News and commentary

This op-ed by Stephen Toope, president of the University of British Columbia and chair of the board of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, was published in the University World News on May 20, 2012.

Building prosperity in these challenging times requires that nations reach out beyond their borders, more than ever before, to establish strategic international connections. Increasingly, the right doors are being opened and the path to prosperity is being constructed through partnerships being forged by universities in research, innovation and higher education.

Canada’s universities recognise the need to build and strengthen international collaboration with nations that are making bold investments in education and research. High on that list is Brazil.

That’s why 30 university presidents from across Canada embarked on an unprecedented mission to Brazil from 25 April to 2 May 2012.

My colleagues and I met with the leaders of Brazilian universities and research networks, government officials and private sector partners who share our objective of advancing research, innovation and higher education connections between Canada and Brazil.

The importance of this mission is underlined by the fact that Canada’s Governor General David Johnston was asked by Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper to lead the mission.

A fruitful investment

It was the largest-ever international mission of Canadian university presidents, and has already proved to be a most fruitful investment of time, energy and ideas. What we witnessed during our time in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Campinas and Brasilia is a quickening in higher education relations between our countries.

During our week-long visit, 75 new university partnerships and scholarship programmes were announced and meaningful discussions set the stage for even greater collaboration in the years ahead.

In addition to pursuing collaborative research, both countries are keen to advance an innovation agenda. This mission included opportunities for university presidents to meet with Brazilian private sector leaders.

Canada’s private sector shares the goal of strengthening partnerships with Brazil, and in São Paulo partners from both countries explored successful models of university-industry linkages to advance research and innovation in common areas of interest.

The steps that Canada and Brazil are taking together will open the door to new worlds that we can only imagine for our students and faculty. They are investments that will benefit our economies through innovation, our societies through higher education, and the world as a whole through the creation of new knowledge through research.

The benefits of exchange

These days, vast amounts of international research and enterprise can be accomplished virtually, through computer-mediated communications, and this is a great enabler of global collaboration.

But there is something essential and irreplaceable about the opportunity for students and faculty to take actual, physical steps beyond the geographic borders of their native countries and enter a larger world.

Especially for students, the benefits include access to people, information, expertise, facilities and resources that are not readily available to them at home. But the advantages of international study in higher education extend much further than this. International study is – or should be – a transformative experience.

Different cultures, different languages and different ways of doing things have a way of expanding our minds and our capabilities. I know of no more effective way of cultivating creative, engaged global citizens capable of contributing meaningfully to their society. Our world and our economy are hungry for such people.

It is in recognition of this need that Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff has inaugurated the Science Without Borders programme, which aims to help more than 100,000 Brazilian students to study abroad. We recognise the value of this effort and admire its bold commitment. Canada’s universities are ready to welcome 12,000 of these students.

One of the themes reinforced during our Brazil mission was that truly meaningful international partnerships emerge from people-to-people connections. To be effective, they have to be so much more than words on the page.

Personal connections provide durable bonds that ensure two-way flows of knowledge, innovation and business opportunities. Personal bonds not only cross borders, but are much more sustainable through time and inevitable difficulties.

This mission allowed those personal connections to take shape.

Putting words into action

Now we are back at home and mobilising our university communities to put those words into action. We are connecting researchers with Brazilian scientists and enhancing mobility opportunities for both students and faculty.

Most importantly, we are putting into action a commitment to build on the momentum of our mission, to return to Brazil and to build even stronger connections in the years ahead for the benefit of the people of both countries.

This letter to the editor was submitted to the Globe and Mail in response to Margaret Wente’s column “Educated for unemployment” published on May 15, 2012.

By Paul Davidson
President
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada

Margaret Wente clearly has a keen interest in the future of postsecondary education graduates in Canada, but her argument is lacking in facts.

Wente’s statement on average student debt is misleading. According to the 2009 Canadian University Survey Consortium Survey of Graduating Students, the average amount of debt per student is $15,466. The median amount of debt is lower, at $6,500. Even more importantly, 42 per cent of students graduate debt-free.

Last year, Google vice-president of consumer products, Marissa Mayer, said most of the company’s 6,000 new hires over the coming year would be from the humanities or liberal arts. Why? She explained that Google is looking for grads who are smart and can get things done.

In many cases, the skills associated with degrees in the humanities and social sciences — analytical, problem-solving, communication and interpersonal skills — give those grads a competitive advantage. They are resilient during the inevitable economic ups and downs. They are adaptable to changing labour market needs.

A university experience prepares graduates for something more than a career. It prepares them to think, to ask questions, to listen, to make decisions and to be engaged, global citizens.

