Uni­ver­si­dade de São Paulo

Within the framework of our partnership with Universidade de São Paulo (USP), we fund bilateral projects that establish structural measures and international networks at both universities in the long term, in regular calls for proposal. The funds enable the financing of small projects, workshops, conferences and visits between São Paulo and HU. This gives researchers the opportunity to work together with colleagues at the other location and to jointly secure third-party funds. Through the funding, the aim is to intensify the cooperation between the two institutions and to enhance the visibility and internationalisation of the participating faculties.

Do you wish to develop a new cooperation project with USP or to expand existing structures? The International University Collaborations Office offers a Zoom consultation once a month for initiating collaborations with Universidade de São Paulo and other strategic partners of Humboldt-Universität. Come and visit us: 

The first Thursday of every month from 10.00 am – 11.00 am.

You can find general information on the promotion of research and innovation in Brazil on the website of the German Center for Research and Innovation São Paulo.

The research project "Urbanising Planetary Health" focuses on urban research and the associated relations between people and the environment from a social science perspective and, in particular, at the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary interface. It is run by Prof. Sandra Jasper (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) and Dr. Laura Kemmer (Universidade de São Paulo).

The project aims to make the connections between human health and ecosystems tangible for urban areas. Both Berlin and São Paulo (and Rio de Janeiro) are being investigated. Exploration of the effects of urbanisation processes, for example on water pollution, is at the core, as well as the specifically urban solutions and management strategies for these problems. These may be large-scale campaigns for environmental rehabilitation, but also civil society bottom-up initiatives for urban greening, which contribute to the resilience of cities.

The project is co-financed by funding bodies (such as BUA and the DAAD) and involves bachelor’s and master’s students of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Universidade de São Paulo. The medium of film plays a significant role in the research project as an interface between science and the public.

The DFG-funded project "Varieties of constitutionalism: Contestations of liberalism in comparative constitutional law" under the direction of Prof. Philipp Dann ran from March 2020 to March 2024. This research initiative, a collaboration between Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Universidade de São Paulo in the field of law, investigates the challenges to liberal constitutionalism in Germany and Brazil from a global perspective. The objectives comprise of the development of a comparative typology of constitutionalism, the investigation of normative alternatives and the theorisation of the role of actors. The research focuses on democracy, the economic constitution and open statehood. A cross-thematic study analyses the role of corporations in various forms of constitutionalism, particularly transnational corporations. The results will be integrated into a German habilitation monograph.