Brazilian President Announces Program Extension

BRASILIA, July 21, 2014—At a ceremony at the Palácio do Planalto in Brasilia, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced plans to launch a second stage of the Ciência sem Fronteiras Scholarship program (known in the United States as the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program).

The president’s press service issued the following statement on the official website, Blog do Planalto:

The program Ciência sem Fronteiras of the Brazilian Government will offer 100,000 more scholarships in its second phase, which was launched this Wednesday by President Dilma Rousseff, at the Palácio do Planalto. The President reiterated the objective of the program: to focus on the training of students at all levels of undergraduate, postgraduate and research abroad on a scale compatible with the challenges of the country.

“This program was created to guarantee conditions to generate new innovation here, to generate interests in the sciences and through the application of technology in all areas. In industry, in agriculture and above all, to enable research in the basic sciences. With this we are opening new frontiers. We are opening horizons for our young people. Because of this, we are initiating a new phase of the Ciência sem Fronteiras scholarship program,” the president explained.

Dilma commented that Ciência sem Fronteiras has granted 83,200 scholarships abroad thus far, and highlighted that with the anticipated awards to students this coming September, the government will reach the goal of 101,000 scholarships. By comparison, the president said that before the creation of the program, there were only 5,000 scholars outside Brazil.

IIE president Allan E. Goodman traveled to Brazil to attend the ceremony and meet with the Brazilian Government about the program, which IIE administers in the United States.  IIE works closely with CAPES, a Brazilian federal agency, and with CNPq, an organization within the Ministry of Science and Technology, to administer the scholarship for the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program students at U.S. colleges and universities.

“We are very grateful for the role that the U.S. colleges and universities have played in the success of the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program,” Dr. Goodman commented. “The host campuses have shown great flexibility in working with us to accommodate the rapidly growing numbers of students from Brazil over the past three years to ensure a good academic fit for the students, and have offered very strong international student services to help the students to have a positive experience on campus.”

Brazil’s minister of education, Henrique Paim, spoke about the program’s objective to promote scientific research and increase international cooperation in science and technology.  In addition, President Roussef and Minister Paim spoke about the importance of learning languages and also developing research and workplace skills through internships as part of their scholarship.

The program has helped to develop linkages between U.S. and Brazilian universities, and has raised the level of interest in one anothers’ countries among students and faculty at both home and host campuses. IIE has also worked with hundreds of U.S. business and research institutions to arrange internships, and Dr. Goodman noted that the host companies and the host campuses have had very positive experiences with the students they have hosted.


About the Institute of International Education

The Institute of International Education is a world leader in the international exchange of people and ideas. An independent, not-for-profit organization founded in 1919, IIE has a network of 19 offices and affiliates worldwide and over 1,200 member institutions. IIE designs and implements programs of study and training for students, educators, young professionals and trainees from all sectors with funding from government agencies, foundations, and corporations. IIE also conducts policy research and program evaluations, and provides advising and counseling on international education and opportunities abroad.

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