The PPGZ maintains partnerships with researchers from international institutions, enabling the participation of students and professors in joint research projects, post-doctoral training for professors, doctorate sandwich programs for doctoral (mainly) and master's students, as well as work missions abroad, mainly the United States of America. Additionally, professors from PPGZ approved on national and international calls the visit of several international researchers, in some cases, including the participation of international students to conduct part of their studies in project collaboration.
The PPGZ always stimulates the international qualification of professors. As a result, most of the recent permanent professors of the program did qualification activities abroad, mainly postdoctoral studies (or visiting professor) or full doctorate. For example: Ângela Maria Vieira Batista – Doctorate at McGill University – Canada; Severino Benone Paes Barbosa - Doctorate at McGill University – Canada; Mário de Andrade Lira – master's and doctorate at the University of Arizona, USA; José Carlos Dubeux Junior – Ph.D. at University of Florida, USA (currently professor at the same institution); Carlos Boa-Viagem Rabello – visiting professor at North Carolina University, USA; Maria Norma Ribeiro – post-doc at Fizenze University, Italy and Lisbon University, Portugal; Mércia Virginia Ferreira dos Santos – post-doc at Cordoba University, Spain; Adriana Guim – post-doc at Cordoba University, Spain; Helena Emília Cavalcanti da Costa Cordeiro Manso – visiting professor at Rutgers University, USA. Recently, professor Francisco Fernando Ramos de Carvalho approved a scholarship provided by CAPES for a postdoctoral period at the Lisbon University, Portugal, initially scheduled for 2020, but it was postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19.
Other permanent professors from PPGZ participated as visiting professors in graduate programs in Brazil. For example, professors Marcelo de Andrade Ferreira and Wilson Moreira Dutra Junior participated as visiting professors at Federal University of Viçosa (UFV). Those professors were also involved in international activities, contributing to the internationalization of PPGZ.
International exchanges involving professors from PPGZ have been taking place in different ways, including the increase in the number of agreements signed by the institution and by the initiative of the professors. The goal of increasing the participation of international researchers in the PPGZ has been more intensively pursued in the last five years. Thus, it has been proposing to receive international visiting professors through agreements or Schools of Higher Studies, or participation and organization of international scientific meetings.
The PPGZ has already promoted seven Schools of Higher Studies /CAPES, bringing researchers from several universities mainly from USA, but also from England, Portugal, and Spain. The Schools of Higher Studies contributed for training graduate students from the PPGZ and PDIZ (UFRPE/UFPB/UFC), but also allowed the participation of students from other graduate programs from UFRPE and other Brazilian institutions.
Professors of PPGZ organized international events, such as the International Goat Association meeting, the Latin American Animal Production Meeting. International events are spaces for interaction between professors, graduate students, and international researchers.
The PPGZ hosted a professor from McGill University, Canada, and from the US, who participated in research projects, joint publications, and other academic activities. The program also participated in the INNOVATE- International Cooperation Project, with support from CNPq, FACEPE, and the German Ministry, which consisted in an collaboration with Technical University of Berlin and Hohenheim University for the study of multiple uses of water reservoirs through innovation in substance cycles in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The CAPES-MESCuba project was recently concluded and allowed the exchange of masters and doctoral students and researchers from our program and Cuba.
An important aspect of the internationalization of the PPGZ was the approval by UFRPE in the CAPES PrInt call, which includes the participation of our program. The project may allow the development of activities in several international universities around the world and involve resources of more than 13 million reais. The activities defined in the project include post-doctoral training of professors, sandwich scholarships (PDSE), work missions, and attraction of visiting professors. Activities developed through CAPES PrInt will make a difference in the training of professors, students and in the international participation of our program.
One of the results of PrInt-CAPES-UFRPE project was the participation of professor Francisco Carvalho in a work mission abroad at Lisbon University in November 2019. The work mission resulted in an agreement for laboratory analyzes and collaboration of international researchers in dissertation projects and two theses conducted at PPGZ. The researcher from Lisbon University, Dr. Rui José Branquinho de Bessa is a co-supervisor of graduate students at PPGZ, collaborating in laboratory analysis and discussion of results.
Also, within the PrInt-CAPES-UFRPE, Professor Helena Emília participated as visiting professor for six months at Rutgers University, USA, starting in September 2019 and ending in March 2020. And the result of the period abroad, two scientific articles in collaboration, one already published titled “Abundance of the skeletal muscle Glut-4 glucose transport protein in standardbred foals during development and exercise” (Comparative Exercise Physiology, v.16 (5), 395 – 402, 2020), and a second in preparation “Regulation of glutamine metabolism in the lactating mouse”. In addition, the doors are open for the participation of PDSE students at Rutgers University.
Another permanent professor from PPGZ, professor Francisco Fernando Ramos de Carvalho, was approved at PrInt-CAPES- UFRPE call for a period abroad at Lisbon University, Portugal in 2020. Due to COVID-19, the period abroad was postponed to 2021.
In 2019, the PPGZ approved a 15-day work mission of two international researchers, Dr. Riccardo Bozzi from the University of Firenze and Dr. Luis Teles Lavadinho Gama, from the University of Lisbon, both researchers large international experience. During the work mission, the researchers will offer o courses for PPGZ students and other graduate programs from UFRPE, discuss research projects and possible opportunities for collaboration. The work mission was initially planned for 2020, but due to the pandemic, it was postponed to 2022.
In 2020, the PPGZ approved the participation two more international professors, Dr. James Muir from Texas A&M University, and the Dr. José António Mestres Prates, from University of Lisbon. The two invited visiting professors will be involved in research projects, offer graduate courses, and in the discussion of projects and agreements. But due to the pandemic, their arrival was postponed to 2022. All four international visiting professors will collaborate with professors from the PPGZ, and also with professors other graduate programs of UFRPE. Considering the importance of PrInt-CAPES-UFRPE for the program, the PPGZ created a commission to monitor the activities for achieving stablished goals.
The PPGZ has been receiving foreign students from different countries, including Peru, Paraguay, Panama, Honduras, Mozambique, Haiti, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Colombia. This action strengthens the effort o PPGZ to internationalization, training researchers, and contribute to the development of animal science in the countries of origin of the students.
An outstanding partnership for the internationalization of our program has been developed with the University of Florida, USA, which facilitates the participation of graduate students in different activities abroad. Certainly, the participation of Dr. José Carlos Batista Dubeux Junior as Permanent Professor at PPGZ facilitates the process and contributes to improving scientific production. Other graduate students did part of the program at the University of Firenze – Italy. The internationalization of the PPGZ is contributing to open opportunities for students, and currently, two former graduate students are doing postdoctoral studies abroad.
In the journey of internationalization, professors from PPGZ have been involved in qualification activities in high-profile foreign universities (as post-doc or visiting professors). The PPGZ also has been attracting foreign students and stimulating doctorate and master’s degree students into participating in sandwich programs. Additionally, the participation of visiting international professors from different institutions in activities of the program has been stimulated, increasing the collaboration in research projects, research articles, and in the co-supervision of students.