande do Sul, and at developing educational leaderships to coordinate school activities in the perspective of autonomy and auto determination that le Brazilian law defends, mainly in the convention 169/OIT/1989 through cartography: while the cartographer travels, knows and registers the spaces and the educative practices, she also interferes and changes the landscape.  One more case study if a proposal of our degree in Architecture to develop a program called “University on the Street – National Motions of Homeless 2015/2016”. The members of the project act on four public squares of Porto Alegre. Through actions like photography, gardening, catering, or music, it aims at promoting the dignity, the inclusion, and the development of academic activities for homeless people living on the street. The trans-disciplinary dynamics enables exchanges and mutual learning of abilities and know-how among the academic and the homeless communities, as well as the different areas which and involved in the project.

Outreach is present on its own in communities, or together with public entities, NGOs or social movements. It acts upon all aspects of life, of work or of services, and mobilizes simultaneously or alternatively different fields of knowledge in one same action. It promotes the access to many forms of cultural expression through shows in Music, Cinema, or Theatre. Outreach at UFRGS also means maintaining a museum, one sector for cultural diffusion, and a planetarium, all this with constant and diverse programs offered for free to all kinds of public. Finally, it enables to amplify the professional and intellectual formation of the whole academic community.

This profile of Outreach is a consequence of the transformation that has happened in the first years of the 21^st century. Before that it was considered mostly as a form of social assistance and services. Outreach actions and nowadays understood as tools to promote active changes both in academy and in the society to foster social justice, more democracy and an improvement in public policies. Outreach is thus considering now that the society is not only an object on which to act, but also a protagonist of internal changes inside the university.

As part of the Bologna Process, the Diploma Supplement was implemented by the European Commission, Council of Europe and UNESCO/CEPES. It is a document attached to higher education diplomas which provides information on the studies fruitfully concluded.

The language used to draw it up is English and it encloses 8 sections: student’s personal details; information upon the qualification; information on the level of the qualification; information on the contents and results achieved; information on the function of the qualification; additional information; certification of the supplement and information on the national higher education system. It is provided by every Higher Education Institution (HEI) located throughout signatory countries to the Bologna Convention.

The Diploma Supplement is an important step in the Bologna Process, as it intends to achieve the HEI’s harmonization in Europe and other partner countries, it aims to ensure comparability in standards and quality. The main purpose is therefore, an improvement on transparency over international academic and professional recognition of qualifications. Providing a value-judgment free description of degrees, certificates and qualification it facilitates a fairer recognition of HEI diplomas held by individuals.

If you have been selected to study at Uppsala University, you may have classes in Uppsala or in Gotland. Uppsala is the fourth largest city in Sweden. The large number of students makes the city a lively, exciting and progressive place. Gotland is Sweden’s largest island, just 90km from the Swedish mainland. Uppsala University Campus Gotland is located in Visby, a medieval town that has been marked as a historical site by the UNESCO World Heritage program.
Either studying in Gotland or in Uppsala, here you can find some tips which can help you getting prepared to live in Sweden!

Culture and society: by living in Sweden, you can experience one of the world’s safest and most egalitarian societies. Sweden has one of the lowest levels of poverty in the world. Swedes pay high taxes to maintain the refined social system and can enjoy an advanced welfare system, free education, low-cost healthcare and well-maintained public facilities.

Lagom: lagom is a societal code of conduct in Sweden, which basically means “the right amount”. It can be used to describe just about everything, such as behavior, the size of an apartment, or the amount of sugar in your coffee. Many people believe the word lagom sums up the Swedish national psyche, one of consensus and equality.

Language: Swedish is the official language of Sweden. In addition to speaking Swedish, people in Sweden are generally very good at speaking English. In fact, Sweden is the world’s most English-proficient country where English is not the official language. This will make it very easy for you, as an international student, to get around.

Cycling: you will probably get yourself a bike to go around the city. But pay attention, a bicycle is a vehicle, and so you must comply with traffic regulations! Check that your bicycle has good brakes, a bell that works and lighting approved for cycling in the dark.

Fika: Fika is a social institution in Sweden. It means having a tea or coffee break with one’s colleagues, friends, partners or family. Aside from a warm drink, it almost always includes something sweet to eat. The word fika can serve as both a verb and a noun, and enjoying a fika is an important part of every Swedish person’s day.

Academic life: the organization of studies may differ from your home institution. At many universities around the world you will study a number of courses in parallel for the entire semester, whereas in Uppsala it is normal that you take courses sequentially – that is one after the other, not in parallel. For some areas, the workload in class may be limited, but you will have to organize your free time to read articles, prepare oral presentations and write papers. Pay attention to your deadlines! You are expected to do a lot of independent work (reading, writing, etc). In Sweden, the student and the lecturer/professor are two equal parts in the classroom, and you can feel free to discuss and even question back whatever is debated in class, all of course in a respectful way.

Climate: in Sweden, you can experience the four distinct seasons. In the Summer, Northern Sweden becomes the land of the midnight sun. The warm summer days are usually spent in the countryside or by the water. Autumn brings with it an array of colors as the days get shorter and the nights become cooler. During wintertime, Sweden becomes a winter wonderland. If you are lucky, you may even see the northern lights! The arrival of spring is always a welcome respite, and a very pretty time of year in Sweden. For those coming from tropical countries, it may be tough to experience wintertime with negative temperatures and only a few hours of daylight. Get prepared! Buy proper coats and shoes. Campus 1477, the main student fitness and sports center in Uppsala, has a light room to compensate for light deprivation during the winter.

