News and Opportunities
New Australia-Brazil collaborative research agreement
27 Jun 2013
Australia and Brazil have boosted research ties through a new joint research agreement between the Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN) and FAPESP, the Sao Paulo Research Foundation. The agreement, worth A$1 million over five years, opens the way for research collaboration between ATN universities and Sao Paulo State universities.
Five ATN universities and three Sao Paulo state universities – University of Sao Paulo, University of Campinas and the State University of Sao Paulo – are involved. The agreement will stimulate further exchanges between researchers and students in both directions.
The signing of the agreement was a highlight of a recent visit by ATN to Brazil, from 10–14 June. The ATN delegation, led by Executive Director Vicki Thomson, consisted of a senior delegation and a researcher group spread across various disciplines, including sports research, microtechnology, oil and gas, and geological sciences. The group visited Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro during their five-day visit, conducted a roundtable with government, academia and industry in the State of Minas Gerais, and met with a large number of universities and government agencies in each of the states they visited. Multiple research collaboration opportunities were identified and will be followed up by ATN.
Government stakeholders in Brasilia expressed satisfaction when ATN announced in their meetings that they will offer a visa offset for students under the Science without Borders (SwB) program. They were also very positive about ATN’s decision to offer a tuition fee waiver for 25 PhD students (five at each university), which will most likely be advertised as a separate call under the SwB program.
ATN delegation at FAPESP to sign a new joint research agreement