Brazil takes steps to improve international study options for science majors
September 21, 2011
Brazil is home to the tenth largest economy in the world, and is ranked 13th in scientific production, but they are striving to climb the ranks.
The Brazilian government is pushing for more of their students to study internationally. Time reports that the government recently began a scholarship program, Science Without Borders, to award as many as 75,000 students with funds to study abroad. The program, which will take about $2 billion to fund all of the potential scholarships, is aiming to secure Brazil a more formidable position in the global scientific community.
During the 2009-2010 academic year, there were less than 9,000 Brazilian students studying in the U.S., whereas more than 127,000 students from China traveled to America to pursue their academic careers. This is perhaps part of the reason that more than 30 percent of the world's research and development takes place in Asia, while Brazil and other Latin American countries only account for 3 percent of this field.
"If we manage to send [just] 8,000 or 10,000 grad students to have some experience abroad, it's going to be a good thing for Brazil," Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, director for the Sau Paulo state research foundation, told Fast Company.
People can use international calling cards to make calls to Brazil to talk to their friends about the country's potential in the scientific industry.