It is the only study center at the President’s Office entirely dedicated to relations with a specific country. Find out more in this edition of the “Inside USP” newsletter
China is one of the countries that has been standing out on the international stage for the quantity and quality of its academic research, in addition to representing one of Brazil’s largest partners in several areas, such as agriculture and geology. In today’s Inside USP newsletter, you’ll learn about the USP-China Center, another of the multidisciplinary centers of the University of São Paulo President’s Office. Focused on research, exchanges, and cultural activities related to China or in partnership with institutions in the country, the center is directed by Professor Ricardo Trindade. In an interview with the Momento China USP podcast on Rádio USP, he explained how the idea for this center came about and what its purpose is:
“This center was created as a direct result of a request from the President’s Office, following a visit by USP’s President, Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior, to China, which took place at the end of 2023 and was the first visit by a President of the University of São Paulo to that country. On that occasion, it was possible to detect the strength of science and technology in the cities there, showing the need to establish a closer relationship with local institutions. In this way, the center serves as a connection between Brazilian and Chinese researchers. Another objective is to develop new projects, and the idea is that we can also be a place where research projects will be nucleated involving Chinese and Brazilian actors. Not only academics, but also companies that may eventually fund research here at University of São Paulo. There’s also a cultural objective, which is to consider how cultural relations and artistic exchanges between Brazil and China work; therefore, the center also focuses on producing festivals and cultural events,” he explains.
In the same interview, Ricardo Trindade explains how the activities work in practice and mentions some of the areas with ongoing work: “We already have several seeds, and the idea is to increase and try to expand the actions already existing at the University from this central hub, which is the USP-China Center, so that we can better develop relationships. It’s also important that we learn more about Chinese culture, which is still very little known in Brazil, and that, with Chinese partners, we take Brazilian culture, the culture of the University of São Paulo, outside of Brazil, to China. In practical terms, one of the areas in which we have already made significant progress is agricultural science, including food science. We are also working extensively in the areas of healthcare, aerospace sciences, engineering, and geosciences, as well as artificial intelligence, which we understood from the outset should be a cross-cutting area, linked to information and communication technologies.”
Finally, the director assesses the context of this center within USP’s international operations. “It was created within a set of thematic centers that the University President’s Office created when it decided it was important to accelerate and give impetus to some strategic areas, bringing together, for this purpose, groups of very well-positioned researchers, so that they could lead these initiatives. The USP-China Center is one of them, and the only one dedicated to a nation. USP is, in all rankings, the first Latin American university and the first university in Brazil. And this is something that is very important for the Chinese, for Chinese institutions. They place a lot of value on rankings and the position of the universities they collaborate with. So, for us, the fact that we are the number one university in Latin America and Brazil is something very representative in this relationship, so they make a point of having USP as the first place they visit so they can have some kind of collaboration,” he emphasizes.
English version: Nexus Traduções
