The President of the Brazilian Universities Association, Professor Carlos Alexandre Netto representing over 50 universities throughout Brazil led the delegation which included representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fiocruz (the most prominent science and technology health institution in Latin America) and the Brazilian Embassy, Ireland.
The visit, organised by UCC’s International Education Office, and co-ordinated nationally by Enterprise Ireland, was part of a week-long tour which included meetings with the Department of Education and Science, Irish Universities Association and universities and institutes in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Maynooth and Waterford.
The aim of the visit was to identify common interests in education between UCC and Brazil and explore possible areas of co-operation both in scientific research as well as academic programmes, including increasing student and staff mobility. Following the meeting with the Department of Education and Science, a Memorandum of Understanding between Ireland and Brazil is now being drafted.
While at UCC, the delegation received a tour and overview of the Tyndall National Institute and met two of Tyndall’s Brazilian post-doctoral students. As the delegation had expressed a particular interest in learning more about three of UCC’s areas of expertise, specifically marine and environmental sciences and Pharmacy, they met with faculty from the Environmental Research Institute, the Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science and the School of Pharmacy. They also met staff from the Department of Hispanic Studies who teach Portuguese.
On departing, Professor Netto, Head of the delegation commented on the “first class facilities, amazing campus and quality of research taking place at UCC”.
The delegation has identified a number of areas for future collaboration with UCC and the University looks forward to further strengthening the links with Brazil into the future.
Picture: Front Row (L to R): Ms Teresa Cristina Abreu, Dr Michael Murphy, President, UCC; Professor Carlos Alexandre Netto. Back Row (L to R): Terry Mc Parland, Ms Andrezza Brandão Barbosa, Professor Wellington Almeida, Professor Henry Campos and Professor Claude Pirmez.
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