Student nations: One of the most integral parts of student life is the student nations. There are 13 nations, each dating back to the 17^th century. Only students can become a member of the nations, which are responsible for arranging activities and events. All nations have a cafe, pub or restaurant, and popular nation activities include night clubs, formal dinners, balls and musical events. As a member, you can also join a wide array of personal interest groups and sporting clubs.

The last months of 2016 brought with them the new calls of the Erasmus+ Programme, which allow institutions from basically all over the world to submit their proposals to carry out international cooperation activities with European funding.

The Programme has several and different actions, and some of them are precisely targeted at cooperation between institutions from the European Union and institutions from external countries to the European Union.

Key Action 1 Mobility allows the institutions to sign agreements for the exchange of students, teachers and administrative staff members. It is up to the European institutions to submit their proposals to the respective National Agencies, and that must be done until the 2^nd of February 2017.

Key Action 2 Capacity Building for Higher Education allows the creation of international consortia constituted by institutions of the Programme and of Partner Countries (meaning, external to the Programme) for the implementation of projects that seek to support the modernisation and development of structures and procedures, as well as the capacity building of the Partner countries’ institutions’ staff. Applications, which may be headed by institutions from Partner countries, must be submitted until the 9^th of February 2017.

Institutions from Partner countries that are interested in very particular topics such as the European Union and Sports may have a good opportunity to obtain funding to implement the proposed activities through the actions Jean Monnet and Sports, respectively. The former closes the application process on the 23^rd of February 2017 and the latter on the 6^th of April 2017.

Detailed information about the Erasmus+ Programme and the application processes are available at: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus_en

Deadline for submission of application to EBW+ scholarship	29 January 2017
Selection process of doctorate applicants to EBW+ scholarship	February – March 2017
Starting of mobility flows of the selected applicants	April – May 2017
Deadline for starting of mobility flows of the selected applicants	29 July 2017
Second EBW+ Staff Training Days	November 2017
EBW+ Project Final Meeting	November 2017
Closure of the EBW+ Project	14 January 2018

If you have ideas for new articles and contents for the Newsletter, please send us your proposals to ebwplus@reit.up.pt.

With origins dating back to the XVIII century, the University of Porto is currently one of the most prestigious Higher Education Institutions of Europe.
Close to 32.000 students, 2.400 teachers and researchers along with 1.600 administrative staff attend its 15 schools and 60 scientific research units, spread across 3 university campuses located in the city of Porto.

With 14 faculties and a Business school, the University of Porto provides an exceptional variety of courses, covering the whole range of study areas and all levels of higher education.

The quality of its teaching staff (81% of which PhDs) ensures a high quality of training that makes the University of Porto the most sought-after University in Portugal and the chosen university for candidates with highest grades.

Around 3.700 international students, from 111 different countries, attend the University of Porto each year. Half of them arrive through international cooperation agreements and the other half are students that choose attending a full-time programme at the University of Porto

The University of Porto is the biggest producer of Science in Portugal, responsible for 23% of the Portuguese articles indexed each year in the ISI Web of Science.
In fact, the University of Porto has some of the most productive and internationally renowned Portuguese R&D centers. Over half of its research units were classified as “Excellent” or “Very Good” by the latest international evaluations.

The innovation produced at the University of Porto has also led to the development of several new technologies and businesses.
The University has 128 active patents and the University’s Science and Technology (UPTEC) serves as incubator for more than one hundred startup companies, responsible for creating more than 900 new jobs in the region.

These are some of the reasons for the University of Porto being the Portuguese institution with the best scores in all the major international rankings for higher education and scientific research, which ranked the University of Porto as one of the 350 best universities in the world.

 

Porto is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Porto is also the largest city of Northern Portugal.

The Historic Centre of Porto is one of the most attractive entertainment venues for visitors, providing a rich variety of monuments and ordinary dwelling, from different periods stretching back as far as the 14th century. The city of Porto and its river, Douro, cannot be dissociated. The Douro valley, with its lovely terraces of vineyards clinging to the hillsides, is the kingdom of the famous Port Wine and offers visitors spectacular views.

Porto is the center of a culturally and naturally rich region that gathers together history, arts and nature (sea and mountains); it is a perfect starting point for tourist excursions.

For all of this and much more, Porto was elected in 2013-2014 the European Best Destination.

Porto is a city where its history can be found in a small street or in a dialogue with its inhabitants.

In recent years, UNESCO recognized Porto historic center as a World Heritage Site. Among the architectural highlights of the city, the Oporto Cathedral is the oldest surviving structure, together with the small Romanesque Church of Cedofeita, the Gothic Igreja de São Francisco (Church of Saint Francis), the remnants of the city walls and a few 15th-century houses. The baroque style is well represented in the city in the elaborate gift work interior decoration of the churches of St. Francis and St. Claire (Santa Clara), the churches of Mercy (Misericórdia) and of the Clerics (Igreja dos Clérigos).

The neoclassicismo and romanticism of the 19th and 20th centuries also added interesting monuments to the landscape of the city, like the magnificent Stock Exchange Palace (Palácio da Bolsa), the Santo António Hospital, The Municipality, the buildings in the Avenida dos Aliados, the tile-adorned São Bento Train Station and the gardens of the Crystal Palace (Palácio de Cristal).

