Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel

Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel
Name	Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel
Native name	Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
Abbreviation	CAPES
Formation	1951
Headquarters	Brasília
Leader title	Director

Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel is a Brazilian federal agency responsible for the evaluation and promotion of postgraduate education. Founded in 1951 during the tenure of Getúlio Vargas's developmental era, it operates within the framework of national science policy and interfaces with ministries, universities, and research institutes. CAPES administers scholarship programs, quality assessments, and international cooperation that affect institutions such as Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, and Universidade Estadual de Campinas.

History

CAPES was created in 1951 amid postwar modernization efforts associated with Getúlio Vargas and institutional reforms linked to the establishment of the Ministry of Education (Brazil). Early decades saw collaboration with foreign agencies like the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation, and exchanges with universities including Harvard University, University of Cambridge, and Sorbonne University. During the Military dictatorship in Brazil (1964–1985), CAPES expanded graduate training while navigating regulatory changes imposed by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. In the 1990s CAPES adjusted to policies from the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration and to global trends exemplified by the Lisbon Recognition Convention and the influence of organizations such as the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The 21st century brought ties with the European Union, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and bilateral accords with the United States Department of State and the Confucius Institute network.

Mission and Objectives

CAPES defines priorities that intersect with national strategic plans like the Plano Nacional de Educação and international frameworks including the Sustainable Development Goals. Its mission emphasizes evaluation of postgraduate programs at institutions such as Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, and Federal University of Minas Gerais, the award of scholarships similar in scope to programs by the Fulbright Program or Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, and promotion of faculty development patterns found at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University. Objectives include fostering research aligned with agencies such as the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), improving metrics comparable to those used by Times Higher Education and the QS World University Rankings, and supporting networks like Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa.

Organizational Structure and Governance

CAPES operates under the Ministry of Education (Brazil) with governance bodies comparable to boards in European Commission agencies and advisory councils akin to those of the National Science Foundation. Leadership comprises directors and technical committees collaborating with university rectors from Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina and deans from Universidade Federal do Paraná. Internal departments manage evaluation, scholarships, international affairs, and continuing education, interacting with regulatory frameworks such as the Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional and oversight by the Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts. Advisory input comes from scholars connected to institutions like University of Oxford, University of California, Berkeley, and research centers such as the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation.

Programs and Initiatives

CAPES runs scholarship schemes for masters and doctoral candidates similar to Chevening Scholarship and collaborates on sandwich PhD arrangements with partners like ETH Zurich and University of Toronto. Initiatives include evaluation cycles using Qualis nomenclature that affect publication outlets such as Scielo, Nature, and Science. Professional development programs echo models from British Council training and include teacher education aligned with standards from National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira. CAPES has funded networks that produced research cited alongside work from Carlos Chagas Filho and projects involving laboratories comparable to CERN collaborations. It administers programs in partnership with Ministry of Health (Brazil) and industrial partnerships resembling those between Siemens and academia.

Funding and Partnerships

Funding sources include federal budget allocations overseen by the Brazilian National Treasury and programmatic funding aligned with instruments used by European Research Council grants and bilateral lines with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). CAPES partners with national agencies like CNPq and state foundations such as the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), as well as private foundations exemplified by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and corporations engaged in R&D similar to Embraer and Petrobras collaborations.

Impact and Criticism

CAPES has been credited with elevating output from universities such as Universidade Federal de Pernambuco and raising citation indices comparable to metrics used by Clarivate Analytics. Its evaluation system influenced program stratification and resource allocation similar to debates around the Research Excellence Framework in the United Kingdom. Criticisms mirror controversies facing agencies like the Italian Ministry of Education and include debates over centralization, incentive structures, and perceived emphasis on quantitative metrics rather than localized social priorities raised by scholars from Universidade Federal do Ceará and Universidade Federal da Bahia. Academic unions such as the Sindicato Nacional dos Docentes das Instituições de Ensino Superior and think tanks like the Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada have debated CAPES policies.

International Collaboration and Recognition

CAPES maintains accords with entities including the European Union, UNESCO, and higher education networks such as the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the International Association of Universities. It participates in student mobility similar to the Erasmus Programme and joint doctorate arrangements patterned after agreements with University of Salamanca and University of Buenos Aires. CAPES evaluations inform international comparisons alongside rankings by Times Higher Education and QS World University Rankings, and recipients of CAPES scholarships have affiliations with laureates of prizes such as the Nobel Prize and awards like the Fields Medal.

Category:Higher education in Brazil