Technical-Scientific Cooperation

The Office of International Affairs and External Cooperation serves as the institutional link for the the offer and receipt of technical and scientific cooperation.

• Latin America and the Caribbean

  • In the framework of the Meetings of the Mixed Commissions with these countries, Universidad de Costa Rica offers and receives technical and scientific cooperation, through the articulation of projects with which experiences and good practices are shared and capacities are strengthened through the mobility of experts.

• Europe

  • France

    • UCR has had an active participation in the Regional Program France, Latin America, and the Caribbean (PREFALC), in mathematics for big data and mathematics didactics, early warning system for river overflows and professionalization in graduate training.

    • With the Institut Français d'Amérique Centrale, we have a specific counterpart for the academic professionalization of UCR´s teaching and administrative staff, for the completion of master's and doctoral studies.

  • Erasmus + Program

    • Costa Rica has 10 capacity building projects in force, out of which 6 have the active participation of Universidad de Costa Rica:

      • Harmonization and Innovation in Central American Higher Education Curriculum: Enhancing and Implementing the Regional QF (HICA)

      • The Latin American University as a Driving Force for Sustainable Technological and Social Innovations in Territorial Agri-Food Systems (INOVIA)

      • Regional Observatory for the Quality of Equity in Higher Education (ORACLE)

      • Students 4 Change: Social Entrepreneurship in Academia (Students4Change)

      • Networking Knowledge, Skills and Competencies for an Inclusive and Sustainable Territorial Valorization of Cultural Heritage, Origin Products, and Biodiversity (SUS-TER), to start in 2019.

      • Building the Future of Latin America: Engaging Women into STEM (W-STEM), to start in 2019.

    • The only Costa Rican project approved within the Jean Monnet category, so far, was presented by UCR, under the name Interdisciplinary European Studies in Latin America, by Professor Dr. Werner Mackenbach.

  • Germany

    • Through the operational cooperation agreement in force with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), regional (Central American) exchange of teachers and researchers is allowed.

    • CONARE-DAAD cooperation establishes the granting of joint scholarships to junior professors or professors in tenure of Costa Rican universities (ALECOSTA Program) in master's, doctoral, post-doctorate programs, or for the development of research stays.

• Asia-Pacific

  • Korea

    • Through the Korean Volunteers Program "World Friends Korea (WFK) of the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), UCR receives technical support in Korean education in the country, music education, children's education and librarianship. The Korean volunteers have collaborated in Rodrigo Facio University City and the regional branches in Guanacaste and the West, as well as in Santa Cruz Campus.

    • In the framework of Costa Rica-Korea’s Bilateral Cooperation, a project presented by UCR was approved. It is meant to promote an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, sponsored by KOICA.

  • Japan

    • Through the Program of Japanese Volunteers for the Cooperation with Foreign Countries of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), UCR receives technical support in language teaching, audiovisual production, computer science, forestry, and horticulture. Over 126 volunteers have collaborated at Rodrigo Facio University City, UCR regional branches, Lankester Botanical Garden, and the Fabio Baudrit Moreno Experimental Station.

    • There has been a strong collaboration of the Government of Japan, through the Cultural Donation Program, among which we can mention the equipment for the Planetarium, the improvement of laboratory equipment in the School of Modern Languages ​​for the improvement of the Japanese language, and the high-resolution equipment for microscopy analysis; and, through the Assistance Program for Cultural Community Projects, the construction of the Japanese Garden in Lankester Botanical Garden.