Porto has several museums, concert halls, theaters, cinemas, art galleries, libraries and book shops. The best-known museums of Oporto are the Soares dos Reis National Museum  (Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis) which is dedicated especially to the Portuguese artistic movements from the 16th to the 20th century, and the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Serralves Foundation ( Museu de Arte Contemporânea).

The city concert halls are of a rare beauty and elegance. The Coliseu do Porto, by the Portuguese architect Cassiano Branco, is an exquisite example of the Portuguese decorative arts and seen by many as one of the best and most elegant concert halls in Europe. Other notable venues include the Rivoli theatre, Batalha cinema and the more recent Casa da Música. The Guardian elaborated a list of world’s top bookshops, featuring Lello bookshop in third.

We are waiting for your visit!

Malta is a Southern European country in the Mediterranean Sea, 80 km South of Sicily  and 333 km North of Libya. The capital of Malta is Valetta.

The Maltese archipelago consists of three islands: Malta, Gozo and Comino. Malta covers just over 316 kmsq and has a population of 420.000 inhabitants, making it one of the world's smallest and most densely populated countries.

There are two official languages: Maltese and English. Malta is member of the European Union and of the Schengen Area. Its official currency is Euro.

See images of Malta and of UM in the video below.

The City of Lavras was founded around the year of 1720. Located in Southern Minas Gerais, Lavras has great potential for Adventure Sports tourism. The city has the support of Universidade Federal de Lavras - UFLA (Federal University of Lavras), Instituto Adventista de Ensino (Adventist Education Institution), Faculdade Presbiteriana Gammon - FAGAMMON (Gammon Presbyterian College) and Centro Universitário de Lavras - UNILAVRAS (University Center of Lavras) that, together, offer the best undergraduate and graduate courses.

The city is strategically located near the capital of Minas Gerais and historical centers. In the region, we find many natural attractions such as waterfalls, rivers, lakes, reservoir and mountains.

In the municipality we can find: the Rosário Church, with 280 years of age and baroque rococo stile, the natural history and Bi Moreira museums, the ecological park Quedas do Rio Bonito (Rio Bonito Falls), Dr. Augusto Silva Square, with handicraft fair, bars and restaurants that offer the best gastronomy of Minas Gerais.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

BALDWIN LOCOMOTIVE - of the year of 1920, it is one of the first locomotives that acted in Lavras and is now situated at the Dr. José Esteves Square, where it is a history mark of the railroad in Lavras, great tourist attraction for all, in addition to presenting the opportunity for taking many pictures.

Locomotive - Dr. José Esteves Square

INSTITUTO PRESBITERIANO GAMMON (GAMMON PRESBYTERIAN INSTITUTE) - Located at the Dr. Jorge Square, its activities in Lavras were initiated in February 1^st of 1893, with a few students. The work at the Institute progressed, meeting the many areas of education, as well as other activities concerning agriculture by means of the Agricultural School of Lavras, known today as UFLA.
It presents beautiful buildings for visitation at the Chácara and Carlota Kemper Campi.

Lane Morton Auditorium

Administration Building (Campus Chácara)

Campus Kemper

UFLA CAMPUS - The University campus ocupies an area of 600 hectares (6,000,000 m2), with didactic-pedagogical departments, laboratories, specialized library, area for crop cultivation and animal raising, museums, publisher, radio and TV stations, accommodations, restaurants and cafeterias, multiple sports gymnasium, football (soccer) stadium, country club for students, banking and post-office agencies, hotel, printing shop, day care and medical, dental and psychological cooperatives.

  

LAVRAS SHOPPING - It has two theater rooms, food court, beauty salon and many clothes and decoration shops. Lavras Shopping also hosts cultural, artistic and technical-scientific events year round.

Lavras Shopping Garden

FUNIL LAKE - It is one of the main tourist attractions in the city, where the Funil Hydro-Electric Power Plant is located.

Funil Reservoir near the Power Plant

Funil Reservoir - Near Macaia

RAFTING - Boat ride down the Rio Capivari rapids.

    
Rafting Conductors

SERRA DA BOCAINA - Walk to the highest point.

  
Serra da Bocaina - Partial view

ECOLOGICAL PARK QUEDAS DO RIO BONITO - is located at km 9 of BR 354, being one of the largest green areas in the municipality of Lavras, southern Minas Gerais. The park presents some of the most stunning landscapes of the region. It is a conservation unit of which objectives are:
- Environmental preservation;
- Scientific development;
- Environmental education and leasure.

  
Ecological Park - Walkway and Entrance

TIPUANA TREE - It is one of the oldest trees at Dr. Augusto Silva Square. It immense branches cover a large portion of the square, shading those who seek rest. The Tipuana belongs to the Fabacea family.
It is a rarity, demanding attention from all who walk by. It was planted in 1908, by the illustrious Dr. Bernardino Macieira.
Location: Dr. Augusto Silva Square, in front of the banks.
 
Tipuana Tree and Crafts Fair

IPÊS WATERFALL - Situated in the municipality of Lavras, at the access road to the Itirapuã Community, in the direction of Itumirim, the Ipês Waterfall is more commonly known as Cruzes Waterfall. It is one of the newest natural attractions of the area, presenting an exuberant waterfall and landscape. It is located at approximately 13 km from the center of Lavras.

