Exchange Programs

UNDERGRADUATE EXCHANGE PROGRAM

Kenya and Brazil signed an Agreement on education on 6th July, 2010 which aims at promoting cooperation in education between the two countries.

The Exchange Program for Undergraduate Students (PEC-G), officially created in 1965 by Decree 55,613 and currently ruled by Decree 7,948/2013, provides students from developing countries with which Brazil maintains educational, cultural or scientific and technological agreements the opportunity to pursue their undergraduate studies in Brazilian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

PEC-G is administered by the Ministry of External Relations (MRE), through the Division of Educational Themes (DCE), and the Ministry of Education (MEC), in partnership with HEIs throughout the country.

Kenya is a participant in this programme and since 2000, 89 students have been granted opportunities to study in universities in Brazil.

In order to participate, the candidate must visit the Brazilian Embassy or Consulate, where he / she can register in the selection process of the program. It is important that the candidate seeks information about the Higher Education Institutions participating in Brazil and the courses offered. At the time of registration, the candidate can indicate two course options and two cities where he / she lives.

 Conditions for Application:-

  1.  Be a citizen and resident of a country participating in the PEC-G;
  2.  Must be between 18 years of age and preferably up to 23 years of age;

iii.  Have a High School Diploma in a country other than Brazil, with an overall arithmetic mean of 60% or more and a final grade in the official language of your country (English, French, Portuguese or Spanish) equivalent to or more than 60%;

The candidate who has not completed high school has up to the date of enrollment in the PEC-G; he/she can apply and must present the Certificate of completion of high school during enrollment in the Brazilian Higher Education Institution if selected.

  1.  Possess the Certificate of Proficiency in Portuguese for Foreigners – Celpe-Bras.

The candidate resident in a country in which Celpe-Bras does not apply can take the Celpe-Bras exam in Brazil, once, in the second half of the year after enrollement after completing the preparatory Portuguese for Foreigners course to the Celpe-Bras exam in an IES accredited.

A failure in the exam will automatically disqualify the candidate from the program and will imply immediate return to the country of origin.

Entries are not accepted from:-

  1.  A Brazilian citizen even if he/she holds dual nationality;
  2.  Bearer of any temporary or permanent visa to Brazil;

iii.  A candidate who has completed high school in Brazil;

  1.  A candidate benefitting from vacancies in previous PEC-G selection processes and disconnected from the programme;
  2.  A candidate who was selected and withdrew from the programme without presenting just cause or having submitted it after the period of matriculation in the Brazilian Higher Education institution;
  3.  A candidate who does not have a final arithmetic mean in all subjects taught in high school and a score equivalent to or more than 60% in official language of his/her country;

Candidate from the country applying the Celpe-Bras examination that does not have said certificate.

Application form

It must be completed by an official of the Embassy or Consulate and signed by the student.

Documentation required

The student must present himself to the Brazilian Embassy or Consulate with the following documents:-

  1.  Copy of the high school transcripts;
  2.  Copy of the certificate of completion of High School or an equivalent;

iii.  Copy of the Celpe-Bras certificate (Portuguese language) or proof of enrollment in the last edition of the exam;

  1.  Copy of the Certificate of Birth of the candidate, the father and the mother;
  2.  Attestation of physical and mental health issued in the last 3 months;
  3.  Terms of Financial Responsibility (TRF), accompanied by proof of income of the signatory attesting to his / her ability to comply with the commitment assumed;

The Terms of Financial Responsibility is available in English, French and Spanish BUT it is mandatory to fill in the Portuguese version.

vii.  Terms of Enrollment Commitment (TCI) is available in English, Spanish and French BUT it is mandatory to fill in the Portuguese version.

For candidates from countries where there is no application of Celpe-Bras, they will be allowed to take the exam in Brazil, once, after completing the Portuguese for Foreigners course.

The Financial Responsibility Statement states that the student has a financing source capable of paying for his / her travel to Brazil and the return to his / her country, as well enrollment and maintenance throughout the duration of the course.

Selection Process

After submitting all necessary documentation for the application, PEC-G candidates must wait for the completion of the selection process, done annually in September .The results will be announced in due course on the websites of Department of Educational Themes (DCE) Ministry of External Relations of the Federative Republic of Brazil and Ministry of Education. (MEC)

Once results are made public, the Brazilian diplomatic representation will confirm the selected candidates’ interest in accepting the offered places. The Brazilian diplomatic representations will then issue a student visa (Temporary Visa IV) to those who confirm their interest in coming to Brazil under the PEC-G Program.

It is important to note that course names and subjects covered vary from university to university. It is advisable to consult the individual websites of universities for more precise information.

GRADUATE EXCHANGE PROGRAM

The Postgraduate Student Agreement Program (PEC-PG), officially established in 1981 and updated in 2006 offers scholarships to developing countries with which Brazil has a cultural and / or educational cooperation agreement, for training in Masters and Doctorate courses in Brazilian Higher Education Institutions (IES).

The beneficiaries are offered the following benefits:-

  1.  Vacancies in Brazilian Higher Education Institutions recommended by Capes, without tuition costs;
  2.  Monthly scholarship in the same amount as that offered to Brazilian students, namely: R $ 1500, 00 for Masters degree, in a maximum duration of 24 months. R $ 2200, 00 for a Doctorate degree in a maximum duration of 48 months;

iii.  Return to the country of origin;

The PEC-PG is managed in partnership by three bodies:-

By the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE), through the Division of Educational Issues (DCE), which is responsible for the dissemination of the Program abroad and the payment of student return tickets.

By the Ministry of Education (MEC), through the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes), which is responsible for the selection and payment of doctoral scholarships for students from all the participating countries and for masters’ degrees for students from Timor- East.

