The U.S. government announced last week a US$2 million partnership with the Mexican government to promote collaboration between the two nations´ higher education institutions.U.S. Ambassador Antonio O. Garza discussed the project Thursday.
The embassy´s Agency for International Development will work with the Mexican National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt) to strengthen Mexican institutions of higher learning, awarding over 70 postgraduate scholarships, increasing faculty and student exchanges, and expanding joint research in science and technology.
The U.S. government will fund up to six two-year university partner projects and Conacyt will grant a total of four scholarships per project annually under their "Becas Mixtas" program for a total of 48 new scholarships.
Applications for the Becas Mixtas program can be found at www.HEDprogram.org.
To date, 55 such partnerships have been established under the bilateral Training, Internships, Exchanges and Scholarships (TIES) Initiative with U.S. government contributions now passing US$35 million.
Garza also announced Thursday the completion of a "Living Laboratory" project that took place this month in Veracruz.
Students from Ghana, Egypt, Algeria, Germany, China and Mexico studied local agricultural and development issues as well as regional livestock systems in the program, which receives funding from the U.S. government.
Cornell University, the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán and the Universidad Veracruzana were awarded the TIES partnership for the program in 2004.
