Universities and Research Institutions

Fundação Getúlio Vargas

The original goal of the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), founded in 1944, was to train administrative staff for the public and private sectors in Brazil and to boost the country's socio-economic development. Later, the FGV expanded its field of activity and today offers courses in economics, business administration, public management and law in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. In addition to teaching, research is of particular importance to the FGV and today it is one of the top institutions in South America as a proven centre of excellence. The FGV-Rio has a cooperation agreement with the University of Münster dating from 2014, which resulted from research contacts between lawyers and economists from both institutions.

Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro

PUC-Rio was the first private higher education institution in the country. It was founded in 1941 by the Catholic Church as a non-profit university and offers highly qualified degree programmes in law, engineering, computer science, psychology, economics, business and international relations. It stands out as an innovative, business-oriented and international university that also conducts excellent research in many areas. In the RUF Ranking 2023 it ranked 25th. PUC-Rio and the University of Münster are linked by an agreement since 2011.

Universidade Estadual de Maringá

The UEM is a public university financed by the state of Paraná in southern Brazil, with headquarters in Maringá. It origins from a business school founded in 1959. In the 1960s, other disciplines such as law, art, philosophy and languages were added before it was officially declared a university in 1970. Today, in addition to Maringá, it has five other campuses in towns in the surrounding area. UEM is linked to the University of Münster by a cooperation agreement since 2017, which resulted from collaborations in the departments of pharmacy and sports. In the RUF Ranking of 2023, the UEM reached the 23th place.

Universidade Federal do ABC

The Federal University UFABC is located in the so-called ABC region, the industrial belt of the city of São Paulo in the same named state. It was founded in 2005 as an innovative educational project with a special focus on interdisciplinarity and inclusion. In a context of scarcity of well-trained people for industry and administration in the region, the UFABC was intended to produce well-trained personnel for the region, especially in engineering, mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and social sciences. Although it is one of the youngest universities in Brazil, it has already very good reputation in terms of its high-level interdisciplinary research and teaching. It is ranked 39th out of 203 in the 2023 RUF Ranking and even second in Brazil regarding the internationality criterion. A cooperation agreement with the University of Münster was signed in 2018.

Universidade Federal do Ceará

The Federal University of Ceará (UFC) was founded in 1944 and today has seven campuses with almost 30,000 students. In research and teaching, the UFC covers practically all fields of knowledge and is considered an outstanding research centre in the northeast of the country, especially in the fields of physics, mathematics and engineering. In the RUF Ranking, the UFC is ranked 17th in Brazil in 2023 and what particularlly attracts attention is the market relevance of this university. The UFC was the first university in Brazil to have a DAAD lectorate and still hosts the so-called German Culture House (CCA), demonstrating its close ties with Germany. The university agreement with the University of Münster arose from cooperation with its Department of Information Systems and was signed in 2016.

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Located in the southeast of Brazil, the most industrialized region of the country, UFMG was founded in 1927 and is thus the oldest university in the state of Minas Gerais. Today it is a national leading institution in education, culture, scientific research and patent registrations. UFMG offers 77 degree programmes and 80 Master's/PhD programmes and operates more than 900 research centres. With 1056 patent registrations in 2016, it holds a top position among higher education institutions in the country. It is ranked 5th in the 2023 RUF Ranking. In 2018, the University of Münster concluded a cooperation agreement with UFMG.

 

Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in the same named city and state of Rio de Janeiro followed in 1920 from the merging of individual faculties. Today, the university has around 67,000 students spread across four campuses. In the RUF Ranking of 2023, the UFRJ is ranked 4th, and in the criterion of innovation achieved the second position - its technology park, for example, is nationally renowned. The UFRJ is one of the oldest partners of the University of Münster: the letter of intent signed in 1987 was replaced in 2020 by a memorandum of understanding. The Cooperation is to be expanded in the future.

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

The Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) has been a public educational institution since 1960 and currently has approximately 43,000 students. The UFRN is present in 6 locations: the central campus and the Health Sciences Centre in Natal, the Higher Education Centre in the Seridó, in Caicó and Currais Novos, the Agricultural School in Jundiaí, in Macaíba and the Faculty of Health Sciences in Traírí, in Santa Cruz. In addition, it can be found in 62 municipalities with community actions and in 20 distance learning support centres, of which 13 are located in Rio Grande do Norte and 7 in other states: Paraíba, Pernambuco and Alagoas. In the RUF Ranking of 2023, the university showed an increasing performance in all categories. The agreement signed in 2018 is based on cooperation activities in law and music, since then contacts in the area of German Studies have also been established.

Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Founded in 1960, the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) has its main campus in Florianópolis and four other campuses in Araranguá, Blumenau, Curitibanos and Joinville-Brazil. In the Ranking RUF 2023, it ranked 7th. The UFSC and the University of Münster (UM) have had a cooperation agreement since 1985, which was renewed in 2020. Currently, scientists from various departments at the UM maintain long-term research relationships with the UFSC, including in mathematics, infection research, pharmacy and information systems. Regarding the student exchange, the UFSC is one of the most active cooperation partners of the UM.

Universidade Federal de Viçosa

Founded in 1926, the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) is considered the most important Brazilian university for agriculture. Today, the UFV also offers programmes in engineering, humanities and health. In recent years, greater efforts have been made to increase the number of courses offered in English language, as well as the number of agreements for double and joint doctorates with internationally recognised research institutions. The UFV reached 14th place in the 2023 RUF ranking and even third place in the Innovation category. The cooperation agreement with the University of Münster dates from 2018, and joint initiatives are mainly in landscape ecology and biology or biotechnology.

Universidade Estadual de Campinas

The University of Campinas (Unicamp) was founded in 1966. By focusing on research and development, Unicamp has established its reputation as a top Brazilian university with particularly close ties to industry. Moreover, it is distinguished by the intense transfer of its know-how to society, especially in the area of health. According to the RUF ranking 2023, Unicamp is the second best university in Brazil and also achieved first place in teaching, second place in research and third place in internationalization. A cooperation agreement was signed with the University of Münster in 2014.

Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro

The Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), with its headquarters in the same named city, emerged in 1979 from the fusion of various colleges. Its number of students reaches about 14,000 and the university is ranked 66th in the RUF ranking of 2023 for universities. The cooperation agreement, signed in 2016, between the University of Münster and UNIRIO derives from joint projects in the economy, as well as from contacts in the area of informatics and music.

Universidade de Pernambuco

 

The federal University of Pernambuco (UPE) has around 16,000 students spread across a main campus in Recife and ten other campuses in the state. At the Recife Campus, the University of Münster (UM) had between 2014 and 2016, as in São Paulo, another liaison office in Brazil. An agreement links the two universities from 2012; to date, there is a very active link with UPE in the field of information systems and especially with Prof. Fernando Buarque of the Polytechnic School of this university - one of the two Brazilian research ambassadors of the UM. In the RUF Ranking 2023, the university achieved 50th place and is among the 13 best universities in the internationalization category.

Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie

After six decades, the contribution of this educational institution to the socio-economic and technological development of the country was recognized and in 1952 it obtained the status of a university. In the following decades, Mackenzie Presbyterian University became one of the largest and most prestigious universities in South America. Today, MACKENZIE is also the oldest private and confessional university in Brazil. The main campus is located in the city centre of São Paulo. In this dynamic and opportunity-rich environment, this university seeks to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. The cooperation agreement with the University of Münster (UM) has been in place since 2015 and emerged from a collaboration between the departments of psychology (UM) and business administration (UPM).

Universidade de São Paulo

The University of São Paulo (USP), founded in 1934, is a federal university that is allocated in seven campuses in the state of São Paulo. In addition to the main campus in the city of São Paulo, it is also represented in Bauru, Lorena, Piracicaba, Pirassununga, Ribeirão Preto and São Carlos. USP is the largest university in Brazil, with nearly 100,000 students, and is considered the best university in South America according to international rankings; it is ranked number one in the 2023 RUF ranking. Today, USP has more than 1000 international agreements with various institutions around the world. The  University of Münster and USP have had a close and formalised cooperation since 2007.

Oswaldo Cruz Foundation

Founded in 1900, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) is one of the most important scientific institutions in the health sector in Latin America. Fiocruz is affiliated to the Ministry of Health and fulfils the mission of producing, disseminating and sharing knowledge and technologies to strengthen and consolidate the Brazilian universal public health system (SUS) and promote the health and quality of life of the population. With over 48 degree programmes (masters and doctorates), Fiocruz is now the main non-university institution for the training and qualification of personnel for the SUS and for the field of health sciences and technology. Fiocruz has units in the Northeast, North, Southeast and South Brazil regions, in addition to the institutes headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. According to The 2022 Global Vaccine Market Report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation is one of the top 15 vaccine manufacturers in the world. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the University of Münster and Fiocruz in February 2023.