Our team visited FURB – Blumenau Regional University in the city of Blumenau, Brazil

Jovita Kaziukonytė-Levanienė, International Relations Coordinator,  and Project Manager and Faculty of Social Sciences Lecturer, Kara Lina Guokė visited FURB – Blumenau Regional University in the city of Blumenau, Brazil. Blumenau was named after the German chemist, pharmacist and traveler, Hermann Blumenau, who founded the city in 1850. The German heritage is present in the city not only in its architecture but also in the second largest Oktoberfest celebration in the world.

The FURB university, established almost 60 years ago, offers 40 bachelor’s, 14 master’s and 4 doctoral programs for over 40,000 students. This university is renowned for its strong business and engineering programs and public projects aimed at improving community life. The university’s faculty and students dedicate 10 percent of their time to public welfare.

During the visit, students enthusiastically presented their ongoing social projects, ranging  from games that promote logical thinking and programming among schoolchildren; apps for kindergarteners that teach essential skills such as  teeth brushing and trash sorting; educational applications on the flora and fauna of public parks; to artificial intelligence-based monkey species recognition programs for university researchers.

FURB University has an integrated medical complex, where students assist residents of Blumenau; a veterinary clinic, where injured animals are treated in collaboration with rescuers; and one of the largest libraries in the state of Santa Catarina. FURB University has an entrepreneurship center that offers support to student startups; a knowledge and technology transfer center that consults on intellectual property protection  and helps commercialize students and researchers’ inventions and numerous laboratories where ground breaking research is taking place.

During this visit, Kara Lina Guokė, a lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences, introduced Panevėžio Kolegija/State Higher Education Institution and gave a lecture, “Innovations: a Global Perspective and Lithuania’s Strategy to Transform the Economy and Increase Competitiveness”. During the meeting with the heads of engineering and social sciences programs, broader opportunities for future cooperation were discussed.

Due to the warm welcome and excellent program of the visit arranged by Dr. Bruno Thiago Tomio, Head of International Relations at FURB University, the visit was very insightful.