University Internationalisation: The Impact of the COVID Experience in a Global-South University

For many years, the international dimension was not focused on Brazilian higher education. Following the same path, USP, despite its position as one of the leading national flagship universities, paid little attention to internationalisation until the beginning of the XXI century. This change in perspective was mainly motivated by its inclusion in international rankings and the pressure of other globalisation dynamics. Recently, forced by the limitations in physical mobility imposed by the pandemic, the University has worked on converting its main mechanisms devoted to internationalisation to meet these new requirements: as further internationalisation does not involve the physical mobility of students or researchers, it started to rely on the production of more shared research, inside more closely integrated global networks, and exchanging knowledge through digital platforms. While, in many aspects, this experience opened a window of opportunity for the University, it also has a dark side since it could deepen inequalities among the student body.