O Ciência Sem Fronteiras na Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia: perspectivas entre a internacionalização da educação superior e a política de ciência, tecnologia e inovação

Abstract

This study investigates the Science without Borders Program, and its mediations with the internationalization of higher education process and the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy. This is a case study about Science without Borders at the Federal Rural University of Amazonia (UFRA). The main objective of the research is to analyze the implementation and execution of academic mobility process, with undergraduate students, provided by Science without Borders at UFRA, with emphasis on the students' experience and its relation with the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy. For the development of the dissertation, it has been done bibliographical and documental research. The main primary sources analyzed were: Decree 7.642 of December 13, 2011, Senate Science without Border report, the information contained in Science without Borders Official Website, and the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy documents: Decree 91.146/1985; creation of the Ministry of Science and Technology, books or memories of National Conferences on Science, Technology and Innovation (2002, 2001, 2010); the guidelines of the Industrial, Technological and Foreign Trade (PITCE), published in 2003; National Postgraduate Plan (2011-2020); and the Science, Technology and Innovation National Strategy 2012 – 2015. To obtain the information on the execution of the academic mobility, a semi-structured interview was conducted with a group of 12 Science without Borders students; an online questionnaire, with objective questions, about the international exchange experience was applied, and 85 replies were received; in addition, CAPES and CNPq were requested to send the beneficiaries final report. The results presented in this study showed that that the internationalization model promoted by Science without Borders Program was mostly traditional, marked by the market logic with unequal relations, where peripheral countries seek training in central countries, and with a tendency towards passive internationalization, since the program was based on the sending students and researchers abroad. The research on the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy indicates that the objectives set for Science without Borders follow the same alignment of the documents analyzed, especially from the Lula government (2003-2010), both seek to strengthen the relationship between university and industry, and thus foster the country's productive sector. Finally, the facts about the beneficiaries of the program shows that they did not have a significant academic production, this is associated with the lack of planning and control of the exchange and the low levels of proficiency in the foreign language.