To celebrate 25 years of successful partnership, Unicamp and Delft University of Tchenology (Netherlands) launched this Friday (25) the Academic Leadership and Collaboration Program, which begins with a training course for academic leaders. The first group, of 12 young professors from both universities, will begin classes in November.
The celebratory event, held at the Interdisciplinary Center for Energy Planning (Nipe), began with statements by Professor Gustavo Paim Valença, from the School of Chemical Engineering (FEQ) at Unicamp, by Delft professor Patricia Osseweijer, who proposed the new program, by Unicamp's rector, Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, and, via the internet, by Dutch university professor Ena Voute. The program lasted the entire day, with lectures and a get-together.
Since 1999, Delft and Unicamp have been conducting joint research in the areas of chemical, mechanical, agricultural, civil and food engineering. Twelve years ago, the institutions began dual degrees and opened an office at Nipe to facilitate activities in the areas of bioenergy and water and sewage treatment.
“This is a winning partnership, the most important one between Unicamp and Delft,” said Paim. “In 12 years, we have had 15 students with dual degrees. We have important research projects in several areas, in addition to courses offered at both universities. Over 20 million euros have been raised for research over the years. We started in the area of bioeconomy, then expanded to research on water, infrastructure and energy. This is a program that has grown and strengthened over these 25 years,” celebrated the professor.
According to Paim, the first class of the course launched this Friday will have 12 young professors – six from Unicamp and six from Delft. Classes begin on November 4th of this year, via videoconference, and end on May 5th, 2025, in person, at Unicamp. “Everyone is excited about the course and we hope to repeat the experience in the next two or three years.”
At the opening of the first of a series of events celebrating the 25th anniversary of the partnership, the University’s rector spoke about the importance of celebrating the success of the program and highlighted the large age difference between Delft, which is 182 years old, and Unicamp, which is 58 years old. “We are a young university and we have specific challenges,” said Meirelles, who thanked everyone involved in the projects, responsible for making “all of this possible.”
By video conference, Voute regretted not being present and recalled the joint achievements and mutual visits that have taken place since 1999. “For us it is an honor. We are grateful for these 25 years and we wish for another 25.”
“We tried to make the program flexible and interactive,” Osseweijer said during the opening of the event, before giving a talk introducing the Leadership and Collaboration Program. Later in the morning, Professor Gabriela Bennatti, from the Institute of Economics (IE) at Unicamp, told success stories about the dual degree program, showing video testimonials from former students.
Projects funded by the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Fapesp) on monitoring integrated crop and livestock systems using remote sensing and on precision agriculture for more sustainable production towards low-carbon agriculture were also highlighted.
In the afternoon, Jacqueline Vaessen, Robert Thijssen, Luis Cortez, Telma Franco, José Maria da Silveira, John Posada, Luuk van der Wielen and the aforementioned Paim and Osseweijer gave and moderated lectures.
The agenda included among the topics discussed the paths for collaboration between Brazil and the Netherlands, their challenges and opportunities. Also on the agenda were sustainability, innovations in bioenergy, the results of joint research on sustainable development and renewable energy, water and sanitation systems, advances in water management, university-business collaboration and the role of joint research in promoting industrial innovation.
