HAI Members in Central and South America
The university's long-standing and diverse connections created the basis for early and pioneering activities in Latin America
The first activities in Central and South America already took place in the early years of HAI: Strong links were crucial, both between the then “Akademisches Auslandsamt” of Heidelberg University and the cooperating universities as well as close contacts to individual alumnae and alumni, who, for example, took on leading roles in the establishment of the Heidelberg Center Latin America: Alumni successfully acted as door openers and mediators for their alma mater.
HAI in Latin america
Just under 3% of all HAI members live in Central and South America. There are organised alumni activities in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia – online groups have also been formed for these countries under the umbrella of HAI – but there are also active alumnae and alumni in other countries of this region who are in regular contact with HAI.
The largest number of alumni in South America live in Chile, followed by Brazil and Colombia; in the Caribbean and Central America, Costa Rica has the largest number, followed by Cuba and Honduras.
In terms of subject area, more than 30% of the alumni are in the humanities, just over 20% studied law in Heidelberg and 13% medicine. In addition to study visits, 10% of HAI members from Central and South America were in Heidelberg for a research visit – here too, the humanities take first place, followed by medicine and the natural sciences.
Cross-continental activities such as the two "Panamerican Alumni Meetings" in 2012 and 2014 prove that alumni activities can also generate enthusiasm across borders: Alumnae and alumni from Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and Chile as well as from Canada and the USA accepted the invitation from HAMEX in Mexico. In addition to joyful get-togethers, these meetings were used to initiate scientific collaborations.
University in Latin america
Heidelberg University maintains numerous academic collaborations with universities and research institutes in Central and South America, particularly in Chile, Brazil and Argentina. On the basis of very well-established partnerships with the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, the Universidad de Chile and the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, Brazil, topics such as climate change, biodiversity, sustainable development, international law, medicine and social sciences are discussed and researched in relation to each other.
The Heidelberg Center Latin America (HCLA), which was opened in Santiago de Chile in 2002, is the foundation of the activities in South America. This project was preceded by intensive cooperation between Heidelberg stakeholders and Chilean alumni, who jointly promoted and implemented the idea of the HCLA.
As a centre of excellence in research and teaching, the HCLA is the first and only postgraduate centre of a German university in South America. In cooperation with renowned South American universities, Heidelberg University offers Master's courses, doctoral and graduate programmes, summer and winter schools and specialist seminars on its campus in Santiago. These cover fields of study and subject areas that are strategically valuable and important for the university and local teaching and research.
In addition, there are collaborations at university, faculty and institute level between Heidelberg University and other universities in Brazil, Chile and Colombia.
