As of this Tuesday, November 20, the Science without Borders program has openedinscriptions for a further 18,000 scholarships abroad. The Science without Borders program seeks to promote the consolidation, expansion and internationalization of Brazilian science and technology, innovation and competitiveness through international exchange and mobility. To President Dilma Rousseff, the results achieved so far show that it is progressing toward the goal of taking 101,000 students overseas by 2014.

"Science Without Borders is a success. Currently, in November, 18,000 young Brazilians have already received a scholarship to study at the best universities in the world. They will learn about the most advanced science and technology on the planet. And when they return to Brazil, they will help improve our universities and create new technologies to add value and give more competitiveness to our businesses, our products and our services," she said.

To seize the opportunity, students must have good performance in their higher education course of study in Brazil, while also having achieved more than 600 points in the National Secondary Education Examination (Enem). It is also necessary to have knowledge of the language used in the destination country, and to improve upon this, intensive language courses are provided, giving an opportunity to those who were not able to learn previously.

"There are talented young people who do not have strong foreign language skills, and in order to support these people, we offer an intensive course for six to eight months in the language of the country where they will study, before starting classes at a university abroad. Through this approach, we value merits and give opportunities to students from poorer families, who have not had the chance to learn a second language, to participate in the Science without Borders program on equal terms," explained the president.

22 November 2012