Outstanding Engineers: UFRJ and CUP-Beijing sign cotutelle agreement
Planeta COPPE / Institutional News / News
Date: 26/05/2025

UFRJ and the China University of Petroleum (CUP-Beijing) signed, in Beijing, on Friday (May 23rd), a cotutelle agreement that will allow the granting of double degrees to doctoral students. In total, 15 graduate programs will be contemplated, 13 of which are part of Coppe – meaning that all Coppe programs are included in the partnership.
The agreement integrates the scope of the Institute of Outstanding Engineers, a joint initiative which reunites, in addition to both universities, Petrobras and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (Cnooc).
Under the cotutelle model, Brazilian doctoral students will spend the first two years at Coppe and the following two years at CUP-Beijing – and vice versa for Chinese students. At the end of their academic journey, students will receive a diploma from both institutions.
The partnership aims to promote the joint training of highly qualified professionals in the areas of Engineering, Environment, Energy and related areas, with a focus on the development of green and low-carbon technologies. The proposal is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and aims to strengthen the internationalization of graduate programs, in addition to stimulating innovation, global vision and the ability to face complex challenges in contemporary engineering.
Coppe’s Academic Director, Jean-David Caprace, emphasizes that “with the acceleration of knowledge production during this decade, driven by the advancement of Artificial Intelligence and other disruptive technologies, traditional education has faced difficulties in responding to new demands. The idea is to select the best students so that they are prepared to face these emerging challenges”.
Doctoral students interested in participating in the cotutelle must apply through a specific notice, which will be published on Coppe’s website: https://coppe.ufrj.br/ingressar/.
The partnership between Coppe and CUP-Beijing teve início em 2008, cbegan in 2008 with the signing of the first memorandum of understanding (MoU). With the new cotutelle agreement, this collaboration is consolidated and deepened, marking a new level of cooperation between the institutions.