The University of Birmingham will welcome Brazilian academics to its UK campus in a new five-year academic programme across environmental sciences and more.
Professors Robin Mason, Birmingham’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International) and Mercedes Bustamante, President of CAPES, signing the agreement in Brasilia.
The University of Birmingham and the Brazilian federal funding agency for graduate education CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) have signed a partnership agreement to inaugurate the Chico Mendes Chair Programme at the University of Birmingham.
CAPES has committed to support an annual visiting Chair appointment, with an associated one-year postdoctoral and sandwich PhD fellowship, over a five-year term. This brings 15 Brazilian academics to Birmingham to build collaboration across Environmental Sciences, Climate Change, Ecosystems, Sustainability, and Societies and Environment.
Professor Mercedes Bustamante, President of CAPES, and Professor Robin Mason, Birmingham’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International), signed the agreement at CAPES’ headquarters in Brasilia.
The programme is named after the Brazilian rubber tapper, land rights leader and environmentalist Chico Mendes (1944-1988), who was assassinated for his activism. It honours Mendes, who fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian seringueiros (rubber tree tappers), peasants, and Indigenous peoples.
Graduate studies and science need to be means of knowledge production to solve local, regional, national, and even global issues, as is the case of this edict. And the fact that it has the name of Chico Mendes enhances this partnership, by associating environmental conservation with social justice.
Professor Bustamante commented: “Graduate studies and science need to be means of knowledge production to solve local, regional, national, and even global issues, as is the case of this edict. And the fact that it has the name of Chico Mendes enhances this partnership, by associating environmental conservation with social justice.”
The Chico Mendes programme is the first signature initiative of the new Brazil Institute at the University of Birmingham (UBBI), announced on 9 May 2023 at the Brazilian Embassy in London. Professor Mason and the Brazilian Education Minister, Camilo Santana, signed a protocol of intent marking their commitment to closer collaboration. The Chico Mendes Chair Programme is an immediate demonstration of this collaboration and will forge stronger links to propel joint research in environmental conservation and social justice, the defining global challenge of our times.
These projects involve a range of Brazilian partners—Birmingham collaborates with over 160 Brazilian universities–and is supported by UK, EU and Brazilian funders.
The Chico Mendes Chair Programme complements the University’s long-standing Brazil Visiting Fellows Scheme, which over the last 10 years has brought nearly 100 early career researchers to Birmingham for three-month research placements.
Professor Mason commented: “We are delighted and honoured to host the Chico Mendes Chair Programme at the University of Birmingham Brazil Institute. Sustainability and social justice is one of the greatest challenges that the world faces. It is a challenge that can only be solved through international collaboration; that features Brazil and the UK in central leadership roles; and that has been a longstanding focus for the University of Birmingham and its Brazilian engagement. We look forward to working with CAPES and all our Brazilian partners to advance knowledge and develop solutions that benefit both our countries, and, we hope, the rest of the world.”
For more information, please contact Tony Moran, International Communications Manager, University of Birmingham on +44 (0)782 783 2312. For out-of-hours enquiries, please call +44 (0) 7789 921 165.
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Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International)
Profile of Professor Robin Mason, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International)