Presidents wrap up successful visit

Brasilia, Brazil – Canada’s universities set the stage for the acceleration of bilateral collaboration with partners in Brazil during the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada’s presidents’ mission from April 25 to May 2. Canadian universities and their Brazilian counterparts announced 75 new partnerships with Brazilian institutions, scholarships and student mobility programs worth $6,736,800 (CAD) during visits to Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Campinas and Brasilia.

An additional $10.25 million investment in undergraduate internships and graduate fellowships was also made during the mission through Mitacs. 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.

The mission wraps up today with meetings with government officials and industry leaders in the capital, Brasilia, along with additional university and research facility visits.

“I’m immensely proud of the progress that has been made in strengthening our partnerships in research, innovation and higher education with Brazilian institutions,” said David Barnard, president of the University of Manitoba and member of AUCC’s board of directors. “We’ve taken important steps with our Brazilian university partners in opening our doors to a two-way flow of students and faculty between our countries for collaboration in key areas of study and research. Our relationships with Brazil have grown this past week; we gained greater awareness of each of our strengths and worked together on strategies for further enhancing our connections in the future.”

“Both countries are committed to building prosperity through investments in research and higher education,” said Paul Davidson, AUCC president. “In the new university partnerships and scholarship programs announced this week and those just starting to take shape, we see that commitment transformed into action. The real success of this Brazil mission will be seen on our campuses and those of our Brazilian partner institutions in the coming months and years as our bilateral collaboration expands.”

“Soon we will see more of Canada’s and Brazil’s top scientists working together to address global challenges, we will see more Brazilian students studying in Canada and Canadian students studying in Brazil, and we will see the people of Canada and Brazil increasingly as the beneficiaries of great research that drives innovation and leads us to growth and prosperity.”

AUCC is the national voice of Canada’s universities, representing 95 Canadian public and private not-for-profit universities.

-30-

Note to editors:  A full list of today’s announcements is included in the backgrounder.

Media Contacts:

In Brazil:
Helen Murphy
Communications Manager
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
hmurphy@aucc.ca
613-563-1236 ext. 238
Cell. +1-613-608-8749

Atendimento à Imprensa no Brasil
MAPA Comunicação Integrada – São Paulo
Karoline Pereira – Atendimento
karoline@mapacomunicacao.com.br
Débora Kojo – Coordenadora de Núcleo
55 (11) 6182.4881 / 5096.3137 / 2501.8374
www.mapacomunicacao.com.br

In Ottawa:
Mélanie Béchard
Communications Officer
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
mbechard@aucc.ca
613-563-1236 ext. 306

Campinas, Brazil – Canadian university presidents travelled to Campinas today to visit the University of Campinas (Unicamp), a hub for research and innovation in Brazil. About 30 presidents taking part in the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada’s mission to Brazil toured the facilities and discussed joint strategies for transferring university research to the private sector to help build prosperity in both countries.

Eight Canadian universities signed agreements with Unicamp today in areas ranging from student and faculty mobility, to research collaboration, to the development of joint academic programs.

“Unicamp is an outstanding example of the benefits that will accrue to Canadian students and faculty, and Canadian society, through university partnerships with Brazilian institutions,” said Stephen Toope, president of The University of British Columbia and chair of the board of AUCC. “This university is an incubator of fresh ideas and entrepreneurship, a catalyst of new knowledge and private sector engagement. Collaboration with institutions such as Unicamp will help Canada cultivate the skills and talent needed to seize new opportunities in global society.”

Today’s visit began with an address by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, on the topic of transferring university research to the private sector to create innovative communities, and remarks by the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Canada’s Minister of State for Science and Technology. Canadian university presidents and their Brazilian partners also took part in a panel on this topic. This afternoon they will observe a demonstration of the Synchrotron Light Laboratory Brazil (LNLS) in connection with the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan.

“Strengthening Canada’s ties to the global supply of ideas and talent is central to our science and technology strategy,” said Minister Goodyear. “The agreements signed today will promote greater cooperation between Brazilian and Canadian institutions conducting world-leading research. This will provide great benefits for companies seeking to grow through innovation, and will enhance the quality of life of our citizens, by creating high-quality jobs, economic growth and long-term prosperity.”

Over the past year, Brazil’s synchrotron has been adapting CLS software that enables scientists to remotely access synchrotron beamlines, analyze data and store information so researchers and their students can collaborate and exchange information and ideas half a world away. This link will make it possible for future Brazilian graduate students working at the CLS to connect with their faculty supervisors in Brazil, who can observe their experiments in real time.

