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Faculty and students at the University of Toronto (U of T) and the University of São Paulo (USP) will benefit from more research collaborations and student exchanges as a result of agreements signed by U of T President David Naylor and USP President João Grandino Rodas.

“These agreements are an opportunity to establish strong ties with USP, one of the best post-secondary institutions in the world,” says President Naylor. “This partnership also gives us an opportunity to promote the excellent academic and cultural opportunities the University of Toronto has to offer.”

“Our University has been concentrating all of our efforts to make academic activities more international. USP’s international vocation stems from its foundation. These agreements no doubt represent an important step forward, especially with such an important higher education institution as the University of Toronto,” says USP President João Grandino Rodas.

The two presidents signed three distinct agreements during a visit to USP by President Naylor. The first is a general memorandum of understanding (MOU) that commits the two universities to collaborating on research projects, applications for research funding from relevant agencies, faculty exchanges, and the co-hosting of lectures, meetings, seminars, symposia and conferences.

The second MOU is a student exchange agreement, while the third allows for mutual academic collaboration and research in the areas of neuroscience, oncology, global cities, international relations, and includes the exchange of faculty/researchers and graduate students. Each year, up to four projects will be selected through a joint call for proposals issued jointly by the institutions. The aim is to have joint-conferences in these areas, starting with neuroscience in 2012 at USP and oncology in 2013 at UofT.