The internationalization of Brazilian postgraduate programs: a strategic approach

This paper looks at the reasons behind internationalization in Brazilian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and different mechanisms that can be used by the institutions themselves, financing agencies, as well as individual researchers to improve the international impact of their research and the production of quality alumni to solve problems posed by society. We question why institutions and researchers should consider the internationalization of research and teaching, and an operational approach is proposed. The need for strategic priorities and partnerships is highlighted as well as methods for monitoring and evaluating these methods. We also show that institutions should question how initiatives fit within the institution’s mission and overall strategy, and how they can go about framing and deciding upon various forms of internationalization.