“Seeing first-hand the high-calibre of facilities for research and innovation in Brazil is inspiring,” said Peter MacKinnon, president of the University of Saskatchewan and member of AUCC’s board of directors. “With so many synergies between the research capacities and interests in Canada and Brazil, we see incredible potential to accelerate our bilateral partnerships and collaboration in the months and years ahead.”

The delegation of Canadian university presidents now travels to Rio de Janeiro to visit other world-class research institutes and then to Brasilia for meetings with government partners and visits to higher education institutions and research facilities.

The AUCC university presidents’ mission to Brazil is being led by the Governor General. AUCC is the national voice of Canada’s universities, representing 95 Canadian public and private not-for-profit universities.

-30-

Note to editors:  A full list of today’s announcements is included in the backgrounder.

Media Contacts:

In Brazil:
Helen Murphy
Communications Manager
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
hmurphy@aucc.ca
613-563-1236 ext. 238
Cell. +1-613-608-8749

Atendimento à Imprensa no Brasil
MAPA Comunicação Integrada – São Paulo
Karoline Pereira – Atendimento
karoline@mapacomunicacao.com.br
Débora Kojo – Coordenadora de Núcleo
55 (11) 6182.4881 / 5096.3137 / 2501.8374
www.mapacomunicacao.com.br

In Ottawa:
Mélanie Béchard
Communications Officer
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
mbechard@aucc.ca
613-563-1236 ext. 306

Mitacs announces $10.25 million for undergraduate internships, graduate fellowships

São Paulo, Brazil – Canadian universities and their Brazilian counterparts are announcing 75 new partnerships and scholarship programs worth $6,736,800 (CAD) in university and government funding during the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada’s university presidents’ mission to Brazil, April 25 to May 2. Stephen Toope, president of The University of British Columbia and chair of the board of AUCC made the announcement at a news conference in São Paulo today.

New announcements made today build on the 46 agreements and 13 new scholarship and student mobility programs unveiled yesterday at the Canada-Brazil Presidents’ Roundtable in Rio de Janeiro. The total of 75 agreements, MOUs and scholarship programs also includes announcements to be made in Campinas on April 28 and Brasilia on May 2.

“The connections between our universities and those in Brazil are sparking discovery and innovation that will yield tremendous benefits for both countries,” said Prof. Toope. “These ambitious investments in research, innovation and higher education will lead us to become more prosperous economies and more globally successful nations.” These partnerships are being signed with Brazilian partners during visits to Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Campinas and Brasilia.

Today’s announcements in São Paulo include an additional $10.25 million investment in undergraduate internships and graduate fellowships through Mitacs. 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 $6.75 million – co-funded by the Brazilian government’s new Science without Borders program, the Government of Canada, Canada’s provinces and several Canadian universities – to bring 450 Brazilian undergraduate students to Canada from 2012 to 2014 through its Globalink program. Brazil’s CAPES (Federal Agency for the Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education) has signed an agreement with Mitacs to support the first 100 students. The Mitacs announcement includes another $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.

“We look forward to working closely with our partners to establish a closer relationship with Brazilian universities and students through Mitacs Globalink and the Globalink Fellowship Program,” said Arvind Gupta, CEO and scientific director of Mitacs. “By connecting countries around the world through our young researchers, we will improve the global economy.”

“These university initiatives signal a turning point in our bilateral relationship and tremendous opportunities for students and faculty in the years ahead,” said Heather Munroe-Blum, principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University and member of AUCC’s board of directors. “Ultimately these are investments in people – students, researchers, innovators and, more broadly, the people of Canada and Brazil.”

Ten Canadian universities signed partnerships today with the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) worth $1.18 million.

AUCC is the national voice of Canada’s universities, representing 95 Canadian public and private not-for-profit universities.

-30-

Note to editors:  A full list of today’s announcements is included in the backgrounder.

Media Contacts:

In Brazil:
Helen Murphy
Communications Manager
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
hmurphy@aucc.ca
613-563-1236 ext. 238
Cell. +1-613-608-8749

Atendimento à Imprensa no Brasil
MAPA Comunicação Integrada – São Paulo
Karoline Pereira – Atendimento
karoline@mapacomunicacao.com.br
Débora Kojo – Coordenadora de Núcleo
55 (11) 6182.4881 / 5096.3137 / 2501.8374
www.mapacomunicacao.com.br

In Ottawa:
Mélanie Béchard
Communications Officer
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
mbechard@aucc.ca
613-563-1236 ext. 306