Rice signs MOU with Costa Rica

To promote research collaborations and faculty and student exchanges, Rice University signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Nov. 7 with the Costa Rica Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications.

Rice President David Leebron (left) and Marcelo Jenkins, Costa Rica’s minister of science, technology and telecommunications, signed a memorandum of understanding Nov. 7 to promote research collaborations and student and faculty exchanges. (Photo by Tommy LaVergne)

“We intend to establish a long-term, mutually beneficial academic relationship that would contribute to the technological, economic, institutional and social development of Costa Rica and the advancement of research and academic scholarships in Rice University,” reads the MOU that was signed by Rice President David Leebron and Marcelo Jenkins, minister of science, technology and telecommunications of Costa Rica.

International engagement is one of Rice’s priorities for the new century, and the MOU will help foster collaborative research on areas of mutual interest, such as bioengineering, medical devices and other aspects of innovative science and technology.

In addition to meeting with Leebron and some Rice students and faculty who are from Costa Rica, Jenkins and members of his staff toured the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen, participated in a roundtable discussion with the department chairs from the George R. Brown School of Engineering, learned more about the Latin American Initiative at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and met with Consul General Carlos Pacheco-Murillo, Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Seiichi Matsuda, Dean of Natural Sciences Peter Rossky, Dean of Engineering Ned Thomas and several other faculty members.

The MOU was promoted by Rice’s Costa Rica Interest Group, which is chaired by Adria Baker, associate vice provost for international education and executive director of the Office of International Students and Scholars. Baker studied at the University of Costa Rica when she lived in Costa Rica for a year.

Rice is also in the process of completing two MOUs with the University of Costa Rica.