Coppe expands borders: 2024 marks a new era of international partnerships

In 2024, Coppe/UFRJ consolidated its presence on the international scene, establishing 14 new agreements with institutions from 8 countries, including Germany, Burkina Faso, China (with five agreements), Colombia, Ecuador, France, Portugal (two agreements), and Uruguay. These agreements, which encompass technological innovation, research development and academic collaborations, highlighted China as a central partner, with three major initiatives aimed at joint technological advancement.

These partnerships are aligned to Coppe’s strategy of intensifying its internalization, promoting access to new research methodologies and strengthening its position as a center for innovative technological solutions. Pedro Spadale, Coppe’s Internatrional coordinator, highlights: “Coppe’s internationalization is important to enable access to new methodological approaches and to consolidate our role as a center for technological solutions, with an emphasis on innovation.”

According to Spadale, Brazil and Coppe possess great potential to expand partnerships with foreign private companies, especially in key areas such as decarbonization and energy transition. “Brazil has advanced solutions for generating energy from renewable sources, such as in the field of biofuels, where we are global leaders in innovation. In addition, we have cutting-edge research in solar, wind and hydrogen energy, and we work on urban solutions such as studies for the reuse of solid waste and the production of green concrete and cement, always with a focus on reducing emissions.”

Partnerships with China are seen as strategic, given the country’s high energy consumption and its importance to Brazil. Spadale emphasizes that Brazil has expertise in areas such as oil and gas exploration in ultra-deep waters, which makes collaborations with China even more relevant.

Among the new agreements with Chinese institutions, the partnership with Petrobras, the China University of Petroleum (CUP) and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) stands out, with the goal of creating a Brazil-China Center for Science, Technology and Innovation. The center’s first mission will be to define joint research and development priorities, and will be managed by a steering committee composed of representatives from the four entities.

Another important agreement focuses on reforestation and the production of biofuels for the maritime sector, a proposal by Coppe in collaboration with Tsinghua University, the Ministry of Agriculture and the company Cosco. There is also a partnership with Envision to create a Center for Innovation in Bioenergy, focused on the development of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). By December of 2024, Coppe already had 47 active international agreements, many of which involve student exchanges and sandwich postdoctoral programs. Spadale predicts that 2025 will be a year of expansion, with new strategic partnerships. “We are opening new pathways with other countries. In November, we will have COP30 in Brazil, when we will discuss technological innovations to face the climate crisis, an area in which Coppe has a lot to present” he concludes.