During the meeting, the German delegation reaffirmed cooperation between the two institutions in various research areas
The President’s Office at the University of São Paulo welcomed a delegation from the Max Planck Society on October 10, led by its president, Patrick Cramer. The group was received by USP President Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior and representatives from various levels of university management.
The Max Planck Society, headquartered in Munich, is one of Germany’s leading research organizations, with more than 80 institutes dedicated to basic science across multiple fields of knowledge. Founded in 1948, it is internationally recognized for its scientific excellence and for maintaining a strong network of partnerships with universities and research centers around the world.
The German delegation included the Secretary-General of the Max Planck Society, Simone Schwanitz; Thomas Duve, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory; Susan Trumbore, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry; Tobias Renghart, Representative of the Max Planck Society for Latin America; and Carolina Abadie, Assistant to the regional office. The Consul General of Germany in São Paulo, Martina Hackelberg, also attended the meeting.
Sergio Proença, President of USP’s International Cooperation Office (Aucani), presented data about the University and highlighted the Study Centers recently created by the President’s Office, which bring together researchers from different disciplines to address common scientific challenges. These multidisciplinary centers were designed to promote integration among USP’s units and institutes and have enabled the development of high-impact, collaborative projects that expand the reach of the University’s research in diverse areas.
USP researchers also presented ongoing initiatives developed in partnership with Max Planck institutes. Eduardo Neves, Director of the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (MAE), shared results from archaeological studies conducted in the Amazon, which have contributed to expanding knowledge about human occupation in the region and to developing tools for environmental preservation. In his presentation, he recalled the work of German naturalists Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius and Johann Baptist von Spix, pioneers in documenting Brazil’s fauna and flora during their 1817 expedition.
In his address, President Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior emphasized USP’s central role in Brazilian scientific production and presented information about the University’s funding model, internationalization efforts, and growing partnerships with foreign institutions. According to him, the dialogue with the Max Planck Society reinforces a long-standing trajectory of scientific cooperation that already involves several groups and researchers from USP.
“Internationalization is a cornerstone of our academic and research policy. USP has been working to strengthen its presence on the global stage, and many of our most productive initiatives arise precisely from collaborations with international institutions. As we are a very large and comprehensive university, it would be impossible to send all of our students abroad. Therefore, we also invest heavily in what we call internationalization at home – establishing international centers on our own campuses to provide collaboration experiences without the need for travel. Several research groups at USP already work jointly with Max Planck institutes in fields such as biology, the humanities, and environmental sciences. Strengthening this partnership creates new opportunities for our researchers and contributes to advancing scientific knowledge on a global scale,” said Carlotti.
The President of the Max Planck Society, Patrick Cramer, emphasized the institution’s interest in strengthening collaboration with USP in strategic research areas and praised the University’s academic structure, particularly the recently established Study Centers. “Science today faces challenges that transcend borders and demand international cooperation. It is essential for universities and research institutes to work together to find sustainable and innovative solutions. USP has a very solid scientific tradition, and the concept of multidisciplinary centers is especially inspiring because it creates an environment where researchers can go beyond classrooms and develop new ways of thinking and innovating. This type of structure is crucial for the advancement of science worldwide,” stated Cramer.
After the meeting at the President’s Office, the delegation visited USP’s hydrogen production plant powered by ethanol, developed by the Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Innovation (RCGI) as part of a project to find sustainable solutions for the energy transition. The system uses ethanol as a renewable source to produce high-purity hydrogen, aiming to reduce carbon emissions and support the use of this fuel in industrial and transportation applications.
The delegation also visited MAE, where they learned about ongoing research projects and explored the museum’s collection.</span
English version: Nexus Traduções, edited by Denis Pacheco
