Build Virtual Reality for Social Good in Brazil | Summer 2027 | Earn 6 UF CISE Credits

 Design the Future in Brazil: Where Technology Meets Culture

What if you could build virtual reality experiences that make a difference, collaborate with Brazilian students and researchers, and spend eight weeks exploring one of Brazil’s most vibrant cultural destinations?

UF in Brazil: Cross-Cultural Engineering and Immersive Technologies for Industry 5.0 ,led by Dr. Alexandre Gomes de Siqueira, offers all this and more. Spend eight weeks in Salvador, Bahia, exploring immersive technologies, culturally aware design, and the power of technology to address real-world challenges. Hosted in collaboration with SENAI CIMATEC, one of Brazil’s leading centers for engineering and applied research, this faculty-led program combines hands-on technical learning with cultural immersion and international collaboration.

Here’s what makes this program different:

·                     Build VR experiences for social good. Learn how virtual reality, storytelling, empathy, and persuasion can engage audiences and communicate meaningful social messages. Develop interactive experiences grounded in real-world contexts.

·                     Discover how culture shapes technology. Explore how colors, symbols, interfaces, and cultural expectations influence the way people understand and use technology. Learn to design for people and communities with different perspectives and needs.

·                     Get hands-on with emerging technologies. Apply design principles, experiment with prototyping, and learn how to evaluate immersive experiences for effectiveness, clarity, and ethical responsibility.

·                     Collaborate beyond borders. Work alongside Brazilian faculty, researchers, and students, gaining experience in cross-cultural teamwork and communication in an international engineering and technology environment.

·                     Experience Brazil beyond the classroom. Explore Salvador’s historic sites and Afro-Brazilian traditions, experience music, dance, and capoeira, and participate in conservation activities and coastal excursions to Praia do Forte.

Earn 6 UF credits while building your global experience

Course 1: Virtual Reality for the Social Good CIS 4930 / CIS 6930 · 3 UF credits - Design interactive VR experiences using empathy, immersive storytelling, and message science to address social challenges.

 

Course 2: Culturally Aware Design CEN 4930 / CIS 6930 · 3 UF credits - Discover how cultural differences shape communication, design choices, and the way people interact with products and software.

6 total UF credits

Courses taught by UF faculty · For undergraduate and graduate students

Why go?

Whether you're interested in computer science, computer engineering, digital arts and sciences, data science, human-computer interaction, AI, or interactive media, UF in Brazil gives you the opportunity to connect your technical interests with real-world applications.

You’ll return with more than international travel experience. You’ll have practiced designing technology with diverse audiences in mind, strengthened your collaboration and communication skills, and developed project experience you can discuss in future internships, graduate applications, and job interviews.

Take your skills beyond the classroom. Discover Brazil. Build technology with purpose.

Ready to make this summer count? Explore UF in Brazil and sign up to participate!

·                     Application deadline:  February 1, 2027  (Spots may fill up before deadline)

Contact information: Alexandre Gomes de Siqueira, 225-249-2317, agomesdesiqueira@ufl.edu

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hiring two Part-Time Master’s Students

  Hiring two Part-Time Master’s Students  We are looking for 2 part-time Master’s students to support the development of an interactive 3D product web platform. The role involves building a web-based 3D viewer and supporting backend systems for managing models, products, and metadata. Skills: JavaScript/React Basic 3D web (Three.js/Babylon.js preferred) Backend experience (Python/Node.js, databases) This project offers hands-on experience in 3D web technologies, full-stack development, and scalable system design. If interested, please send a copy of your CV in addition to a summary of your expertise to Mark Tehranipoor ( tehranipoor@ufl.edu ) and Shah Imran Shovon ( shovon.m@ufl.edu ).
Read more

Revamped UF Thesis and Dissertation Template!

Image
  Updated Thesis and Dissertation Template Now Available Online! You can find the new template and updated resources on both our and UFIT’s website. Dear Graduate Students, Faculty, and Staff, We're thrilled to announce that UFIT has updated the Thesis and Dissertation template to streamline the formatting process for our graduate students! If you're just starting to format, please use the latest template. If you have already been using our template? Don’t stress! We will continue accepting thesis and dissertation submissions using the previous version of template through the end of Summer 2026. Formatting resources for versions are will be available on our website and UFIT’s website . New template: https://it.ufl.edu/helpdesk/graduate-resources/ms-word--latex-templates/ Video tutorials on formatting: https://it.ufl.edu/helpdesk/graduate-resources/online-tutorials/ Sample pages: https://success.grad.ufl.edu/t...
Read more

Supplemental Retention Scholarship (SRS) Update

Image
  Lifeline to the finish line! Supplemental Retention Scholarship (SRS) Updated requirements for a longstanding PhD and MFA resource Date released: September 22, 2025 The UF Graduate School’s Supplemental Retention Scholarship (SRS) has long been a lifeline to get PhD and MFA Grad Gators over the finish line — by providing much-needed tuition relief to those in that final stage of dissertation or final project during their graduating semester when they have exhausted their funding contract. To keep this popular scholarship true to its purpose and maintain effective flow of its limited resources to those who need it most, the Graduate School has fine-tuned eligibility requirements for SRS applicants: They must be in their final semester and due to graduate. They must have exhausted their funding (such as department or college fellowships, assistantships or other funding). They must have be...
Read more