RUF 2025 data reveals that the presence of foreign professors in Brazilian universities is tepid. Of the more than 195,000 teachers working in the 204 institutions assessed, only 2%, or less than 4,000, are of other nationalities.
RUF has re-included the number of foreign professors in its internationalization index, along with an index of international co-authorship per scientific publication.
This indicator was adopted in the second edition of the ranking (2013) and was used again to expand the analysis of universities’ ability to attract international talent and reduce the exclusive focus on scientific research.
Although the constitution allows the employment of foreign teachers, their presence in Brazilian universities remains low, with the majority working in public institutions and accounting for 88% of the total number of foreign teachers in the country.
Brazil is trying to rectify this gap through various initiatives, including public recruitment, especially in the form of visiting researchers, from funding agencies such as Capes, CNPq and Fapesp.
From the perspective of science policy, the presence of foreign professors is considered essential to creating a more diverse and excellent educational and research environment.
Despite the efforts of universities, internationalization is progressing slowly. Brazil’s higher education system continues to face significant barriers in attracting and retaining foreign professors.
Elizabeth Barbaczewski, a professor in USP’s political science department, said the low presence of foreigners reflects a closed graduate school system with selection criteria that are less accessible to outside candidates. She points out that recognition of international degrees is one of the biggest obstacles.
“This process is slow, unpredictable, and outdated, even for prestigious university titles. These barriers, along with physical presence, Portuguese language proficiency, and in-person interview requirements, make entry for foreigners a major challenge,” he said.
In RUF 2025, Unila (United Federal University of Latin America) leads the indicator regarding the presence of foreign teachers. Of the 415 teachers, 60 (14.5%) were from other countries.
Furthermore, only Uenf (Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro) and UFABC (Universidade Federation do ABC) have more than 10% of their faculty members being foreigners.
According to Unira’s Rector, Diana Araujo Pereira, this profile is directly linked to the university’s institutional mission, which was created in 2010 to bring together professors from different countries and strengthen the academic environment in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Unira should accept more foreign teachers, preferably from Latin American and Caribbean countries, but it is very difficult to increase the current number, because even though we have a clear mission of integration, especially since 2018, educational competitions are limited by the domestic laws of other federal authorities,” says Diana Pereira.
The best universities within the RUF do not always stand out for their international openness. Among the top 10 schools in the general classification, only three have more than 4% foreign professors: USP (University of São Paulo), Unicamp (State University of Campinas), and UnB (University of Brasilia).
The presence of foreign teachers also usually leads to increased international competitiveness.
International rankings such as Times Higher Education (THE) and Quacquarelli Simmons (QS) include the presence of foreign professors in their evaluation of internationalization, but there is also criticism that English-speaking countries may be given preferential treatment in their evaluations, as English-speaking countries are naturally more attractive to international talent.
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