             
Ipês Waterfall

CULTURE HOUSE - This location was used for many years as the Forum, City Council and City Hall, as well as Public Library, Culture Superintendence, Military Junta and others.
Currently it used as Artisan House, Culture Superintendence, Social Wellfare Secreteriat and Military Junta.
The building was acquired by the municipality in 1907, was restored in 1984 and transformed into the Culture House, in homage to the founder of the Bi Moreira Museum, journalist Silvio do Amaral Moreira, 1912-1994.
Location: Sant´Ana Street with Desembargador Alberto Luiz Street, 111.
   
Culture House

FUNIL COMMUNITY - Located at approximately 14 km from the center of Lavras, it is a pleasant place to enjoy the landscape, go camping, diving, boat riding, on walks and experience the food from Minas Gerais in local bars.
Its access is through the Zona Norte Neighborhood, going through COHAB.
 
Funil Community and Leasure Area

MERCÊS CHURCH - This church is a great place to prey and participate of the many activities developed. It is located at the Dona Josefina Square. The church is a community belonging to the Sant´Ana Parish.

Mercês Church - Dona Josefina Square

ROSÁRIO CHURCH - The largest historic patrimony of Lavras, it is located at Dr. Augusto Silva Square. It houses a large variety of paintings and wood carvings. The construction is dated from 1754, with one of the Baroque stiles, Rococo Baroque. Considered historic patrimony by the IPHAN - Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico Artístico Nacional (Institute of National Artistic Historic Patrimony), in 09/02/1948, registered in the book of Fine Arts.
The church operates for Religious Cults and Sacral Museum.
  
  
Rosário Church

MATRIZ SANT´ANA CHURCH - Built in 1904, the Matriz de Sant´Ana Church is the headquarters for the central Parish of Lavras. The chapel and alter are neogothic in wood with golden details, in addition to many plaster images and Corinthian chapitels on the Greek cross pillars and arch bracings. The ceiling, in barrel vault, in made of PVC and structured in wood.
    
Matriz de Sant´Ana Church

NOSSA SENHORA AUXILIADORA CHURCH - It is located at Custódio Moreira Street at the Zona Norte Neighborhood, near the Comendador José Esteves Square.
The church performs many festivities, among which is the celebration for the Patroness Day (Dia da Padroeira).
       
Nossa Senhora Auxiliadora Church

BI MOREIRA AND NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUMS - ­Considered one of the most eclectic of the region, it presents a rich acquis peaces distributed in rooms University Museum, Lavras, Medical Sciences, Wars and Revolutions, Home, Sound and Communication, Anthropology and Weaving.
Located at the UFLA historic campus.
Contact for visitation: (35) 3821-8878 / 3829-1205
     
Bi Moreira Museum and Museum of Natural History

DR. AUGUSTO SILVA SQUARE - Located at the heart of Lavras, near the Banks and Hotels, the Dr. Augusto Silva Square brings tranquility and gentle and hospitable people, guarding the history and culture of Lavras. The square has a large variety of tree species, highlighting the Centenarian Tipuana and Imperial Palm trees.
At the center of the square there is a fountain that enchants our tourists, in addition to the bandstand that receives many artists from Lavras and region.
On Sundays, there is a typical crafting fair, in which are offered the most varied products and services, such as local crafts and typical products of culinary from Minas Gerais.
   
Dr. Augusto Silva Square

OLARIA FISHING AREA - Old road from Lavras to Itumirim.

EXPOSITION PARK - Location in which agriculture and livestock as well as industrial expositions occur annually. Highway 265, Lavras - São João Del Rei.

The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ has three campi: Cidade Universitária, Praia Vermellha and Macaé, comprising institutes, schools, faculties and supplementary units, which include seven museums, among which we can highlight the National Museum, eight university hospitals, and the third largest ocean basin in the world for research on offshore oil exploration.

National and internationally recognized by the high quality of teaching as well as by its commitment to research, the UFRJ is the quintessential higher education institution of its region, leading in every international ranking, such as QS and Times Higher Education. UFRJ academic excellence spreads over a broad range of fields of study.
Moreover, COPPEAD, the UFRJ Graduate Business School, is the only business school in Latin America listed in the Financial Times global ranking among the world’s top 100.

The university has partnerships with several national and multinational enterprises, some of which have facilities on the very UFRJ campi. It is the case of Petrobras, whose biggest research center is located on Cidade Universitária campus. Following a global trend, the UFRJ establishes and maintains cooperative relationships with institutions from all continents, which now amounts to over 200 international institutions all over the world.

Infrastructure (libraries, internet, etc)

The UFRJ has 41 libraries, in which the students can access books, monographs, thesis and dissertations, rare and old books, among others. All bibliographic material of the university can be looked for on the Minerva Database, through the website http://www.minerva.ufrj.br/.
Most academic unities of the UFRJ are equipped with informatics laboratories, providing free access to the internet, besides having free Wi-Fi hotspots.
Some academic units of the UFRJ have an academic center, which is a student’s body that represents their interest inside the university. The academic centers promote debates, thematic weeks, freshmen receptions and organize political actions among the students, besides hosting cultural activities, such as book fairs and parties.

Why UFRJ?

Long-standing prestige. The history of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) dates back to the begining of the XIXth century and is filled with remarkable scientific, cultural and artistic accomplishments.

Excellence. 3^rd best university i Brazil and the 4^th best in Latin America (QS Rankings)

Localization. Located inside the Wonderful City, the UFRJ promotes science, culture and arts under the gaze of the Christ Redeemer and next to the Sugar Loaf.

