Last Thursday (12), the Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG) signed an Academic Agreement with the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Portugal, aiming to strengthen scientific cooperation in the field of oceanography. The agreement is valid for five years and focuses on academic and scientific collaboration within the IMPACTANT and PRO-SAMBA projects, developed by FURG’s High Latitude Oceanography Group (GOAL).

The document provides for the exchange of faculty members and researchers to develop collaborative projects, covering all stages of the research process, from concept development and preparation of funding proposals to project execution, fieldwork, data analysis, and the production of scientific results. The partnership also includes the preparation of technical reports and the writing and submission of articles to peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Each research project carried out under the agreement must be previously funded and include objectives, methodologies, work plans, expected outputs, duration, project leaders, budget, and other specific terms. The parties will appoint project leaders responsible for management and implementation, ensuring compliance with all applicable administrative and regulatory procedures.

A Monitoring Committee has been established, composed of coordinators from each institution: from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Dr. Carlos Rafael Borges Mendes, from the Department of Biology, and from FURG, Professor Rodrigo Kerr. The committee will be responsible for managing the agreement and resolving issues through mutual understanding. As a last resort, unresolved disputes may be submitted to arbitration, in accordance with the rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

The IMPACTANT and PRO-SAMBA projects, which underpin this cooperation, were funded by the Brazilian government under the Brazilian Antarctic Program (PROANTAR) for the 2024–2028 period and are led by the High Latitude Oceanography Group (GOAL), a multidisciplinary group composed of researchers and students from various Brazilian institutions, with international collaboration. The research focuses on understanding the relationships between the physical and chemical environment, marine microorganisms, and top predators in Antarctica, contributing to the understanding of the effects of global environmental changes on marine life and physical processes in the Southern Ocean.