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Paul Davidson, AUCC president, provides an overview of the visit to Unicamp, one of Brazil’s top research-intensive universities. Eight Canadian universities signed agreements with Unicamp in areas ranging from student and faculty mobility, to research collaboration, to the development of joint academic programs.

It’s amazing what you can do on three hours sleep. That’s what many Canadian university presidents are realizing (or being reminded of) today after flight delays and re-routes had us finally arriving at our hotel in São Paulo at 5 a.m. this morning. We had set out for the airport in Rio for the short one-hour flight at 5:30 p.m. the day before.

Yet our delegates didn’t miss a beat when several of them participated as moderators and panelists at the Canada-Brazil Innovation Nations Forum this morning.

Stephen Toope, AUCC chair and UBC president, speaking at the Canada-Brazil Innovation Nations Forum.

We also held a news conference today where McGill University Principal Heather Munroe-Blum, University of Manitoba President David Barnard and University of Victoria President David Turpin gave highlights of their institutions’ partnerships with Brazil and their views on strengthening this collaboration.

With a number of key Brazilian media outlets in the room, the University of British Columbia President and AUCC Chair Stephen Toope announced that during the Brazil mission Canada’s universities are announcing 75 new agreements and scholarship programs, valued at $6.74 million.

More exciting news today was the announcement by Mitacs CEO Arvind Gupta of an additional $10.25 million for undergraduate internships and graduate fellowships. Canada’s Mitacs connects university-based researchers, including graduate students and faculty members, with Canadian companies through collaborative research projects and provides research internships to top international undergraduate students. Mitacs announced plans to bring 450 Brazilian undergraduate students to Canada from 2012 to 2014 through its Globalink program. Their announcement includes $3.5 million to fund Globalink Graduate Fellowships – opportunities for student alumni of the Globalink program, including those from Brazil, to pursue graduate studies in Canada.

Following a luncheon with His Excellency, Governor General David Johnston, at which Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology spoke about the role of research in driving commerce and building prosperity, the AUCC delegation visited FAPESP, the state of São Paulo’s main research funding agency. This included a very engaging discussion about opportunities for funded research partnerships with Brazilian scientists.

Science Without Borders is of course a hot topic of discussion this week, and this evening our presidents met a number of Science Without Borders’ students who will be coming to Canada. The evening reception also brought together alumni of Canadian universities living in Brazil.

Our university communities are hoping to welcome the first 500 of 12,000 Science Without Borders’ students coming to Canada to their campuses this fall.

Tomorrow we’ll have an opportunity to see first-hand the very best in Brazilian research facilities when we visit the University of Campinas (Unicamp). This is an outstanding example of the high-end facilities and leading research teams that Canadian students and faculty will benefit from in the coming years, as two-way mobility between Canadian and Brazilian institutions grows.

Sara Diamond, president of OCAD University, reflects on her first full-day of meetings and exchanges with Brazilian colleagues at the President’s Round Table in Rio de Janeiro.

Is there a niche area for Canada within Brazil’s ambitious Science Without Borders program? That was one of the topics discussed during this afternoon’s panel at the Presidents’ Roundtable in Rio de Janeiro.

The Governor General focussed on the importance of partnerships and internationalization of education to attain a global and connected world. © MCpl Dany Veillette, Rideau Hall.

University of New Brunswick President Eddy Campbell moderated a discussion that looked at the potential of Science Without Borders – a new scholarship program that will see 12,000 Brazilian students come to Canada over the next four years – as the start of something even bigger, and lasting.

Anisio Brasileiro of Universidade Federal de Pernambuco said there is hope among many institutions and organizations that Science Without Borders will continue beyond the announced four-year duration.

While enthusiasm for this bold initiative is high among the Canadian and Brazilian university presidents today, no one is pretending that there are no barriers to overcome in maximizing two-way student mobility between our countries. Perhaps topping that list is language.

Canada-Brazil University Presidents' Roundtable. L to R: Paul Davidson, AUCC president; His Excellency the Right Hon. David Johnston, Governor General; Hon. Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) and Jamal A. Khokhar, Ambassor of Canada. © MCpl Dany Veillette, Rideau Hall.

Participants at the Science Without Borders session encouraged opportunities for Brazilian students to benefit from language training before embarking on an academic experience at a Canadian university, and for Canadian students in Portuguese before coming to Brazil.

Last week I was contacted by a journalist writing a story about the Brazil mission and she wondered aloud whether Canadian high schools should start offering students opportunities to learn Portuguese. With Brazil poised to become the world’s fifth largest economy, and the promise of increased collaboration in higher education and trade between Canada and Brazil in the years ahead, that’s another question worthy of discussion.

David Turpin, president, University of Victoria, speaking with His Excellency the Right Hon. David Johnston, the Governor General, at the Presidents' Roundtable.

Our university presidents have arrived in Brazil and there’s lots of excitement in the air about what promises to be a very productive week and a mission designed to advance Canada’s connections to an economic powerhouse that is making significant investments in research and higher education.

Among the AUCC delegates, there’s clearly a shared sense that the Brazil mission is an historic undertaking that will increase meaningful international opportunities for Canadian students and faculty. There’s also growing enthusiasm here for the new partnerships in research and innovation that will be unveiled over the coming days in order to bring some of the brightest minds in Canada and Brazil together to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges.

Our participating presidents are looking forward to sitting down with their Brazilian counterparts tomorrow at the Canada-Brazil University Presidents’ Roundtable in Rio de Janeiro. That’s when a number of panel discussions will address some of the key objectives of this mission by tackling questions such as:

• What can university leaders do to facilitate the collaboration of Canadian and Brazilian universities to foster innovation in both nations?
• What are the existing barriers and how can we overcome them?
• How can Canadian and Brazilian universities build on the Science Without Borders initiative to encourage two-way student mobility?
• How can Canada and Brazil maximize current and create new funding mechanisms to support academic and research cooperation?

We’ll also see an impressive number of new partnerships, scholarships and student mobility programs announced during the Presidents’ Roundtable. This unprecedented gathering will set the stage for a very busy week that promises to deliver significant results, not only for students and faculty, but also the broader society in both countries.