Télécom Paris hosted the BRAFITEC Forum
16 June 2025
UFES professors with Alaf Nascimento, now a PhD student at Télécom Paris and a graduate of the UFES-Télécom Paris double degree programme
For the first time, the event was held at the heart of the Paris-Saclay science and technology cluster. This 18th edition was coordinated by Institut Polytechnique de Paris and CentraleSupélec, with the support of CDEFI, the Écoles Centrales network, and Naval Group. As part of the 2025 France-Brazil Season, the Forum was partly hosted on the Télécom Paris campus, where several key moments took place.
BRAFITEC Forum: A key event for Franco-Brazilian academic cooperation
The BRAFITEC Forum (BRAsil France Ingénieurs TEChnologie) is a major annual event fostering academic collaboration between France and Brazil. It brings together coordinators of the bilateral BRAFITEC program, which supports cooperation and exchanges between French engineering schools and Brazilian universities offering engineering degrees. The 2025 edition, partly held at Télécom Paris, offered a valuable opportunity to highlight our commitment to this program and to strengthen our ties with Brazilian partners.
Télécom Paris involved in six major BRAFITEC projects
Télécom Paris has a long-standing involvement in the BRAFITEC program. Our school currently participates in six BRAFITEC projects, in collaboration with Brazilian universities and French partners including ENSTA, École Polytechnique, and Télécom SudParis.
These projects provide funding for both degree-seeking and non-degree-seeking student mobility, supported by CAPES scholarships in Brazil and managed by CDEFI in France. At the start of the 2024/2025 academic year, 28 Brazilian students joined the engineering program at Télécom Paris as part of a double-degree pathway.
Several former students who benefited from the program shared their experiences during the Forum. Among them was Alaf Nascimento, now a PhD student at Télécom Paris and a graduate of the UFES-Télécom Paris double-degree program, who testified:
Pre-Forum Lab Tours: Spotlight on research and innovation at Télécom Paris
On June 11, participants were invited to visit research labs across member institutions of IP Paris and Université Paris-Saclay. At Télécom Paris, seven visits showcased the expertise of our teams and our state-of-the-art research and innovation facilities. Highlights included:
- The 5G platform, presented by Associate Professor Philippe Martins
- Research in optical communications, shared by R&D engineer Heming Huang
- Radiofrequency and microwave technologies, presented by engineer Antoine Khy and Associate Professor Jean-Christophe Cousin
- Secure and Safe Hardware projects, presented by Associate Professor Laurent Sauvage
- A demonstration on digital pre-distortion by R&D engineer Reda Mohellebi
- Our FabLab presented by Daniel Pires de Sá Medeiros, Associate Professor
Finally, Marie-Anne Lebrec, Innovation & Entrepreneurship Project Director, introduced our incubator, which has supported deeptech startups from public research since 1999.
BRAFITEC conferences: Télécom Paris hosted the second day of discussions
On June 13, Télécom Paris hosted the Forum’s second day of conferences in the Thévenin lecture hall. After a welcome address by Patrick Olivier, Director of Télécom Paris, the morning focused on a review of the BRAFITEC program. Eduardo Souza de Cursi, BRAFITEC Coordinator in France (CDEFI), and Helena Albuquerque Cavalcanti, General Coordinator of International Programs (CAPES), presented updates on past initiatives and outlined the CAPES Global program.
A roundtable on “Training engineers for a more sustainable world” brought together French and Brazilian perspectives. Moderated by Jean-François Naviner (Télécom Paris) and Jocelyn Fiorina (CentraleSupélec), the session featured:
- Philippe Ciblat, Professor, Télécom Paris
- Elisabeth Crépon, VP for Education and Student Life, IP Paris
- Roberta Gomes, Professor, UFES
- Nicolas Maillard, Professor, UFRGS
- Olivier Schoefs, Professor, UTC
- Isabelle Thibon, Director of Europe and International, INSA Rennes
Later, separate working sessions were held for French and Brazilian project coordinators, followed by the official closing ceremony of this 18th edition.
A strategic and sustainable collaboration
BRAFITEC is supported by the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC), the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE), and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR), with operational support from CAPES and CDEFI. Projects run for two years, renewable once for an additional two years. The program reflects a shared goal of training engineers who can thrive in international, innovative, and sustainable environments.
Télécom Paris is committed to remaining actively involved in BRAFITEC, which enables us to welcome an increasing number of Brazilian students to our campus. The projects are part of a long-term strategy for strong and lasting cooperation with Brazil. Over the past 30 years, Télécom Paris has built a robust network of academic partnerships, supporting research collaborations and mobility programs for students and staff.
Today, Télécom Paris benefits from 11 double-degree agreements, a joint PhD supervision framework agreement via IP Paris with the University of São Paulo and multiple student exchange agreements.
*Léon Charles Thévenin (1857–1926), a telegraph engineer & professor, formulated the famous Thévenin’s theorem in electrical circuit theory in 1883. In 1896, he became director of the École professionnelle supérieure des postes et télégraphie (EPSPT), the institution that would later become Télécom Paris. The BRAFITEC 2025 conference at Télécom Paris was held in the amphitheater that now bears his name.