University of São Paulo: USP will have a research center in partnership with China for innovation and competitiveness
USP, through the Inova USP Innovation Center, the Belt and Road Research Institute for International Cooperation and Development (BRRI) and Shenzhen University signed, on January 17, an academic cooperation agreement to the creation of the China-Brazil Research Center for Innovation and Competitiveness.
BRRI is a think tank linked to the Belt and Road Initiative , a Chinese federal program of integration with countries around the world, also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road or New Silk Road.
The agreement signed with USP provides for the new Center to develop academic activities, such as the establishment of research groups in partnership and the development of graduate and post-doctoral programs, and actions aimed at business, including the creation of a platform for exchanging information and opportunities for innovative ventures – Brazilian and Chinese – and attracting companies from both countries for the implementation of an advisory board.
The center will be headquartered in the Inova USP building, on the São Paulo campus, and will work in cooperation with the Institute for Advanced Studies (IEA) and the Dean of Research. It will be chaired by the professor of the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences (FFLCH) and coordinator of the IEA’s Innovation Observatory, Glauco Arbix.
During the ceremony, held online , the vice-rector of Shenzhen University, Zhang Xiao hong, considered that the agreement signed with USP is the beginning of a beneficial partnership for the Institutions, which “will be able to work together to build a platform and a mechanism of cooperation and development, to promote actions of educational exchange and academic resources, to improve innovative capacity with bilateral strategies and to strengthen friendly ties between China and Brazil”.
“China is one of the countries that invest the most in Brazil. Thus, it is important to increasingly encourage these partnerships. For USP, a comprehensive and multidisciplinary research university, the areas of cooperation provided for in this agreement, such as digital agriculture, bioeconomy, smart cities, international relations and public policies, are essential topics at this moment in Brazilian development”, highlighted the USP dean. , Vahan Agopyan.
BRRI’s president, Tao Yi tao, discussed the Institute’s lines of action and also highlighted the importance of the agreement that will enable the development of joint research and student exchange between the two countries.
The president of the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (Fapesp), Marco Antonio Zago, stated that the Foundation is “prepared to support the participation of researchers from São Paulo in this collaboration. Our state has traditional cooperation with China, both with universities, as well as commerce and industry. One of the most important vaccines against covid-19 in Brazil is produced in São Paulo, based on a technological agreement signed between Sinovac and Instituto Butantan. I am sure that Fapesp will contribute to transforming this agreement into concrete joint research”.
The director of Inova USP, Luiz Henrique Catalani, assured that the new center “is committed to building and supporting the elements necessary for this collaboration. This agreement represents the cornerstone of a new era of collaboration between Inova USP and BRRI”. The coordinator of the Center, Glauxo Arbix, explained that the next steps will be the establishment of a cooperation plan and an execution schedule and the creation of a joint work group to build the cooperation proposal.
Also participating in the event were the new rector of USP, Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior, who will take office on January 25th; the Dean of Research, Sylvio Roberto Accioly Canuto; the president of the USP Agency for National and International Academic Cooperation (Aucani), Valmor Tricoli; the director of the USP Innovation Agency (Auspin), Marcos Nogueira Martins; the coordinator of the Academic Performance Indicator Management Office (Egida), Aluisio Segurado; the director of the Department of International Exchange and Cooperation at the University of Shenzhen, Jiang Jianwu; the director of the Chinese institution’s School of International Exchange, Yanchun Pan; among other university leaders and representatives.