Delegation of the Brazil Centre visits Colombian universities

Around 9000km separate Münster from Colombia’s capital city of Bogotá. Yet this distance might feel a bit shorter as of August 2024, when a delegation of the Brazil Centre has paid its first official visit to the country as part of its effort to evaluate collaboration potentials for the University of Münster in Latin America. The first stop of a two-week long fact-finding mission that will also cover Argentina and Chile presented a promising outlook for future collaborations.

The delegation visited three of the most prestigious Colombian universities: the Universidad de los Andes (Uniandes) and Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL) in Bogotá and Universidad de Antioquia (UdeA) in Medellín. These institutions are renowned for their strong research background and high quality of teaching in a broad spectrum of areas – many of them matching the University of Münster’s academic and research profile. The selection of these universities wasn’t random, as an intense surveying of existing bilateral activities took place in the past months. Ongoing collaborations ranging from Mathematics to Social Sciences, from Philology to Pharmacy, from Geography to Dentistry and beyond were identified with these universities.

Every visited institution has shown great interest in promoting activities that should lead to the support of already ongoing efforts and also expanding connections. Some of the meetings included the presence of professors who have active collaborations with Münster and are eager to deepen these. One example of the strengthening of contacts is the recent signing of an agreement with the Universidad de Antioquia in the area of Romanic Philology, marking it as the first institutional collaboration of the University of Münster with a Colombian university.

Besides the bilateral meetings with Colombian higher education institutions, the delegation of the Brazil Centre has also met with the director of the DAAD Office in Bogotá, which is also responsible for the countries of Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela. Dr. Reinhard Babel provided an extensive overview on the Colombian academic landscape and also an in-depth report on German-Colombian collaboration, including the funding opportunities for students and researchers. The longstanding relations between both countries present a promising outlook for the University of Münster.

This first part of the fact-finding mission was very positively regarded by the Brazil Centre’s delegation, who continued its journey towards Argentina with a sense of accomplishment and many ideas for the next steps.

Photos

• 

•