Academic cooperation within BRICS : ten years of the Brics Network University (Brics NU) from a brazilian perspective

Abstract

This paper proposes a diagnosis of the state of the art of academic cooperation at the university level among BRICS member countries. To this end, our analysis emphasizes the history and recent evolution of the BRICS Network University (BRICS NU), which thus far constitutes the bloc’s main initiative in this field. Methodologically, the study relies on primary sources such as official documents, normative acts, and quantitative data, complemented marginally by secondary sources, including previously published works on the subject. In addition, a semi-structured interview was conducted with the Director of International Relations of the Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – CAPES), given the agency’s recent role in strengthening BRICS NU. The main findings indicate that academic mobility – the primary proxy for university cooperation – among BRICS countries remains incipient, with most of its determinants still favoring ties with the so-called global North. Therefore, strengthening intra-bloc academic cooperation requires, inexorably, exogenous stimuli through national and multilateral actions. In this regard, BRICS NU represents an important instrument for the decolonization of academic relations among its member states. However, what can be observed so far are challenges in enabling the Network University to fully achieve its initial purposes, mainly due to shortcomings in governance and funding, as well as overlaps with other similar but less institutionalized mechanisms. It is therefore essential to revitalize BRICS NU’s structure through the action of national authorities (such as CAPES in Brazil), which, nevertheless, also requires coordination efforts among member countries – something that has thus far proven difficult to achieve.