To examine the north/south academic dialogue from a Brazilian perspective, four different points must be taken into consideration: the significance of Brazil in the international academic and scientific world, the usual forms of international academic cooperation, some of the political aspects involved in north/south academic collaboration, and the ways in which academic institutions in the north should proceed in order to establish fruitful collaboration with their partners in Brazil.
Maps of South America speak for themselves: Brazil constitutes most of the sub-continent; however, in spite of its vast geographical area, Brazil remains very poor. The country has a population of around 180 million inhabitants, and its gross national product (GNP) of 1 trillion US dollars yields a per capita income of close to US$3,300. In comparison, the Canadian GNP is similar to that of Brazil; however the population of Canada is six times smaller; consequently, Canada’s per capita GNP is around US$32,.000. Despite this huge difference, Canada today produces 4% of all scientific papers published worldwide, while Brazil contributes around 2% of the total.
The scientific and academic institutions in Brazil are supported by three distinct sectors: the federal government, state governments and private enterprise. The public sector is responsible for 90% of the scientific production carried out in this country. All postgraduate programs are obliged to undergo a continuous, rigorous evaluation process implemented by the Ministry of Education, which allocates funds in proportion to the scientific and academic capability of each group. The entire process is absolutely transparent, and individual curricula (as well as the academic production of research groups and postgraduate programs) are accessible to everyone in a massive database denominated Plataforma Lattes. Research funding agencies maintained by the federal government and by many of the state governments are the customary source of funds allocated to research. Interaction between the private sector (industry) and the academic sector remains insubstantial.
The history of international academic cooperation in Brazil shows that up to 1920 international collaboration was limited to the continuous training in European countries of a rather restricted academic elite. The establishment of the first Brazilian universities with strong support from European academia occurred principally in the 1930s. In the 1950s, strong foreign support became available for the development of Brazilian universities and to provide training for Brazilian students abroad, while the 1960s were predominantly a period in which intense training was offered to students abroad and a significant interchange of academic faculty took place, supported by Brazilian funding. Between 1970 and the present date, the country has implemented a series of bilateral and multilateral programs supported by local funding.
Nowadays, Brazil publishes 2% of all scientific papers produced globally, covering many areas of science but principally the fields of Physics, Clinical Medicine, Biology and Biochemistry, Agricultural Sciences, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Microbiology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Social Sciences and Immunology.
If we classify the traditional forms of academic cooperation according to their administrative characteristics and the number of partners involved, five distinct groups may be formed: 1) Bilateral monothematic interchanges in which academic cooperation results from contacts between individuals in different countries who have a common research interest; 2) Agreements with interchange programs, that have the same characteristics but the administrative structure is formal; 3) Networks of multilateral collaboration with more complex administrative support; 4) Multi-thematic networks involving multilateral collaboration with a high level of institutional support; and 5) Consortiums, a form of academic interplay that requires the establishment of a central unit to coordinate the multilateral collaboration. Most international academic cooperation in Brazil may be considered type 1 or 2; however, great efforts have been made in recent years to establish academic cooperation programs at levels 3, 4 and 5.
When international academic collaboration is classified according to the nature of the link between the academic institutions, four different groups may be defined: 1) Direct inter-university cooperation, meaning autonomous cooperation between universities that is not submitted to the approval of any agent outside the universities themselves; 2) Inter-university cooperation promoted by external agencies, an academic interplay that has official support (funding) and is normally based on governmental agreements; 3) Research and training programs specially developed by institutions in the northern hemisphere to be carried out in countries of the southern hemisphere; a type of program that is normally implemented by very high level academic/research groups with the aim of strengthening research in countries of the southern hemisphere; and 4) Interchange programs based on north/south academic networks in which the main goal is to achieve academic excellence. Currently, most international academic cooperation in Brazil is made up of types 1 or 2.
Certain political aspects related to the north/south academic dialogue have to be taken into consideration. First, the south is rather less homogeneous than the north. The differences in scientific and academic status between countries such as Brazil and other less developed countries must be taken into account to avoid establishing programs that are inappropriate for that particular country or situation. It is essential to take into consideration that, unlike the situation in the north, funds designated specifically for international collaboration programs in institutions in the south are generally scarce. Mainly for this reason, programs implemented in the southern hemisphere are generally conceived and developed by institutions in the north. Under these circumstances, the real interests, possibilities and resources of the southern hemisphere country or institution are frequently misunderstood, and the results of all the efforts spent in terms of time and money are often paltry.
What are the main characteristics of the interchange of knowledge between countries that are economically and academically at different levels? Typically, in the past, the main feature of these relationships has been colonialism, a policy by which a nation maintains or extends its control over dependent foreign territories by systematically refusing to transfer knowledge and technology. At the present time, classical cooperation (also known as academic donation, vertical cooperation or technical cooperation) allows the transfer of funds and academic support from the north to the south as a unilateral transfer according to the conveniences of the stronger partner.
What is certainly desirable and appropriate in these modern times in the north/south academic dialogue is the establishment of mature institutional cooperation (also known as horizontal or symmetrical cooperation). This has several important implications: 1) Continuous and organized support to establish a well-prepared class of academic faculty and technicians in countries of the southern hemisphere; 2) The development of scientific and academic projects of common interest; 3) Intellectual symmetry; 4) Shared responsibility in which both sides collaborate in developing the programs; and 5) Bilateral interchange of academic knowledge.
It is evident, however, that even in present times some aspects of the north/south academic dialogue may still be conducted in a neo-colonial way, favouring the north more than the south. Some key aspects have to be considered. First, unilateral transfer of funds and knowledge from the north to the south makes southern institutions strongly dependent on their northern partners. Secondly, it is crucial to emphasize that neo-colonial relationships are not necessarily designed and proposed by northern countries or institutions; they may have their origins in political decisions taken in the south. Third, the scientific elite of the southern hemisphere may use neo-colonial relationships as a way of preserving particular benefits and of reproducing a form of internal neo-colonial relationship with weaker groups in neighbouring countries.
Several prerequisites are fundamental in order to establish a solid base for horizontal academic cooperation between the north and south, and these factors include: all partners previously sharing their knowledge, leading to a vast interchange of experiences; the decision to share all available knowledge with no restrictions of any kind; and the creation of long-term programs instead of episodic cooperation.
Several local institutions offer funding for International Academic Cooperation with Brazil. The principal federal agencies that provide funding for research are: the National Research Council (CNPq/Ministry of Science and Technology; the Agency for the Development of Academic Faculty (CAPES/Ministry of Education; and FINEP (Ministry of Science and Technology). In addition, several agencies that support research at state level have funds that may be used for international academic cooperation.
Some particular programs merit particular attention. The PhD “sandwich” program is funded by the CNPq and allows Brazilian PhD students to study abroad for a maximum of two years, carrying out research or any other activity related to the development of their PhD thesis. A post-doctorate program funded both by CNPq and CAPES sends Brazilian PhD students abroad for a period of two years as fellows or visiting professors in well-established and well-evaluated foreign institutions. Brazilian funds from those institutions allow local institutions to receive foreign investigators and professors for periods of up to three years. Finally, Brazil has a great interest in establishing joint PhD programs (Cotutelle de These).
As described above, the possibilities of academic interplay between Brazil and developed countries of the northern hemisphere are manifold and there is great interest in Brazil in encouraging this type of interaction.
Author's Information
Emílio José de Castro e Silva MD, PhD heads the Office for International Affairs at the Universidade Federal da Bahia (IDRC) in Brazil. He can be reached at emilio (at) ufba (dot) br.
© 2008 Emílio José de Castro e Silva. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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