By the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), through the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), this is responsible for the selection and payment of scholarships for students from all participating countries.

Over the last decade, more than 1,600 postgraduate students have been selected. About 75% of the applications come from countries in the Americas, with Colombia, Peru and Argentina being the most prominent.

African countries account for about 20% of the applications, most notably Mozambique, Cape Verde and Angola.

56 (fifty-six) countries currently participate in the PEC-PG, 24 in Africa, 25 in the Americas and 7 in Asia.

In the last edition of the Program, 596 applications were received and 226 scholarships were awarded, distributed in 105 for masters and 121 for doctorates.

Notably, Kenya is yet to participate in this program.

Applicant Requirements

To apply for the PEC-PG scholarship program, the candidate must meet the following requirements:-

  1. Be a citizen of a developing country with which Brazil has an Agreement or Memorandum of Understanding in the area of ​​Cultural, Educational or Science and Technology Cooperation;
  2. The candidate must not be a Brazilian citizen, even if bi-national, nor have a Brazilian parent or parent;

iii.  The candidate must  not have a permanent, diplomatic or MERCOSUR visa because it authorizes the exercise of remunerated activity in Brazil;

  1.  Have an undergraduate or masters’ degree in one of the areas of scientific knowledge;
  2.  To be accepted by a Brazilian Higher Education Institution public or private, in a masters or doctorate degree program evaluated by CAPES with a concept equal to or greater than 03 (three). Reference to the list of recommended CAPES courses;
  3.  Have a Curriculum Vitae registered and / or updated in the Lattes Platform of CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), this is in Portuguese Language. Access the CNPq Lattes page;

vii.  To be financially responsible for the transfer to Brazil and maintenance until the receipt of the first monthly payment of the PEC-PG grant and for the maintenance of any member of the family that accompanies the candidate during the entire stay in Brazil;

viii.  Be a holder of the Certificate of Proficiency in Portuguese Language (CELPE-Bras), even for candidates from Portuguese-speaking countries.

  1.  Have lived in your country for at least two years after obtaining the Brazilian diploma, in the case of a former PEC-G student.

Since 2010, the registration process for the PEC-PG is complemented online by the following web pages:

Capes page for candidates for doctoral scholarship (In Portuguese)

CNPq page, for masters scholarship applicants (In Portuguese)

 

Documents Required for Application

  1. Online Registration Form, duly completed according to the procedures of the funding agency (Capes or CNPq) and provided with the following scanned documents;
  2.  Graduate diploma or diploma of master’s degree / proof of completion or medical residency (in the case of medical candidate), duly translated, front and back, in Spanish, English or Portuguese;

iii.  School history or equivalent document that has the full mentions / notes of the graduation and / or master’s degree, duly translated into Spanish, English or Portuguese;

  1.  Proof of Proficiency in Portuguese Language;
  2.  Certificate of Proficiency in Portuguese for Foreigners (CELPE-Bras)

or

  1.  Statement of Coordination of the Pre-Graduation Course intended to certify that the candidate has knowledge of Portuguese Language and conditions to accompany the planned activities, only for candidates who have completed the masters degree in Brazil;
  2.  Letter of Acceptance, as per the annex of the Manual of the PEC-PG, issued by Brazilian public or private Higher Education Institution in a masters or doctorate course recommended by CAPES;
  3.  Two letters of recommendation from professors, researchers or persons of recognized competence in the candidate’s area of study, as per the Annex to the PEC-PG Manual, written in Portuguese or English or Spanish;
  4.  Detailed Curriculum Vitae duly translated into Portuguese, in addition to the Lattes Curriculum.
  5.  Detailed work plan, in Portuguese language, as per the annex of the PEC-PG Manual;

vii.  Birth Certificate or Identity Document of the candidate; parents or parent information as per the Annex to the PEC-PG Manual;

viii. Declaration of employment bond issued by the organ / institution in which the candidate works, if applicable.

The candidate must contact the Higher Education Institution in which he intends to take his course to obtain the Letter of Acceptance, before his enrollment in the Program;

The Letter of Acceptance does not guarantee automatic right to the scholarship, but indicates that the candidate is apt, from the academic point of view, to develop the studies in Brazil.

The candidate who has attained his/her undergraduate degree in Brazil does not need to prove proficiency in Portuguese.

Selection Process

The selective process of PEC-PG consists of three stages. In the first, the funding agencies pre-select the applications, taking into account the specificities of the current public notice. Subsequently, the pre-selected applications are sent to the judgment of the technical-scientific merit, carried out by consultants of acknowledged performance in the various areas of knowledge.

The recommended applications for technical and scientific merit are also submitted to the final selection by the funding agencies for prioritization. Applications selected after this stage will be ratified by the PEC-PG Supervisory Group at a specific meeting.

The selection process is closed by means of the dissemination of the selected applications in the electronic pages of CNPq, CAPES and DCE.

After disclosure of the result, those approved will have a deadline to contact CAPES or CNPq and confirm or decline the acceptance of the grant. In case of acceptance, the student must apply to the Brazilian diplomatic mission in his / her country for Temporary Visa IV (VITEM-IV) for studies in Brazil.

The Brazilian diplomatic mission in the candidate’s country will provide support for submitting the application to the Program, providing guidance and possible technical and infrastructure support (copying, digitizing of documents, etc.) when necessary.

It is the responsibility of the student to observe the academic calendar of the Brazilian Higher Education of destination, in order to be present for enrollment and beginning of the academic year.

For more information visit the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Kenya website. Information on scholarships in foreign countries is provided by the Department of Higher Education.

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