THE INTERNATIONALISATION OF BRAZILIAN UNIVERSITIES: CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE 'SCIENCE WITHOUT BORDERS' PROGRAMME

摘要

Criticism of 'Science without Borders' (SwB) - the largest governmental strategy for internationalisation in the history of Brazilian higher education - has resulted in an interest in investigating the achievements of this programme. This article focuses on the contributions that SwB has made towards solidifying internationalisation in Brazilian universities. To do so, it analyses the rationale underpinning the programme's conception and implementation; its results; and, particularly, its expansion at the institutional level. This qualitative and exploratory research combined bibliographic and documentary resources and used thematic content analysis to do so. Results demonstrate that SwB has enhanced the exposure of Brazilian universities to the international environment, favoured academic partnerships and networks, and influenced the definition of the internationalisation model the Brazilian government wishes to adopt. Since its contribution to the learning curve has induced the decision to move towards a more organic and comprehensive process of internationalisation, it has widened the conditions that create an international environment within universities.