IMPA Tech in China: 12 students will participate in an exchange program in August
Undergraduate students will spend a semester at Chinese universities
The first class of the Bachelor’s in Mathematics at Technology and Innovation will take another important step in shaping the institution’s academic trajectory. In August, 12 incoming students from the class of 2024 will embark on a semester-long exchange program in China, as part of a groundbreaking initiative by IMPA Tech’s international mobility program.
The students will be divided between two partner universities: Peking University and Beihang University. Each university will host six Brazilian students, who will have the opportunity to take courses and participate in research activities during the academic semester. They are scheduled to return to Rio de Janeiro in January 2027.
The initiative marks the beginning of IMPA Tech’s undergraduate program’s internationalization and expands academic and cultural opportunities for students. The students will be mentored by Professor Rafael Beraldo, the institute’s skills development manager.
“This is an important initiative both for putting IMPA Tech on the international map and for the students’ education. I am pleased, from an institutional standpoint, to be representing this partnership. We want to become an internationally oriented institution,” explained Beraldo.
The selected students are majoring in Mathematics and Data Science. The distribution among universities also aligns with the academic profiles of the partner institutions: students in Mathematics will attend Peking University, while Data Science students will attend Beihang University, recognized for its strong focus on technology and engineering.
“I’m really excited about the exchange program; I’d never thought about going to China before. One of the reasons I’m so excited is to experience the culture; I want to explore what life is like there. I’m also excited to see what it will be like to study there—I know they might have different teaching methods. I’m really happy,” says undergraduate student Arthur Vasconcelos.
For Tainá Drummond, who specializes in data science, the experience also aligns directly with her academic and professional interests.
“This is my first time traveling abroad, and I’m really excited. China is a country I’ve been very interested in visiting; I’ve been studying Mandarin for a while now. Even before this exchange program, I was already very interested in the country and the language. China is a major power and is growing more and more. I think this will be very important for our future, especially in the fields of data science and artificial intelligence. Doing this exchange program through a university with strong ties to technology will be a great experience,” she said.
Student mobility also strengthens institutional ties between IMPA Tech and Chinese universities, paving the way for future academic collaborations and new opportunities for partnerships in teaching and research. The program also includes hosting Chinese students at IMPA, reinforcing a two-way academic and cultural exchange between the institutions.
“We are very happy to be turning this partnership, which was previously only on paper, into a practical opportunity,” he said. “We intend to use the exchange program to further strengthen our relationship with these institutions,” Beraldo concluded.