Democratic. The UFRJ is open to students coming from all socioeconomic backgrounds, and gives a huge contribution towards universalization of higher education in Brazil.

Rio de Janeiro, the Wonderful City, has much more to offer than the beauty of its natural features and the rhythm of Carnival, which represent Brazil all over the world.

Rio de Janeiro distinguishes itself in the Brazilian and Latin American scenario by its academic excellence. Some of the best universities in the country are located in the city and its surroundings.

Rio is also one of the most relevant research centers on energy in the world and hosts several companies and laboratories dedicated to Research & Development, which are mainly located at the UFRJ Science Park or on Cidade Universitária campus.

As the exchange student’s life is much more than studies, it is worth mention that the combination of geographic characteristics – the sea, the mountains, and the forest – with the human presence makes Rio de Janeiro a unique, incomparable city. Each spot of the city turns into an overlook, and with the “carioca” contagious joy, everything is reason to party.

Besides samba and the traditional Carnival, Rio exhales music of all genres and hosts several internationally renowned music festivals, art exhibitions, theatre and much more.

UniEVANGÉLICA  Centro Universitário de Anápolis is the largest and oldest educational institution maintained by  Evangelical Education Association AEE, founded on March 31 - 1947, and houses the first three undergraduate courses in the countryside of the state of Goiás, which are Pedagogy, founded in 1961, Law, founded in 1969, and Dentistry, founded in 1971.

It is considered a reference in the regional setting, both for its educational quality and for its strategic geographic location, attracting many students not only from the Central West region, but from all regions of the country. Currently, there are twenty-five(25) undergraduate courses in operation: seventeen (17) courses that offer a bachelor’s degree, one(1) that offer a licentiate degree, and seven (7) that offer a technology degree, as well as sixty-one (61) graduate programs lato sensu and one (1) institutional Master’s Program.

UniEVANGÉLICA is considered one of the best universities in Goiás, and has outstanding infrastructure with excellent libraries, modern laboratories and highly qualified faculty. Characterized by history and tradition, UniEVANGÉLICA offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs to over 14,000 students. It aims to prepare our students to develop leadership, critical thinking and problem-solving skills necessary for the innovating and competitive employment world.

Anápolis is located in the state of Goiás, in the Central-West region of Brazil. The estimated population is 350.000. The city’s altitude of 1,017 meters (3,336 ft.) and is located on a plateau, one of the highest in Brazil. The climate is mild without extremes and it is generally cooler than the surrounding cities. Anápolis lies in the center of a rich agricultural region and has become a leader in food processing and in pharmaceutical industry.

After Goiânia, the state’s capital, Anápolis is the most developed city in Goiás. It also has the fastest developing industrial sector with several high-tech companies in the Central Region of Brazil.

Anápolis stands out because of its educational infrastructures, with several public and private, primary and secondary schools, universities and colleges, and among them UniEVANGÉLICA stands out.

The Brasilian Air Force operates one of its most important bases here, protecting the country’s capital, Brasília, as well as being an important element of the SIVAM project, the Amazon vigilance system.

 

The Federal University of Roraima – UFRR, which was implemented in 1989, has been the first Institution of Higher Education to be settled in the state of Roraima. It currently counts with three campuses: Paricarana, Cauamé and Murupu.

Throughout 27 years, UFRR has been producing and disseminating knowledge, working on continuous search for standards of excellence and relevance in teaching, research and extension, renewing its mission of contributing to the development of the State, suggesting solutions to the Amazon challenges, stimulating interaction between the people of the border area and raising the quality of life in the region.

Besides the Secondary School (CAp) and the Agro-technical School (EAgro), it has 50 undergraduate courses in several areas of knowledge. It offers 12 Masters Programs: Agronomy, Anthropology, Physics, Chemistry, Natural Resources, Languages, Geography, Regional Development of the Amazon, Health Sciences, Society and Borders, Professional Masters in Mathematics on National Network, and The Masters in Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer for Innovation. It also has four PhD Programs: Agronomy, Natural Resources and Biodiversity, Biotechnology of Legal Amazon and Education in Sciences and Mathematics.

It currently has nucleuses and research units, such as: Legal Practice and Human Rights, Amazon Center for Researches in International Relations (NAPRI),  Natural Resources (NUREN); Biofactory; Socio-Environmental History (NUHSA); Comparative Studies for the Amazon and the Caribbean (NECAR); Semiotic Studies for the Amazon (NUPS); Foreign Languages Studies (NUCELE); Energy Researches (NUPENERG), Electoral Researches and Amazon Policies (NUPEPA), Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Sustainable Development Studies (NEEDS), ObservaRR, Technological Innovation (NIT) and Distance Education (NEAD).

It also has the Insikiran Institute of Indigenous Qualification - Insikiran, responsible for one of the most innovative projects in the country: intercultural qualification for indigenous teachers. The Construir Accessibility Nucleus has been created in order to provide positive actions and discussions about inclusion.

UFRR offers scholarship programs in the areas of education (Monitoring, Academic Mobility and Tutoring Education - PET), research (PIBIC, PIBIC Jr., CIIP) and extension (Knowledge connections, internship, food, urban transport).

According to extension activities, UFRR has been contributing to the socialization of the knowledge produced in the communities, linking them to the national and regional reality and integrating them to the needs of society as a whole. UFRR programs and extension projects are present in all the municipalities of Roraima. Other important initiatives: the University Restaurant and the University Residence.
It is worth mentioning that the structure of our three libraries (Paricarana, Cauamé and Murupu), totaling more than 130,000 items, including books, periodicals, graduate works, among other materials.

