First working visit within the AURELA project strengthens research and cooperation between the Université de Tours, UFPE and UERJ
- Jun 25
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 6
Professor Kevin Parthenay (Université de Tours) visited Recife and Rio de Janeiro from 8 to 18 June to take part in academic and institutional engagements alongside the Brazilian researchers of the AURELA project. The 10-day trip was the first official working visit carried out under the project and it allowed the French co-coordinator of AURELA to advance key initiatives and further cooperation between the Brazilian and French partners.
The working visit began in Recife, where Kevin Parthenay met with the team of researchers from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE).
A major focus of the visit was the preparation of upcoming activities in 2026: the Launch Event, which will take place in Sciences Po (Paris) on June 29, and professor Marcelo Medeiros' appointment as a Senior Visiting Professor at the Université de Tours in the second semester.
The visit also included a meeting on June 9 with representatives of UFPE’s current leadership, notably Carol Leandro, Vice-Rector for Research, and Cristiane Salomé, Director of International Relations. This exchange provided an opportunity for Kevin Parthenay to deliver the signed copies of the cooperation agreements that the Université de Tours and UFPE had been drafting together, officially marking the beginning of formal collaboration between the two institutions. Participants discussed opportunities to deepen institutional ties beyond CAPES COFECUB, through other internationalization efforts led by UFPE.
Research remained a central component of the visit, with Parthenay and Mesquita advancing a joint paper for presentation at the upcoming French Political Science Association (AFSP) Conference.
The Recife visit concluded with seminars conducted by PhD students from the Graduate Programs in Political Science and in Law, during which they received feedback regarding their research projects on themes like migration, outer space law, and global health.
The second part of the visit took place in Rio de Janeiro, where Kevin Parthenay engaged with colleagues from the Institute of Social and Political Studies of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (IESP-UERJ), another AURELA partner institution.
On June 15, he delivered a lecture hosted by LABMUNDO on his research project developed within the framework of the French University Institute (IUF), examining Latin America's role in the production and diffusion of global norms.
On June 16, professors Ana Paula Tostes, Pablo Braga, and Kevin Parthenay met to finalize the work agenda of AURELA's third research axis, dedicated to Fundamental Rights and Democratic Values, and to discuss the next stages of scientific cooperation within the project.
The visit concluded on June 17 at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), at the invitation of Professor Andrea Ribeiro Hoffmann. There, Kevin Parthenay delivered a lecture on Latin America and the making of international norms while continuing a long-standing academic dialogue on regionalism in Latin America. The visits to UERJ and PUC-Rio also opened discussions on potential future collaborations with Université de Tours, further reinforcing the academic networks fostered by AURELA.
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