During the month of September, the University of Oviedo will receive 36 Brazilian students awarded with a grant by the Brazil Science Without Borders Program, in which also 38 Spanish universities participate. The program stems from an inititative by the Brazilian government and directly promoted by its President, Dilma Ruseff, by which they aim to favour the presence of students, lecturers and researchers in international institutions of excellence as well as increasing the presence of foreign academicians in Brazilian institutions. The final goal is to develop an intellectual capital in Brazil in key aspects related to science, technology and innovation.

Thus, it has been planned that more than 100,000 grants be granted by the Brazilian government for the different types of mobilities included in this program during the following four years, for which thay have a budget superior to 1,600 million dollars. The exchanges are carried out with universities from USA, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, France and Italy.

The program is managed through the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) of Brazil, which is in charge of selecting the Brazilian students, lecturers and researchers according to excellence criteria. At the same time, the Universidad.es Foundation, subject to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, coordinates the CNPq and the Spanish universities taking part in the Program and actively collaborates with the rigurous selection process the universities had to go through to participate in this initiative, among them the University of Oviedo. The criteria taken into account for the choice of the reference institutions had to do with their teaching quality, their excellence research, the degree of knowledge transfer, their level of internationalization and the welcome services available.

Successful call among brilliant dossiers

The first call of the Brazil Science Without Borders Program for the 2012-2013 academic year was announced for the modality of "stays for undergraduate Brazilian students" in such a way that mobility grants for a year were offered with the possibility of attending several degree subjects, up to 60 credits. The application period for the Brazilian universities to propose the students with the best academic dossier to be considered for the grants to study in a Spanish university, was open until 14 May, 2012. The Program was very successful and they received more than 9.600 applications for the 1,551 places offered from Spain.

Taking into account the primary areas of the Brazil Science Without Borders Program, the University of Oviedo announced in March, 2012, a total of 36 places for the degrees of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Information Technology, and degree in Biotechnology. This academic offer has been totally filled.

The students receive a monthly grant for their stay in our country whereas the CNPq is in charge of covering the costs of registration via the Universidad.es Foundation. Once in Asturias, the International Relations Office of the University of Oviedo, subject to the Vice-rector's Office for Internationalization and Postgraduate Studies, is in charge of the registration and welcome of these students, whereas the people responsible for the international relations in each centre will advise them in the design of their study program.