The Ohio State University has had a long institutional relationship with the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) in Brazil dating back to 1992. The original MOU between Ohio State and UFPR was signed that year, and subsequent renewal agreements have since been established to codify various collaborative activities.
The 2014 renewal MOU formalized academic interactions and research collaborations between UFPR and multiple Ohio State units: the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Spanish and Portuguese, the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, in particular The Ohio Program, and Global One Health initiative.
Since its establishment in 2014, the Brazil Gateway has built on this relationship with UFPR and the government of Curitiba, Columbus’ sister city where the university is located, to develop opportunities for collaborations and exchange.
More recently, Ohio State’s Global One Health initiative (GOHi) and UFPR hope to partner to establish UFPR’s own One Health program. Working closely with GOHi, UFPR began to host graduate students from East Africa, largely Somalia, for research and capacity strengthening, primarily in vector-borne disease. The University has since sent multiple visiting professors and speakers to Ohio State and has partnered with GOHi in the Brazilian government-funded program known as Program on Internationalization of Brazil, or CAPES PrInT.
An Ohio State delegation visited Brazil in February to begin renewal discussions and the MOU was officially renewed on October 7. The 2020 renewal MOU that was just signed once again includes the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, GOHi, and the College of Medicine as party to the agreement.