Another highlight is the UFRR Publishing House and Bookstore, which was created on 29/11/2002 (Resolution Cuni No. 011 / 2002). It is linked to the Vice-President Office and aims to encourage and promote the publication and the scientific, technical, didactic and artistic production at UFRR and the region. In a few years of existence it has already published and sold more than 200 works by local authors.

Source: the Federal University of Roraima website.
Available at:
http://ufrr.br/index.php/a-ufrr/historico.  

With only 28 years of creation, Roraima is the northernmost state of the Brazilian federation. Roraima Mount, the main tourist spot in the state, from which received its name, calls attention not only by its geographical location inside the triple border between Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela, but also the mystic, untouched and unexplored beauty.

Roraima is the least populous state in Brazil. It has 450,479 inhabitants. According to the 2010 census of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), it has, in proportional numbers, the largest indigenous population in the country, totaling 49,637 people. Roraima territory is about 46.37% demarcated on indigenous areas. It houses 34 indigenous communities such as Macuxi, Wapichana, Ingarikó, Patamona, Sapara, Taurepang, Wai-Wai, Yanomami and Yekuana, according to the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR).

Its economy is mainly based on the tertiary sector with a high rate of growth, although its gross domestic product (GDP) is the lowest in the country, representing 0.15% of the Brazilian economy. Roraima is located in the northern Amazon, where the Amazon Forest predominates. There is still a huge range of tilled.

Many natural beauties, rich fauna and diverse flora attract tourists to Roraima in order to observe birds and walk around Tepequém Mountain, Caracaranã Lake, Grande Mountain and the border with Venezuela and Guyana.

Its capital city is Boa Vista, the only one in Brazil located entirely in the northern hemisphere. The city is only 126 years old. It stands out by its radially organized urban plan, planned in the period between 1944 and 1946 by the civil engineer Darcy Aleixo Derenusson. Its map shape is similar to a fan, alluding to the streets of Paris, France.

The city is the largest in Roraima and has about two-thirds of the state's inhabitants. According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the estimated population was 320,714 inhabitants in 2015.

The people are as welcoming and warm as the equatorial climate - hot and humid. The city is quiet, flat and has many public places for leisure, sports and tourism, which brings tranquility necessary for dedication to studies.

Good concepts of the courses offered by the Federal University of Roraima (UFRR) as well as the mobility programs and internationalization of the institution are an attractive for the arrival of students from several Brazilian states and countries from different continents. Currently, the institution has about 10,000 students.

Boa Vista has increased size on the banks of the Branco River, which has a large extension of beach during the summer, which allows the practice of sports such as kayaking, stand up paddle (SUP) and windsurfing. Cycling, running, hiking and other sports are also part of the daily life of city dwellers. Its location, a few hours from Venezuela and Guyana, enables the contact with different cultures and languages.

The main avenues of downtown converge to the Centro Cívico Square Joaquim Nabuco, where the headquarters of the executive, legislative and judicial is located, besides the cultural places (theaters and palaces), hotels, banks, post office and the cathedral. One of these avenues, the Captain Ene Garcez, focuses touristic places such as the Água Square, Millennium Portal, Sports Complex Ayrton Senna, it also provides access to the International Atlas Cantanhede Airport and the Federal University of Roraima. All of them are very close to each other and easily accessible.

The Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE) has 103 years of tradition in teaching, research and extension in the state and country. Its secular history is marked at the same time, by its capacity for innovation, seeking to contribute to overcoming environmental problems, and by its sustainable development projects and research involving the agricultural, human, and social sciences.

Inaugurated with the Veterinary Medicine and Agronomy programs, the new profile of the institution includes 59 undergraduate programs, including Business Administration, Economics, Physical Education, Gastronomy, Information Systems, Computer Science and several Engineering programs, on the campus of Recife and the academic units Garanhuns (UAG), Serra Talhada (UAST) and Cabo de Santo Agostinho (UACSA), and distance education. In graduate level, UFRPE stands out in the production of research with 48 master's and doctorate programs.

Since the establishment of the Higher School of Agriculture in 1912, UFRPE has achieved good results due to investments in educational actions, research and outreach projects. The university has more than 1.200 professors, more than 1.000 administrative staff and about 17.000 students. UFRPE has also advanced research stations located in the coastline, in the Zona da Mata, in the Agreste and in the Sertão of Pernambuco. They are: Ecological Tapacurá station in São Lourenço da Mata; Experimental cane sugar season (EECAC) and Experimental Small Animal Station (EEPAC) in Carpina; Cattle clinic Garanhuns (CBG); Irrigated Agriculture Station (EAII) in Ibimirim; and Irrigated Agriculture Station (EAIP) in Parnamirim.

More than 4.000 seats are available annually. The selection is done through the National Secondary Education Examination (Enem), with the Unified Selection System (Sisu). The integration between the student body and the faculty - almost all composed of masters and doctors by prestigious universities - and the intense research activity make the University a center of national excellence in the areas where it operates.
Regarding infrastructure, UFRPE offers the academic community the Central Library (BC), with a collection of over 70.000 volumes, including books and pamphlets, journal titles, films and documentaries. BC is also equipped with digital publications for consultation and other institutional information; computers that allow the operation of equipment through sounds; printer in Braille, and other devices for students with visual limitations.

