The Program of Coalition for Education and Enablement (in Portuguese: Programa de Alianças para a Educação e a Capacitação - PAEC) is the result of a partnership between the Organization of American States (OAS), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Coimbra’s Group of Brazilian Universities (GCUB), with the support of the Division of Educational Subjects from the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DCE/MRE).
Launched in 2011, the Program integrates one of the most relevant cooperation initiatives in the educational domain from a regional perspective for the development of the Latin America and the Caribbean. Its main goal is to contribute for both regional integration and consolidation of The Americas. Taking account of this, the Program offers opportunities for scholarships to graduate students (Master and Doctorate’s degree) from any of the 34 OEA’s member countries (except from Brazil) to study in the Brazilian universities associated to GCUB.
Throughout the selection process, we will be looking for students with an outstanding record of academic achievements, a leadership profile and a high influential impact in their home countries. Once they are select, these students will witness a scientific and cultural exchange in order to be able, once they returned to their respective countries, to contribute to a socioeconomic development in the society they are a part of.
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Applicants willing to study in Brazil;
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Applicants from any study field;
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Duration: 24 months for Master enrolment and 48 months for Doctoral enrolment;
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9 editions
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Over 26.000 applications submitted;
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2.195 scholarships granted;
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1.853 scholarship winners so far;
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29 OAS’s member countries were represented by the program;
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59 GCUB’s partner universities were represented by the program;
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650 postgraduate courses offered;
Partners and supporters:
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Organization of American States (OAS) Organization of American States (OAS)
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Pan American Health Organization
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Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DCE/MRE
Benefits
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R$1.5000,00 grant for Master’s students and R$ 2.200,00 for Doctorate’s students
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USD 1,200.00 in housing allowance paid by the OAS for the first 150 ranked;
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No tuition fees;
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Portuguese courses for foreigners offered by the Brazilian universities;
The PAEC OEA-GCUB, since 2011, is the most successful scholarship program within the OAS and the largest in Latin America and the Caribbean for the training of human resources in stricto sensu postgraduate courses (Master and Doctorate degree). Its main goal is to contribute for both regional integration and consolidation of The Americas, through the qualification of students from 34 OAS’s member countries, especially those from countries with low levels of human development.
Since 2014, through a partnership established between the OAS and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO / WHO), the Program has enabled Brazilian universities to accept students in the field of Health Sciences, which has made the Program more attractive and welcoming.
In the fifth edition of PAEC (2015), 49 universities from the five Brazilian regions offered 737 scholarships, 496 of them for Master and 241 for Doctorates. The Program received 6,233 applications from young people from 29 OAS’s member countries. Since 2011, 58 Brazilian universities have participated in the PAEC OEA-GCUB, including 42 Federal universities, 14 States and 2 Confessionals, which welcomed a total of 1,452 students from 28 different countries in the Americas. The first four editions of the PAEC OEA / GCUB, from 2011 to 2014, were considered a success by all sectors of the OAS involved in the Program (Annex 1).
In order to qualify and strengthen the Program, the OAS and the GCUB have promoted the University Internationalization Seminar in the Americas since 2013. In its fourth edition, held in March 2016 at the OAS’s headquarters in Washington-DC, more than 50 participants attended, including 31 representatives from GCUB’s associated universities: rectors, vice-rectors, pro-rectors of postgraduate departments, international advisers and researchers. The Seminar also featured representatives of international organizations and renowned researchers from 10 different countries who discussed topics related to the internationalization of higher education in the Americas.
In the evaluation carried out by the students who participated in the first edition of PAEC’s scholarship (2011 - 2013) it was possible to verify the level of satisfaction towards the Program, considering 44% of the interviewees rated the experience as “excellent” and 40% declared it as “very good”. Regarding the level of knowledge provided by the teachers, in their respective areas of postgraduate studies, 56% of the students rated the teaching offered as “excellent”.
In addition, 84% respondents indicated that in their home countries there was no better nor compatible study program to PAEC’s, plus the students added that they could not have carried out their studies without the financial aid from their host university and the grant offered by the OAS. When asked if they would recommend the Program, all of them responded positively.
For the first 150 students classified in the Program, The OAS will provide USD 1,200.00 (one thousand and two hundred American dollars) in housing allowance to cover expenses related to the displacement of the students from their home country to their host Brazilian university. The amount will be paid in a single transaction once the student arrives at their designated institution.
Map of the Universities Associated to the Program
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