Led by rector Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, a delegation from Unicamp began a series of conversations to establish partnerships with Italian universities and innovation districts. The group was in Rome, Turin and Milan, where they talked about the possibility of carrying out collaborative actions in areas such as energy, sustainability and food and medicine production, as well as programs in the artificial intelligence and its applications and robotics sectors. .
“We consider that this was a very successful mission in the effort we are undertaking to expand Unicamp’s insertion into international collaboration networks”, said the rector. “Trips like these are essential for the University to advance its internationalization strategy,” he added.
“It is also worth highlighting not only the deepening of our relations with the main Italian universities, but the open contact with innovation districts, opportunities made possible by the Brazilian Embassy in Italy, in the people of ambassador Renato Mosca and the head of the Science and Technology and Educational Cooperation, Fernanda Rocha Soares dos Santos”, added the dean.
Participating in the mission were Professor Ricardo Miranda, director of the Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Scientific Computing (Imecc), the associate director of the Institute of Computing (IC), Esther Colombini, the postgraduate coordinator of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FCF) , Marcelo Lancelotti, and the associate director of the Faculty of Food Engineering (FEA), Ana Silvia Prata. The delegation also included Rafael Dias and Ludmilla Pioli, respectively, advisor and assistant for international cooperation from the Executive Directorate of International Relations (Deri), as well as advisor to the Dean of Research Angela Christina Lucas.
“The realization of this mission in Italy takes place in the context of a strategic project developed by Deri, with the support of the CGU [General Coordination of the University] and which seeks to reposition Unicamp in international collaboration networks for teaching, research and extension”, explained Dias .
“We seek in particular to reactivate connections that were weakened due to the [covid-19] pandemic, we seek new partnerships in which we see possibilities for collaboration and in which this potential has not yet been realized, in addition to giving a more institutional character to the collaborative actions that eventually exist in the context of individual partnerships between teachers and researchers”, he added. Dias also stated that, with this trip to Italy, Deri managed to close the circle and involve all 24 teaching, research and extension units at Unicamp.
Establishment of partnerships
The Brazilian delegation's trip began with a visit to the Brazilian Embassy in Rome. The group then visited the Italian National Research Council, when negotiations were opened to establish partnerships. Still in the Italian capital, Unicamp representatives visited the University of Rome Tor Vergata and the University Roma Tre.
The group then visited the University of Turin (Unito) and the Polytechnic School of Turin (Polito). In Milan, the mission was at the Polytechnic School (Polimi) and the University of Milan (Unimi). The Unicamp team also attended the Kilometro Rosso innovation districts, located in Bergamo, and Mind (Milano Innovation District), located on the outskirts of Milan.
“With this mission, collaboration points were identified with all the universities visited, which will certainly result in a more institutionally established network through double degrees and collaborative actions at the co-tutel postgraduate level. We reached many common points between us, but also points to strengthen and that we would like to develop”, said Prata.
“I believe that the visit to Italian universities was very important and will be very productive for Imecc. It was possible to learn about various teaching proposals and research strategies, mainly in terms of applied mathematics, statistics and data science”, stated Miranda.
“I believe that we will have important consequences from this trip, such as academic cooperation programs and the opening of possibilities for student exchanges”, he added. “I also highlight the attention we received from the Brazilian Embassy in Rome, which has maintained a great relationship with the Brazilian Mathematics Society, through the organization of joint Brazil-Italy events in the field of mathematics”, he concluded.