The structure of the campus Dois Irmãos also features: sports center with semi-olympic pool, indoor court, soccer field and running track; student residence; health services, dental, psychological, laboratorial and clinical analysis, social work and nursing, Veterinary Hospital, which answer 1.200 calls per month, among appointments, tests and surgeries in small and medium-sized animals.

The UFRPE, through the International Cooperation Advisory, establishes relations and inter-institutional cooperation agreements with universities and educational centers in several countries. With projects targeting the exchange of students and professors of different nationalities, UFRPE signs agreements, promotes exchanges and guides the university community about opportunities for partnerships, courses and international events. It also facilitates and encourages the attraction of researchers from other countries for mutual enrichment.

Pernambuco is one of the 27 Brazilian states, known by the diverse landscape, from beautiful beaches to the hinterland scenarios, and also by its rich culture and folklore. With 98.311 square kilometers, it is located in the east center of the Northeast. Its coast is bathed by the Atlantic Ocean, and it borders Paraíba, Ceará, Alagoas, Bahia, and Piauí. The archipelago Fernando de Noronha is also part of the ‘pernambucano’ territory, 545 km from the coast. There are 185 municipalities - a total of 8.796.032 inhabitants - and the city of Recife is its capital

Pernambuco is, above all, a state marked by cultural diversity. It has a population that breathes and values ​​its culture, from generation to generation. Not coincidentally, the state is known in the country as one that has the most lively cultural scene, built from the contribution of Indians, Portuguese, Dutch, Jews, Africans, and others. Land of poets, artists and musicians recognized worldwide, not to mention its popular movements and festivities such as Carnival and São João celebrations.

Carnival, for example, is the biggest party. Not only for Pernambuco people, but for all who visit the state at the time of this democratic party – wherever it takes place: at the capital, on the beaches, on the countryside. It has maracatu, the caboclinho, the coco de roda, the ciranda, and the greatest of all representatives - frevo! The pace, by the way, is unique and has its origins in the state itself. At the party, beyond the hills of Olinda, the fervor of Recife Antigo also has the Galo da Madrugada, the world's biggest street block, according to the Guinness Book.

In the countryside, in the Sertão or Agreste, there are other cultural movements. The caretas do Triunfo (600 km from Recife); the Papangus de Bezerros (90km from the capital) promote a big Carnival party in the city's streets.

One of the main economic vocations of the state is the tourism. It generates jobs and income in all regions. There are beautiful beaches, from North to South, monuments, cities, heat and cold. Pernambuco is a rich state that includes everyone and welcomes its visitors with open arms.

Source: www.pe.gov.br

As the result of a separation from the Federal University of Paraiba, in 2002, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG) is today a multi-campuses structured university established in seven cities of the state Paraiba with 1.481 faculty and 1.420 staff members.

UFCG seats in Campina Grande. UFCG provides 94 undergraduate programs to 19.000 undergraduate students in: Engineering/Exact and Earth Sciences (31 programs); Humanities and Social Sciences (42 programs); Biological and Health Sciences (14 programs); and Agrarian  Sciences (7 programs).

40 Graduate Programs (5 professional masters, 23 Masters, 12 PhD) are frequented by 1.742 students (1.078 at Master level and 664 at PhD level). The courses, nationally recognized, are offered in almost all areas:

• Engineering:  Civil and Environmental, Mechanical, Materials, Chemical, Process, Electrical (Graduate and Professional)
• Agrarian Sciences: Agriculture, Tropical Horticulture, Forestry Sciences
• Basic Sciences: Physics, Mathematics (Graduate and Professional), Computer Science and Systems, Meteorology, Oil and Mineral Exploration, Design
• Medicine: Veterinary Sciences, Animal Sciences, Natural Sciences and Biotechnology
• Humanities and Social Sciences: Education, Sociology, Language and Education, History, Letters (Professional), Public Administration (Professional)
• Interdisciplinary: Natural Resources, Agribusiness systems (Graduate and Professional).

About 90% of our faculty members are either MSC or PhD (416 MSc and 905 PhD). The areas of Technology (Engineering) and Basic Sciences have the higher percentage.

UFCG has 251 research groups, most of them actively involved in national and international research networks: Agrarian Sciences (31); Biological Sciences (13); Health Sciences (22); Exact Sciences and Earth (25); Humanities (70); Social Sciences (30); Engineering (52); Literature, Letters and Arts (08). These groups are strong players in national and regional research teams and projects particularly on those related to industries, technologies (information, mechanical, materials, chemical, automation, telecommunications, material sciences, computer science and systems, etc.), energy, nanotechnology, desalinization (laboratory reference), biotechnology and to the semiarid region (sociology, sustainable development, animals and plants).

In the North-East of Brazil, one can find the state of Paraiba with 56.470 km² and 3.999.415 inhabitants. Paraiba has two Federal universities – UFPB, since 1955, and UFCG the newer one, created in 2002, plus one State University (UEPB). All of them offer undergraduate and graduate courses. A number of Federal Institutes have been recently created to provide technical courses.

Campina Grande, located at 600 meters high and 110 km from the Atlantic Ocean (East Coast), is the second largest city of the state of Paraiba with 407.754 inhabitants and is the second largest PhD density per inhabitant in Brazil (1/669).

