FGV’s Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration (EBAPE) welcomed the first group of participants of the International Business Education Alliance (Ibea) – an international exchange program carried out in countries across four continents. A total of 34 undergraduate students from all four partners within the IBEA consortium – EBAPE (Brazil), University of Mannheim Business School (Germany), University of South Carolina – Darla Moore School of Business (USA) and ESSEC Business School (France) – arrived in Rio de Janeiro to start the last semester of the exchange program.

The first edition of Ibea began in the autumn (Northern hemisphere) of 2015, and the first group is expected to graduate in the spring of 2019. The first three semesters were completed at each student’s institution of origin (except for students from EBAPE, who studied four semesters before the exchange abroad). In the fourth semester, Ibea students began their international exchange, starting at University of Mannheim, followed by the Darla Moore School of Business and the newly opened ESSEC campus in Singapore.

The foreign students who are at EBAPE for the last semester of exchange participated in a welcome week featuring guidance activities, in order to help them better adapt to Rio de Janeiro culture and FGV’s community.  German student Lena Radut said that Ibea has been one of the greatest adventures of her life.

“FGV is the last of four universities who generously opened their doors to the curious and united spirit of our class. There is no better way to deeply understand other cultures than the connection made through academia and friendship”.

Sophia Heilborn, one of nine students from EBAPE that participated in the first Ibea class, said she is proud to be a part of the program and represent FGV around the world.

“Studying in four different countries forced me to get out of my comfort zone and experience a rich cultural diversity; it was a life-changing opportunity. The program gave me a global family that will be forever with me in some way”, she said.

Ibea was created with the goal of providing holistic and diverse training to undergraduate students. At the end of the program, students should have acquired greater cultural sensitivity and be able to understand different management practices in other cultures and environments. In addition to attending regular subjects offered by the alliance’s schools, students benefit from each partner school’s expertise by studying subjects specific to the group, besides participating in cultural courses and field and consulting work.

Go to the website for more information on Ibea.