BRAZIL CHAPTER:
NEW WORKSHOP ON THE WAY
Elizabeth Schmidt has served as Chair of the Brazil Chapter since February 2018. She is currently preparing the II Brazil-Europe Workshop in Botucatu at Sâo Paulo State University (UNESP) – Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, to be held from 12 to 14 September. Don’t hesitate to contact her if you want to attend!
CHAPTER’S CREATION
Our Chapter was created in April 2017. In September 2017, we had the I MCAA-BREUW (Brazil-Europe Workshop) in São Luis, Maranhão State (Northeast Brazil) at the Federal University of Maranhão State. It was organised by Dr Leonardo Dall’Agnol (currently the Vice-Chair of Brazil Chapter).
The workshop proved a great opportunity to meet Chapter Members, as ten active Members attended. I was elected Chair of the Brazil Chapter in February 2018 and am currently organising the II MCAA BREUW.
MEMBERS' FEATURES
At the end of March 2018, the Brazil Chapter grew to 45 active Members. The Chapter currently boasts six nationalities; most of our Members are Brazilians (87 %). Brazil is the most frequent country of residence with 20 Members, followed by the United Kingdom with seven Members, Spain with four and Germany with three. It is difficult to say how many Members we would like to target, as we are still a new Chapter. However, we have noticed that our workshops are an opportunity for increasing membership and boosting visibility of the MCAA Brazil Chapter.
CHAPTER’S OBJECTIVES
The Brazil Chapter aims to create an open and fruitful environment for discussion with the aim of facilitating networking so we can retain our Members and encourage them to participate in Chapter activities and debates.
Our Chapter is also aiming to promote greater knowledge of the European education and research system in Brazil by organising the MCAA BREUW at different universities and faculties focusing on the Marie Sklowodoska Curie Actions.
Moreover, we continue to work in a network with other associations and institutions that are beneficial to our Members, allowing them to increase their collaborations and partnerships in the country and with European counterparts. Another objective is to strengthen the relationship among the Members by prioritising the activities that are beneficial for our Members (professional training, funds for the GA, MCAA BREUW). Our aim is to increase participation in these activities and to highlight the advantages of being an active Member in the Chapter and therefore in the association.
II BRAZIL-EUROPE WORKSHOP
The MCAA Brazil Chapter is now organising the II Brazil-Europe Workshop in Botucatu at Sâo Paulo State University (UNESP) – Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, to be held 12-14 September 2018. The organising committee is working on the new challenges of research in Brazil and networking research between Europe and Brazil. The aim is to identify common areas of research, as well as to establish and build links for the near future collaboration. EURAXESS BRAZIL is currently supporting our activities along with the MCAA. We believe that the MCAA Brazil Chapter and the Brazil-Europe Workshops offer a unique opportunity for all participants to discuss and strengthen perspectives for career, research and to facilitate partnerships between research groups and professional networks in all areas of interest. We are looking forward to seeing MCAA Members, MCAA Brazil Chapter Members, and to welcome new Members and participants.
COME AND JOIN THE BRAZIL CHAPTER!
The Brazil Chapter aims to create an open environment for discussion and networking to retain Members and encourage them to collaborate in the Chapter activities and debates.
We also hope to create new opportunities for European researchers to come to Brazil for research collaborations with our universities and research centres.
The Chapter has different strategies to attract new Members. The first one is active searching and direct contact via the MCAA website portal. We also have a strong partnership with EURAXESS BRAZIL. Another strategy is to participate or organise educational and scientific events to promote MSCA and MCAA and attract new Members.
THE TURKISH CHAPTER IS UP AND RUNNING!
The Turkish Chapter was launched on 3 August. Gozde Unal tells us about the event and gives a first glimpse of what’s to come.
THE OFFICIAL KICK-OFF
The MCAA-TC kick-off meeting was hosted by Istanbul Technical University (ITU), which boasts a beautiful green campus situated in the heart of the city.
Our meeting started in the morning with a traditional Turkish breakfast. As the Chapter’s founding chair, I officially opened the event by talking a little bit about my personal experience with the MCAA. After this, the EU Office of ITU presented some interesting facts and figures about ITU and Turkey in relation to the Marie Curie and EC programmes in general.
MCAA Chair Dr Matthew DiFranco and MCAA Secretary Dr. Murat Gunes attended the event. Matthew provided an overview of the MCAA – about its benefits and opportunities, as well as some tips. We also held a scientific Speed Dating session during which the attendees paired up to tell each other what they are working on.
Later in the day, we held a round table session during which attendees formed in small groups to discuss which objectives and activities are important for the newly-launched Turkish Chapter. We wrapped up our meeting with a social dinner overlooking the Bosporus.
I believe our kick-off turned out to be a great event that everyone enjoyed.
OUR MEMBERS
We currently have 54 Members registered through the MCAA portal. Almost 25 people attended the kickoff meeting. Our target is to double membership and boost attendance at future meetings.
OBJECTIVES OF THE CHAPTER
We agreed on a long list of objectives during the meeting. Below are some of the most important ones:
- Increasing the visibility of the MCAA Turkish Chapter on a local and global scale and attract researchers to Turkey through MCSA;
- Raise awareness about EU-funding opportunities for early-stage researchers;
- Reach out and communicate to society on science and research;
- Promote social science research and integrate social science and humanities research into engineering projects;
- Create multi/transdisciplinary working groups for networking and collaboration on pressing issues such as sustainable development, artificial intelligence, and global economic problems.
UPCOMING EVENTS
We plan to hold two Chapter meetings, including scientific networking sessions about the establishment of research working groups on various topics. The list of topics includes the social sciences, earth, climate and environmental sciences, AI and biomedical sciences. We also plan to organise a joint event with an Artificial Intelligence summer school in Istanbul next year. And we want to hold training seminars with the help of the National Contact Points.
JOIN THE TURKISH CHAPTER!
Feel free to contact us and join our Chapter to network with us, spread the word about Marie Sklodowska Curie and other grant opportunities, and to mentor young scientists in Turkey. Join us in our efforts to contribute to the culture of scientists and the society in Turkey in any way, either scientifically, academically or socially.