Campina Grande enjoys the reputation of being a technological center and is considered by many as “a high-tech oasis in the North-eastern hinterland”. The American Magazine Newsweek, in its issue of April 30^th 2001 says that the city lodges “one of the most promising technological centers in the world”, and compares it to an oasis: “In the dry badlands of North-eastern Brazil lies an oasis of rain and opportunity”.

Campina Grande: a regional and national center of north-eastern culture, tradition, and crafting, also embracing contemporary artistic manifestations in museums, exhibitions and festivals.

Saint John's Party in June, regarded as the biggest typical festival all over the world:

We would like to present to our EBW+ partners an associate institution in our project - the SGroup European Universities’ Network, a non-for profit association comprising over 30 universities from 15 European countries. The SGroup’s members represent HEIs of strong international reputation in Europe and worldwide, for instance 13 SGroup members are ranked among world’s best in the Shanghai Ranking 2016. The comradery and trust among its SGroup members brought together also five of the SGroup members to form the EBW+ consortium: University of Porto, University of Malta, Sapienza University of Rome, University of Rouen, and the Polytechnic University of Valencia.

The SGroup Network, known also as the Santander Group, has almost 30 years of experience in international relations in higher education both within Europe and beyond. The association created at the launch of the Erasmus Programme had its original objective to strengthen the links between European universities and to build a solid structure for academic mobility in Europe. Over time, SGroup’s activities went global reaching out to Africa, USA, and Latin America for instance by becoming a co-ordinating institution of the flagship EU-LA initiative in academic mobility, the AlBan Programme (2002-2010). The Network continues expanding its global engagement by setting up a Think Tank for China that gives its members access to expertise and contacts in yet another strategic region of co-operation.

Thanks to an active participation in EU-funded Programmes and the commitment of its members, the SGroup has become a dynamic platform for modern, internationally orientated universities with the aim of expanding collaboration opportunities in education through the transfer of knowledge and development of strategic alliances.

The SGroup mission is based on four core areas of co-operation:

1. internationalisation strategy,
2. academic collaboration,
3. academic mobility,
4. and transfer of knowledge.

Specific activities linked to the priority areas are featured in the chart below:

Its mission the SGroup Network implements through the participation in the EU-funded projects, capacity building of its members, and the promotion of academic mobility. Most recently the SGroup Network set up an Inter-Continental Academic Exchange Programme allowing for study visits between European and partner institutions outside Europe to investigate collaboration opportunities. Since 2015 the SGroup Network created a status of associate membership in the SGroup Network available to non-European universities that thanks to this affiliation can benefit from privileged partnerships for projects, access to expertise, and enhanced visibility.

As an associate partner in the EBW+ consortium the SGroup Network ensures the visibility of the project in Europe, channels the project results, promotes further collaboration between LA-EU, and more importantly contributes to the sustainability strategy of the consortium. Partner universities can stay involved in the SGroup Network’s activities formally or informally by joining the Icon Programme, participating in the SGroup’s events and training sessions, and proposing spin-off projects. We would like to encourage EBW+ partners to explore further the existing collaboration options with view of the sustainable measures for our project.

More information about the SGroup Network you can find here: http://www.sgroup.be/

Universidade Regional do Cariri- URCA is a state public university located in the city of Crato, having other campuses in the cities of Juazeiro do Norte, Iguatu, Campos Sales, Santana do Cariri and Missão Velha, being one of the most active institutions for the development of Cariri region since its creation in 1986.

Cariri region or Metropolitan Region of Cariri (RMC) is located in the southern region of Ceara state and in the border region of the states of Pernambuco, Paraíba and Piauí. It is a region that stands out for tourism, its rich history, its archaeological site, commerce and industry, possessing the third largest industrial footwear pole in Brazil.

URCA serves a community of approximately 11,000 students from about 91 municipalities in the states of Ceará, Piauí, Pernambuco and Paraíba, distributed among undergraduate courses, special programs and lato sensu graduate programs.

It is the largest public institution of higher education of Cariri linked to the Higher Education System of the State and to the Secretariat of Science and Technology. During its 30 years, it has formed more than 23 thousand professionals and has a faculty formed by 736 teachers, of which more than 70 % are masters, doctors (Ph.Ds) and post-doctors.

It has nine campuses, three in the municipality of Crato (Pimenta, São Miguel and São Francisco), two in the municipality of Juazeiro do Norte (Crajubar and Pirajá), one in Campos Sales, one in Missão Velha, one in Iguatu and one in Santana do Cariri, where the Museum of Paleontology is located, possessing one of the most important fossile reserves of the Cretaceous Period.

The lato sensu postgraduate course offers a broad portfolio of courses that value professional development and the exchange of experiences among students, while the strictu sensu postgraduate program carries out scientific researches that generate positive results for society as a whole.

In addition, through extension, URCA carries out activities that complement the academic curriculum and promote the professional training of the external community, serving more than 203, 700 people. Among the initiatives that bring the University closer to society are the National Plan for the Training of Basic Education Teachers (PARFOR), inclusion and accessibility projects for people with special needs and the Geopark Araripe project, the largest geopark in Latin America.
URCA’s importance for the Cariri region can be measured by its strategic role in local development, accomplished through the fulfillment of its mission as a producer of knowledge, science, technology and a sensitive participant in social demands and regional culture.

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

Biology
Physical Education
Nursing
Production Engineering
Buildings
Topography and Roads
Mathematics
Physics
Chemistry
Law
Economics
Pedagogy
Geography
History
Language Arts
Social Sciences
Visual Arts
Theater