More hundred students from Brazil and Argentina graduate at various Hungarian universities each year, most of them with the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Programme and recently also through the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship. The aim of the mission was to further develop the educational partnership between the countries and to promote Hungarian higher education to the Brazilian and Argentine youth.
The Hungarian delegation consisted of the representatives of five Hungarian universities – the University of Szeged, the University of Miskolc, Semmelweis University, Óbuda University, the Budapest University of Technology and Economics – and the representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Tempus Public Foundation.
The first stop was in Rio de Janeiro on 25 October, where the delegation met with the representative of REARI-RJ an international network of 14 higher educational institutions in Rio de Janeiro to discuss potential cooperation opportunities. The meeting was followed by a visit to the State University of Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ, one of the top universities in Brazil where participants could introduce their institutions and highlighted the importance of facilitating further academic partnerships.
On the next day, the delegation travelled to visit the Sao Paulo State University UNESP, a highly prestigious institution in South America with more than 55,000 students and 24 campuses. There are already existing academic relations between UNESP and a few Hungarian universities, this meeting paved the way for more cooperation in the future.
Later in the evening, the Consulate General of Hungary in Sao Paulo hosted the Brazilian-Hungarian Higher Education Forum and Alumni Meeting for the Brazilian students and alumni at the Hungarian House, where participants could network and learn more about the results of the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship through the 10th-anniversary exhibition of the programme. Many of the participating alumni studied in Hungary with the Science Without Borders scholarship in the early 2010s. The meeting included a welcome speech by General Consul, Ms Zsuzsanna László, the introduction of the Stipendium Hungaricum and the Hungarian Diaspora scholarship programmes, the Alumni Network Hungary as well as the presentations of the Hungarian universities. At dinner, delicious Hungarian meals and wines were served accompanied by a live gypsy music concert.
The schedule was very busy so for the next two days. The delegation took part in the Study in Europe Institutional event and study fair in Sao Paulo, where hundreds of Brazilian students could receive first-hand information about Hungarian study- and scholarship opportunities and the programmes of the participating universities at the Hungarian booth.
After finishing the mission in Brazil, the delegation travelled to the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires to participate in the Study in Europe fair there too, where many European countries represented their higher education. The Hungarian booth with the universities was again very popular among Argentinien students, many of them were interested in studying in Hungary in the near future. At the fair we also had the opportunity to meet the representatives of the Ministry of Higher Education in Argentina, who are our Stipendium Hungaricum Partner to discuss the details of the scholarship programme.
The last event the delegation joined was the Argentine-Hungarian Higher Education Forum and Alumni Meeting at the Embassy of Hungary which hosted members of the Hungarian diaspora community in Argentina. The forum was opened by the welcome speech of Dr. Péter Kveck, Ambassador of Hungary, followed by presentations of the Hungarian universities, and an introduction of the Stipendium Hungaricum and Hungarian Diaspora scholarships and the Alumni Network Hungary.
The mission of the Study in Hungary delegation in Brazil and Argentina was a great opportunity for facilitating educational cooperation between the countries and for promoting the Hungarian study opportunities available for students in South America. We wish to strengthen these ties further and we hope to welcome even more Brazilian and Argentine students to Hungarian higher education.