Bellevue University Partners With Institutions in Four Latin American Countries to Expand Educational Opportunities

Bellevue University has announced a new partnership with a network of academic institutions in five Latin American countries that will enhance undergraduate research, expand students’ international perspectives and open the door to faculty collaborations. 

Bellevue University is one of just a handful of American universities that is a member of DELFIN, which stands for the Inter-Institutional Program for Strengthening of Research and Graduate Studies in the Pacific. The University of Nebraska at Kearney was the first U.S. member of the DELFIN program and houses the United States DELFIN chapter. 

DELFIN, which began in 1995, includes more than 200 academic institutions and research centers across Mexico, has been established with chapters in Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Peru, and students travel to countries such as Germany, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, South Korea, Costa Rica, Cuba, Spain, United States, England, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay. DELFIN also collaborates with the European Union through the organizations promoting student travel exchanges.

“We’re energized by the opportunities that DELFIN represents,” said Julie Verebely, Director, Global Partnerships at Bellevue University. “We have strong relationships with educational partners in a variety of different countries and our joining DELFIN builds on those connections and creates even more opportunities for our students and our faculty to have wonderful experiences.”

More than 360 international students from 42 different countries are currently learning at Bellevue University. Some learn on the University’s main campus in Bellevue, while others learn online from countries ranging from China to Mexico.

DELFIN connects junior- and senior-level students and faculty researchers through an online platform. When a student identifies a project they’re interested in, they submit an application that must be approved by the faculty researcher. Students must be juniors or seniors who are proficient in English to participate.

Since DELFIN began, more than 55,000 students have participated alongside faculty in research projects.

Bellevue University is currently accepting research project proposals from faculty and expects to begin student-faculty research projects in early 2023.