Research exchange promotes cooperation in Brazil

Researchers Susanna Toivanen, Tanya Jukkala and Aziz Mensah have just returned from spending the last few weeks at the Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP) and the Fiocruz Research Institute in Rio de Janeiro. USP is the largest university in Brazil with almost 100,000 students. The purpose of the visit was to expand cooperation with USP and Fiocruz in the area of health and welfare

“We’ve done so much and met so many people. For instance, we talked about the research we are conducting in health and working life, we have also observed the research that our collaborative partners are conducting and made new contacts with researchers and teachers at USP and Fiocruz. In particular, we have looked at the opportunities for collaboration for research and teaching as well as exchanges for students, teachers and researchers," says Tanya Jukkala, Senior Lecturer in Sociology.

“We were amazed that they were very interested in our research and could see connections to their own research. Even though there are huge differences between our societies. We were also pleasantly surprised that they wanted to conduct comparative studies between Sweden and Brazil and saw benefits in doing this. For example about mental health problems among children and young people.”

The next step will be to develop a plan for cooperation and go from talking to action.

“The first step will be a virtual conference where more researchers from MDU and the collaborative partners in Brazil will have the chance to gain an insight into each other's research,” says Susanna Toivanen, Professor of Sociology.

In May, the School of Health, Care and Social Welfare will announce new grants for studies abroad for doctoral students and researchers. The call for proposals is part of the School’s commitment to increase internationalisation in research. However, already in the autumn, some of the School's doctoral students will travel to Canada and the United States on new research exchanges.