Funding Opportunities & Awards
The Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies (CBS) is pleased to announce funding opportunities for enhancement of teaching, research, and programming on Brazil.
Faculty Funding
Brazil-Sustainability Seed Funding // Deadline January 20, 2024
See the Seed Funding page to apply.
Teaching Grants // Applications accepted on a rolling basis
Faculty seeking to enhance their teaching on Brazil are eligible for grants up to $1000. The CBS can support course development, guest lectures, small workshops, and other activities that support undergraduate and graduate teaching. Proposals to integrate Brazil-specific content in existing courses are permitted and encouraged.
Campus Programming Grants // Applications accepted on a rolling basis
The Center for Brazilian Studies also provides funding to support campus programming on Brazil and events featuring Brazilian guest lecturers, including panel discussions, workshops, exhibitions, and film screenings. In addition to funding to cover the costs of such events, the Center can offer support for virtual events, Zoom webinars, online promotion of events, and recording of events to be published on YouTube and the Digital Brazil Project.
Application Package
- Applicant Information
- Abstract in lay terminology (150-word maximum)
- Project Description (1000-word maximum including references)
- Experience and Qualifications (350-word maximum)
- Itemized Budget and Budget Justification
Download the Application Forms: Teaching | Programming
All Unit 3 faculty in all San Diego State University units, regardless of rank, are strongly encouraged to apply: Lecturers, Assistant Professors, Associate Professors, and Full Professors.
Student Funding
The Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies at San Diego State University is accepting proposals for the Brazil-Sustainability Graduate Research Grant. The goal of the program is to support SDSU graduate students with a travel grant of up to $5,000.00 USD to conduct research in Brazil that contributes to their field's understanding of sustainability, including but not limited to climate change, ecological disaster, environmental justice, and human impacts on the environment. The deadline for proposals is February 15, 2024. Travel must take place during the award period of May 15, 2024 to May 14, 2025. Note that the Brazil will require a visa for all visitors effective January 2024 so please plan your travels accordingly.
Funded Internships
In 2022, the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies will offer funds to offset the cost of doing an internships with collaborating organizations in Brazil. Students can apply for up to $2,500 to work with either Sinal do Vale or Aniyami. (Note: At this time, funding cannot be used to support internships at other organizations.)
Sinal do Vale
Sinal do Vale, founded in 2011, is a global learning center for the transition to a sustainable future, which prototypes solutions for the regeneration of communities, food systems and forests, and disseminates them through education, products and services. Sinal do Vale is located in 173 hectares of land in the buffer zone between the urban sprawl of Rio de Janeiro -called the Baixada Fluminense -and one of the last remaining protected areas of the mega diverse Atlantic Forest. Available internships Include:
- Business
- Eco-Tourism
- Regenerative Cuisine
- Waste Management
- Regenerative Landscape Management
- Communications
Aniyami
Anyami Brazil is an incoming tour operator specialized in Adventure and Sustainable Travel, which provides creative, responsible and quality travel experiences for its clients. Aniyami’s goal is to help people explore Brazil by getting in touch with the true essence of each region, its local inhabitants, their culture, gastronomy and the varied landscapes they call home. Available internships include:
- Digital Marketing
- Sustainability Communications Strategy
View the flyer | Download the Application
Tinker Foundation Field Research Grant
The Center for Latin American Studies is awards Tinker Foundation Field Research Grant to fund the travel for graduate students who are doing preliminary research in Latin America and intend to pursue a Ph.D. The objective of this grant is to provide students with the opportunity to immerse themselves into their prospective fields and attain language knowledge, cultural background, initiate research contacts, network with institutions and possible informants and/or research subjects, and gather preliminary research data.
U.S. Student Fulbright Program
Applicants may propose to do research, attend courses, teach English or participate in a business internship in one of about 150 countries around the world. Visit the Fulbright Program site.
Brazil Initiation Scholarship
The Brazilian Studies Association (BRASA) invites applications from graduate and undergraduate students for a one-time $1,500 travel scholarship to do exploratory research or language study in Brazil. Visit the BRASA site.
Past Research Awards
Faculty Research Awards
Expanding collaborative research on HIV and addiction to improve patient engagement
in health care and treatment for HIV and substance use disorders
Dr. Maria Luisa Zuñiga - School of Social Work
Teaching and Learning Portuguese as a Foreign Language: Comparative Case Studies of
U.S. and Brazilian Higher Education Institutions
Dr. Cristian Aquino-Sterling - College of Education and Cassia De Abreu - Department
of Spanish and Portuguese
Regulation, Individual Perspectives and Decision Making across cultural contexts:
Brazil, Mexico and the United States
Dr. Salvador Espinoza, School of Public Affairs
Musical Traditions of Northeastern Brazil
Dr. Nadezda Novakovic- Language Acquisition Resource Center - Combined Portuguese
Startalk Programs
Deforestation impact on water quality and quantity in the Brazilian Amazon
Dr. Trent Biggs, Department of Geography
Brazil Syndemics Research Partnership
Dr. María Luisa Zúñiga and Dr. Susan Kiene, College of Health and Human Services
Sales Management: Market Opportunities in Brazil
Dr. Martina Musteen, College of Business Administration
Sustainability and Surfing: Initiatives, challenges and opportunities in the surfing
Mecca Brazil and the United States (Santa Catarina & California)
Dr. Jess Ponting, L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality & Tourism Management
Event and workshops with Brazilian scholar and author, Dr. Lúcia Bettencourt
Dr. Lauren Applegate, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Faculty Curricular Innovation Awards
Spring 2019
Sarah Elkind, Department of History
Course: Biophysical Modeling of Land - Atmosphere Interaction Processes (GEOG 596)
Fernando De Sales, Department of Geography
Student Intership Awards
Nicole Eliaschev
Major: Political Sciences
Internship with Sinal do Vale
Mulika Musyimi
Major: Sustainability
Internship with Sinal do Vale
Katia Tabbaco
Major: International Business
Internship with Aniyami
NSF IRES Student Research Opportunity
Lorena Benett
Major: Civil Engineering
Affiliation: CAL Poly Pomona
Britney Budiman
Major: Urban Studies
José Calderon Jr.
Graduate student, Civil Engineering
Brooke Dollabella
Graduate student, Public Health
Anais Gaunin
Major: Environmental Engineering
Fei Zhao
Graduate student, Environmental Engineering
Student Research Awards
Effects on non-injecting drug use in adherence to treatment and engagement to care
in Brazilian patients co-infected with HIV and Tuberculosis
Betânia Nogueira, College of Health and Human Services
Policy Networks and Democratic Governance
Ricardo Vieira, M.A in Political Science