“Brazil has a lot to offer in terms of higher education”

Text: Gunda Achterhold

The Amazon rainforest is regarded as the Earth’s “green lung”, and Brazil has more tropical rainforest than any other country in the world – yet this vital natural treasure is under acute threat: over the past 20 years, nearly 25 million hectares of forest have been felled or destroyed by fire. The destruction of tropical rainforests is one of the most urgent challenges facing Brazil – and the world.

Preparations for the United Nations COP30 climate conference are already in full swing at the DAAD Regional Office in Rio de Janeiro. In November 2025, the international community will be gathering in Belém, a city of more than a million inhabitants in Brazil’s Amazon region, to discuss the measures needed in the fight against climate change. “All the issues relating to the environment and sustain­ability are of great concern to us here,” says Katharina Fourier, Director of the DAAD Regional Office and of the German Centre for Research and Innovation (DWIH) in São Paulo. She took up her new post in Brazil in September 2024 and plans to focus on ­topics in the areas of bioeconomy, sustainability and climate research. “With its unique research ­environment, Brazil has a lot to offer in terms of higher education,” explains Fourier.

Unparalleled ecosystems such as tropical rainforests, dry savannas and the plains of the Pantanal, one of the world’s largest inland wetlands, attract researchers from all over the world to Brazil. No other country boasts such biodiversity. Brazilian research is particularly strong in areas such as the climate, energy security, biodiversity and biotechnology – and the country’s scientists are very keen to collaborate with German partners. “It is particularly the research-oriented universities in the south and south-east of the country that are already engaged in intensive cooperation with their German and ­European counterparts,” Fourier says.

Universities in the north and north-east of Brazil are gradually catching up, however – above all in the environmental and agricultural sciences. One flagship project is the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO). At 325 metres, South America’s highest measurement tower is located in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. A research station of great international importance, the ATTO is jointly run by scientists from Germany and Brazil. “This is creating an environment of growing interest to German universities,” says Fourier. In 2026, the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) – Brazil’s funding agency for higher education – will be rolling out “CAPES Global”, a programme aimed at strengthening internationally oriented networks within Brazil and redressing the ­academic imbalance between the south and north. “This will make international collaboration in the north and north-east of Brazil even more appealing to universities and researchers,” believes Fourier.

“We see ourselves as a knowledge platform and bridge between the higher education systems of our two countries.”

Katharina Fourier, Director of the DAAD Regional Office Rio de Janeiro and of the DWIH in São Paulo

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was elected President of Brazil in 2023, is keen to be viewed on the international stage as the trailblazer of a responsible environmental and climate policy. The country’s challenging economic situation is leading to conflicts within the government regarding its goals, however: on the one hand, Brazil is seeking international recognition as the leading supplier of environmentally friendly energy. On the other hand, there is a need to combat social injustice in the country. The tricky business of reconciling climate policy and social objectives is slowing implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals defined in the UN’s 2030 Agenda, including in the socioeconomic sector. As Katharina Fourier explains, higher education was hit hard by the country’s austerity measures in 2024, the federal budget for higher education and science having been slashed to 3.1 billion euros. Ten years ago state funding had still been twice as high.

The megacity of São Paulo in the south-east of Brazil is the country’s most important economic, financial and cultural hub. Many projects are also initiated here at the scientific level. “Thanks to the DWIH São Paulo, we are represented in a place with a high concentration of research,” says Fourier. The Universidade de São Paulo (USP) is Brazil’s largest, most research-intensive and internationally renowned university. The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), a funding organisation for the state of São Paulo that is similar to the German Research Foundation (DFG), is also based here.

The DAAD Regional Office in Brazil is taking advantage of the global attention that COP30 is focusing on climate and sustainability topics. The team is in the process of developing a range of different formats on issues such as disinformation in climate science, mar­ine litter and the circular economy, on the sustainable use of forest resources and on bio-based value chains that also take indigenous knowledge into account.

Nine DAAD lectureships have been established at the German departments of universities across the country, while a vacancy for a lecturer in computer and environmental sciences is currently being advertised at the Federal University of Amazonas in Manaus. Furthermore, the Regional Office is planning to step up its activities in Fortaleza in the north-east of the country, initially as a pilot project. As northern Brazil is several hours by plane from Rio, the Regional Office is keen to raise its local profile there. “The more intensive the personal contacts are, the better we will be able to put universities and researchers in Germany and Brazil in touch with one another,” explains Katharina Fourier. “We increasingly see ourselves as a knowledge platform and bridge between the higher education systems of our two countries – with the ability to provide extensive advice on academic structures, conditions and opportunities for cooperation.”—