The French ambassador to Brazil, Emmanuel Lenain, was received on Thursday afternoon (8) by the rector of Unicamp, Paulo Cesar Montagner, and said that he will work to expand the network of collaborations between the Brazilian institution and French universities and official bodies.
Lenain recalled agreements already under development between French institutions and Unicamp, but believes there is room for expanding partnerships. During his visit to Unicamp, the ambassador paid tribute to the director of the Techno Park Campinas Technology and Business Park, José Luiz Guazzelli – a former student of the University who was honorary consul of France in Campinas for almost 20 years.
According to Lenain, it is necessary to value science and knowledge. “We want to promote collaborations that aim at development and that have science as the main focus,” he said, who, until 2023, served as ambassador to India.
The rector said that Unicamp and the French institutions have built a long history of collaboration, but recalled that these interactions can grow.
“This meeting serves to celebrate the history of partnerships we already have, but much more to remind us of what is yet to come and what we can still do together,” he said. According to Montagner, Unicamp has grown a lot in its six decades of existence and, to this end, it has relied on collaborations such as those maintained with the French. “For us, agreements with French institutions have strategic value,” he warned.
The French delegation – which included the presence of the French Consul General in São Paulo, Alexandra Mias, and the Honorary Consul of France in Campinas, Alexandre Poupault – visited research units, such as the Brazilian Institute of Data Science (BIOS) and the Center for Energy and Petroleum Studies (Cepetro).
Unicamp's Executive Director of International Relations, Rafael Dias, said that the prospects for growth in the volume of agreements between Unicamp and French institutions are enormous.
“We have long-standing collaborations in the engineering field, but there is interest in expanding agreements. We can think of projects in the areas of sustainability, energy, engineering linked to health, Human Rights or in the cultural field – arts, music, literature. There is no shortage of niches that can be explored,” assessed the director.
The Chief of Staff of the Rectorate, Oswaldir Taranto, recalled the need to expand the exchange of teachers, students and staff and double degree programs. “We want to open new areas,” he reinforced.
Data released by the Executive Board of International Relations shows an asymmetry in this relationship. Since 2019, 51 French students have come to Unicamp. In 2025 alone, Unicamp sent 104 students to French institutions.
Tribute
In a ceremony held in the University Council (Consu) room, the director of the Techno Park Campinas Technology and Business Park, José Luiz Guazzelli, received the Order of Merit medal in the Officer rank from the ambassador. (“medaille d'ordre du mérite au grade d'officier”).
The honor is a universal order that distinguishes people from all fields of activity. According to the embassy, the medal rewards distinguished merits acquired in public, civil or military office or in the exercise of private activity.
A civil engineer who graduated from Unicamp in the 1980s, Guazzelli specialized in France thanks to a scholarship program.
“This insignia represents a great honor for me and has a profound meaning, as it legitimizes my trajectory, which has always been to bring the city of Campinas closer to French institutions,” said the engineer. “I receive this honor with deep gratitude and reverent humility,” he concluded.
The mayor of Campinas, Dario Saadi, who attended the ceremony, said that Guazzelli helped to consolidate Campinas as a national powerhouse in the area of innovation. “He helped to design the city as a space for technology,” said the mayor.
