Can Brazil’s new HE programme improve internationalisation?

In mid-July, after almost a year of announcements, debates and preparatory meetings the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes) – a federal agency linked to Brazil’s Ministry of Education (MEC) – launched the Capes-Global.Edu programme. This replaces the Programme for Institutional Internationalisation (Capes-PrInt) which was finalised in October 2024.

Capes-Global.Edu is aimed at public and non-profit private higher education and research institutions that offer graduate programmes. According to Capes, the general objective is to contribute to Brazil’s international prominence and consolidation as a strategic partner in global initiatives, as well as to promote mutual cooperation, intercultural dialogue and sustainable development.

Specific objectives include the encouragement of partnerships between Brazilian institutions from different regions and with different levels of internationalisation; the consolidation of institutional strategic internationalisation plans; and the promotion of a culture of internationalisation in participating institutions. The idea is to achieve this through the creation of networks, which will join forces to work around strategic themes of research.

At an information event on July 18th, Capes President Denise Pires de Carvalho said the programme represents a paradigm shift in the internationalisation of Brazilian science, having been built through dialogue with institutions “from a bottom-up perspective”: “It’s a solid initiative, democratically built, and we want it to be a success,” she said, adding that the aim was for to work with higher education institutions to reduce social inequalities.

Vanessa Araújo Vargas, the general coordinator of institutional programmes and international scholarships at Capes’ International Relations Directorate, explained how it would work.

The system for submitting proposals for the programme is now open and the closing date is 30 October. The results will be published on 27 February.

Networks

This is the first time that a Brazilian government programme aimed at the internationalisation of higher education is explicitly structured around the creation of networks of institutions of higher education and research with the aim being to reduce past regional inequalities in access to funds for internationalisation.

The idea is that the networks will also contribute to raising the quality of graduate programmes in the less favoured regions of Brazil.

They need to either be composed of one coordinating institution and three associates, guaranteeing the presence of institutions from at least three regions; or be composed of one coordinating institution and four or five associates, guaranteeing the presence of institutions from at least four regions.

In both cases, institutions from the North, the Midwest or Northeast – the regions with the highest poverty rates in Brazil – need to be included.

Coordinating institutions must have at least one graduate programme which is rated at the highest evaluation level, according to Capes, and include graduate programmes with lower ratings in their proposals.

They must also demonstrate characteristics such as expertise in the strategic research themes defined by the network, with international partnerships either projected or under way; have a department responsible for managing internationalisation within their structure; and have language training initiatives aimed at the university community.

International partners

In contrast to Capes-PrInt, Capes-Global.Edu does not specify international regions or institutions of preference for collaboration; it only mentions the purpose of promoting international cooperation with "institutions in the Global North and South". So each network will be responsible for defining their partners in line with the strategic research themes they have chosen.

Financial and budgetary resources

The programme will run from 2026 to 2031 and will receive a total investment of up to BRL1,400,000,000.00 (US$291,217,887.77), with a projected annual investment of up to BRL350,000,000.00. These resources will be distributed between the approved networks in the first four years in line with analysis of their proposals.

State Research Support Foundations (FAPs) may also participate in the initiative, providing funding directly to institutions from their states which participate in the approved networks.

Fundable items include international work to facilitate agreements and execute projects as well as the presentation of results at conferences and events, in addition to scholarships within and outside the country, starting from September 2026.

The scholarships to be offered to those studying [and] working abroad will include “sandwich doctorates” [doctoral programmes where a student spends a portion of their time conducting research at a different institution or in a different field than their primary university], senior and junior visiting professors and short-term training. In Brazil, scholarships will aim to attract researchers from other countries: visiting professors, young talents, postdoctoral fellowships and “sandwich doctorates”.

Advances in the concept of internationalisation

Over the years, the understanding of internationalisation of higher education in Brazil has evolved from it being merely a synonym for international mobility to a more comprehensive approach. The characteristics of previous initiatives such as Science without Borders (SwB) (2011-2015) and the Institutional Internationalisation Programme (Capes-PrInt) (2018-2024) reflect this evolution.

To a certain extent, Capes-Global.Edu continues this trend. It focuses on the idea of institutional transformation, recognising the importance of partnerships between Brazilian institutions as a means to achieve the objectives of the programme.

Yet, just like Capes-PrInt, its main focus remains on research. Thus, it is likely that the two other functions of Brazilian universities – teaching and, in particular, outreach – remain in the shadows of internationalisation efforts.

The international relations experts in participating institutions – often responsible for implementing the institutional policy of internationalisation more comprehensively – are part of the network committees, but do not play a central role.

This has provoked some discussion. While the resources provided by the programme are welcome and celebrated – especially in the context of a serious budgetary crisis, with cuts and blockages of funds that affect institutions’ functioning and quality – the limited participation of international relations teams in the initiative has been questioned, for instance, within the scope of the Management Council of International Relations of Federal Institutions (CGRIFES).

The inclusion of the Global South

Also in contrast to Capes-PrInt, Capes-Global.Edu explicitly states the importance of cooperation with the Global South. Official statements about the new programme, even before its launch, recognise internationalisation as a means to subvert inequalities and achieve broader social justice goals. Savo Heleta and Samia Chasi’s definition of internationalisation was often highlighted as an inspiration for the programme.

The ways in which the development of relations between the Global South will happen, however, remain unclear. Despite Capes’ good intentions, will participating institutions in Brazil choose institutional partners from the Global South, given their history of preference for the Global North?

If yes, will this be enough to ensure reciprocal relations and promote a different perspective on internationalisation? At the national level, how will the relationships between coordinating and associated institutions work within each network, given their inequalities? And more broadly, will the programme actually change the paradigm of internationalisation in Brazilian higher education?

Fernanda Leal is the director of International Relations at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) and a postdoctoral researcher at Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC), Brazil.

This article is a commentary. Commentary articles are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of University World News.