Tilburg University in South America

During the autumn mid-term break, I was in South America having what turned out to be a very special experience. I was part of a delegation from Tilburg University, visiting universities and institutes in Santiago de Chile and Brazil (Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro). I was accompanied by Randall Lesaffer, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Vice Deans Willem Buijink (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration) and Leon Oerlemans (Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences), department chairman Fons Maes of the Faculty of Humanities, Sandra Rincon (International Alumni Relations) and Petra Bergsma (International Office). In only five days we visited no fewer than ten institutions: the Netherlands Embassy in Santiago, PUC Chile, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Becas Chile, Fundacion Getulio Vargas (in Sao Paulo and in Rio de Janeiro), Insper, PUC Sao Paulo, Universidad do Sao Paulo and PUC Rio.

Warm Welcome
The warmth that we met with was not solely due to the excellent weather (between 25 and 30 degrees), but also to the way in which our delegation was received. The hospitality was sincere, and there was a definite interest in developing mutual cooperation, bearing in mind that we had contact exclusively with the top layers of the academic community in Chile and Brazil.

Friends for life
The reception by the Nunes family in Sao Paulo was exceptional. Our delegation and some FGV and Insper colleagues were invited to dinner in the family’s restaurant. All three children of the Nunes family studied at Tilburg University. Gabriela Nunes and her parents treated us to an excellent meal and I addressed a few words to Mrs Nunes before presenting her with a gift from the University. It was an emotional moment.

Later that night, there was another gathering in a bar in Sao Paulo with Brazilian students who have studied at our university and students who are interested in doing so. Sandra Rincon had arranged this informal get-together, during which I heard many positive comments on studying at Tilburg.

What now...
I am more convinced than ever that it would be well worth strengthening the bonds with Chile and Brazil. They are making large investments in education and research. Internationalization is high on their agenda, and funds are available in both countries to encourage this.
We were able to make concrete agreements on expanding cooperation with regard to the exchange of students, teachers and researchers, and possibly introducing common programmes for Master’s and PhD students.

And yes, we were able to sightsee and enjoy ourselves, particularly in Rio!