Universities, Sustainability and Businesses …
607
At post-graduated level, USP has been extremely successful in the implementation of the so-called Extension Courses (USP Extension Courses).
8 Since 1976,
about 40 years prior to the SDGs establishment, the interaction among several sectors
of society and USP has led to the formation of hundreds of extension courses. These,
albeit conceived in a “business as usual” basis, have shown to be, and currently are,
perfectly aligned with SDGs due to close interaction with Industry, Construction,
Agriculture, Financial Management, Health, among other sectors. USP Extension
Program allows for the involvement of recognized worldwide specialists while preserving a minimum of fifty percent participation of its professors. Full scholarships
are distributed at a typical ten percent audience in all extension courses, for those
students at poverty level, thereby contributing also to SDG1 (Poverty).
Special requests from society, not covered by the regular extension program,
are attended by USP own staff complemented by local or foreign specialists, if
required. Although strategic courses like Labor Safety, Occupational Health, and
Environmental Management are offered in online versions, the majority of courses
are still on site mode only.
The growth and diversification of online courses is one of the short-term goals
of the program. With this in mind, an online course was introduced to familiarize
teachers with online teaching resources, as well as to perfect and modernize teaching
techniques.
9
6.2 Research
The Pro-Rectorate for Research (PRP) is a central body of the University of São
Paulo that aims to foster interdisciplinary research and manage programs and policies
related to research at the University. Currently, USP accounts for 22% of all scientific
production in Brazil,
10 with 1,632 research groups certified by the National Council
for Research (CNPq), in perfect alignment with all 17 SDGs. Its structure comprises:
– The Centers for Research, Innovation, and Dissemination (CEPIDs),
11 which are
responsible for developing fundamental or applied research focused on specific
themes, contribute to innovation through technology transfer, and offer outreach
activities for primary and secondary education for the general public. The research
themes of the Centers include: food and nutrition, glass and ceramics, functional
materials, neuroscience and neuro-technology, inflammatory diseases, biodiversity and discovery of new drugs, toxins, immune response and cell signaling,
neuro-mathematics, mathematical sciences applied to industry, obesity and associated diseases, cell therapy, metropolitan studies, human genome and stem cells,
8 USP—EXTENSION COURSES https://cursosextensao.usp.br/.
9 See https://pecepoli.com.br/PT/EOP/.
10 https://prp.usp.br/wp-content/uploads/guia-usp-online.pdf.
11 CEPIDs—https://prp.usp.br/cepids/.
607
At post-graduated level, USP has been extremely successful in the implementation of the so-called Extension Courses (USP Extension Courses).
8 Since 1976,
about 40 years prior to the SDGs establishment, the interaction among several sectors
of society and USP has led to the formation of hundreds of extension courses. These,
albeit conceived in a “business as usual” basis, have shown to be, and currently are,
perfectly aligned with SDGs due to close interaction with Industry, Construction,
Agriculture, Financial Management, Health, among other sectors. USP Extension
Program allows for the involvement of recognized worldwide specialists while preserving a minimum of fifty percent participation of its professors. Full scholarships
are distributed at a typical ten percent audience in all extension courses, for those
students at poverty level, thereby contributing also to SDG1 (Poverty).
Special requests from society, not covered by the regular extension program,
are attended by USP own staff complemented by local or foreign specialists, if
required. Although strategic courses like Labor Safety, Occupational Health, and
Environmental Management are offered in online versions, the majority of courses
are still on site mode only.
The growth and diversification of online courses is one of the short-term goals
of the program. With this in mind, an online course was introduced to familiarize
teachers with online teaching resources, as well as to perfect and modernize teaching
techniques.
9
6.2 Research
The Pro-Rectorate for Research (PRP) is a central body of the University of São
Paulo that aims to foster interdisciplinary research and manage programs and policies
related to research at the University. Currently, USP accounts for 22% of all scientific
production in Brazil,
10 with 1,632 research groups certified by the National Council
for Research (CNPq), in perfect alignment with all 17 SDGs. Its structure comprises:
– The Centers for Research, Innovation, and Dissemination (CEPIDs),
11 which are
responsible for developing fundamental or applied research focused on specific
themes, contribute to innovation through technology transfer, and offer outreach
activities for primary and secondary education for the general public. The research
themes of the Centers include: food and nutrition, glass and ceramics, functional
materials, neuroscience and neuro-technology, inflammatory diseases, biodiversity and discovery of new drugs, toxins, immune response and cell signaling,
neuro-mathematics, mathematical sciences applied to industry, obesity and associated diseases, cell therapy, metropolitan studies, human genome and stem cells,
8 USP—EXTENSION COURSES https://cursosextensao.usp.br/.
9 See https://pecepoli.com.br/PT/EOP/.
10 https://prp.usp.br/wp-content/uploads/guia-usp-online.pdf.
11 CEPIDs—https://prp.usp.br/cepids/.