International partners from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp) joined academic staff and PhDs from Bath on campus last week for a shared 50th Anniversary celebration to further strengthen ties between our two institutions.

Wednesday’s reception was the culmination of a three-week trip from twenty three Unicamp researchers who have been participating in an academic writing teacher training programme on campus, led and delivered by our Skills Centre.

This initiative, designed in collaboration with Eleonora Cavalcante Albano (Advisor of Graduate Affairs Office & International Relations Office) from Unicamp, came about following a visit to Brazil in 2014 by Maggie Ward Goodbody (Director, Skills Centre) and Jackie Dannatt (Writing Centre Leader). The result is a programme, delivered by Jackie Dannatt and Diana Hopkins, that encourages greater peer learning between international colleagues and, in turn, greater international research collaboration.

Having signed our Memorandum of Understanding in 2013, Unicamp is one of our closest international partners and a key member of the Four Continents University Network of Strategic Partners, which includes Stellenbosch in South Africa and Zhejiang in China. 2016 also marks a milestone 50th anniversary for the institution, which is ranked second both in Brazil and Latin America.

Commenting on the latest visit, Professor Colin Grant, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Internationalisation) said: “Last week’s event was another excellent opportunity for the research community at the University of Bath to network with our colleagues from Brazil. I was particularly pleased to see new engagement from our PhD community for whom our internationalisation agenda has so much to offer at the start of their careers.”

Maggie Ward Goodbody added: “The Academic Skills Centre and Writing Centre play a crucial role in supporting students directly as well as delivering skills support to assist our academic staff too, and increasingly this support is embedded in the specific disciplines. The success of this new international venture is an excellent model for us to build on in the future, and an example of how we can contribute to internationalisation in our activities.”

Marcelo Raimundo da Silva, Project Manager of Unicamp’s Writing Centre, said: “Our trip to Bath has been a particularly rewarding one for all involved from Unicamp. Our two communities have many common areas of their work to share and this visit has been an opportunity to further cement our ties and progress a number of research projects of mutual interest. I look forward to seeing the benefits that our ever-closer collaborations will bring.”

Across the board, including for each of our Faculties and the School of Management, new partnerships with Unicamp are yielding good results.

In March 2015, Professor Ian Butler led a delegation to the Unicamp and the University of Sao Paulo to explore research collaboration in a wide range of disciplines. As a result there have been a range of developing activities, including ones involving researchers from the Departments of Politics, Languages & International Studies and Social & Policy Sciences.

In the area of biofuels, researchers from our Departments of Biology & Biochemistry and Chemical Engineering, have been engaging with international counterparts, in collaborations which are set to bring about new projects, including joint bids for funding.

After formal opening addresses, Ed Stevens, Public Engagement Officer in University’s Public Engagement Unit provided our Reception guests with an overview of our highly successful Images of Research competition, whilst also emphasising the increasing importance of researchers engaging with wider communities to profile their research and its impact.

Ed’s introduction was followed by a series of ten presentations from both institutions by PhDs and researchers.

Find out more about the International Images of Research on display through this new blog post.