At the start of the semester the School of the Built Environment has welcomed 24 Brazilian students to study a year at the Edinburgh Campus via the Science without Borders (SwB) programme.
Ciência sem Fronteiras
Launched in 2011 by the Brazilian Government, the Science without Borders (or Ciência sem Fronteiras) programme aims to send Brazilian students to top universities around the world to study undergraduate or PhD courses in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and the creative industries.
Since identifying Brazil as a key market for growth, the School of the Built Environment has worked actively to recruit students on the programme and welcomed its first SwB students last year. The students undertake courses from the School's Architectural Engineering and Civil and Structural Engineering programmes, returning to Brazil to finish their studies at their home universities.
A unique opportunity
School's lecturer Dr Gabriela Medero has welcomed and mentored the SwB students since September 2012 and has been promoting the programme at several Brazilian universities. According to Dr Medero, the programme has helped raise the profile of Heriot-Watt University in Brazil and is a positive development for Brazilian students. Dr Medero said, "The programme is a unique opportunity for Brazilian students to develop their engineering skills and to improve their grasp of English which will be extremely useful for their future careers."