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Committed to finding an opportunity to study abroad, Matheus Saueressig (pictured left) was researching international scholarships when he read about the Pitch the Course of the Future competition on a popular Brazilian website.

Coming from Porto Alegre, capital of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, Matheus lives with his mother and stepfather. He speaks openly about his family’s struggles, something that motivates him to try to experience a new life outside of Brazil.

“Porto Alegre is a beautiful city but sadly it has also become one of the most violent cities in Brazil since the financial crisis,” Matheus shared.

According to Matheus, the state also has little money to spend on infrastructure. This is one of the reasons he was so excited to hear he had won the competition and the opportunity to see what UWA had to offer.

“I barely knew the university before the competition but I was really impressed when I saw the ranking and with the relevance of your research,”he explained.

“I looked through the UWA YouTube channel and you seem to be a very humane university, your research is very relevant, particularly what I have read about Dr Barry Marshall, who of course won a Nobel Prize. I am really looking forward to meeting him and also Professor David Blair who was involved in the gravitational waves discovery. I think these things are really great for me to see because in my country we do not have many opportunities to do research, we have no funding and it’s really sad,” he said.

Going to university is Matheus’ number one focus, having recently finished high school and now studying towards the entrance exams in a Cursinho.

“Cursinho is Portuguese and translates to ‘little course’ . This is a school where you review all the subjects you have learned in high school in order to prepare for the exams, it's pretty common for Brazilians do a Cursinho,” he explained.

What field Matheus will pursue is still up in the air; he has a broad range of interests and ultimately, the decision will depend very much on the university he attends.

“The course I do will come down to where I go to study. If I go to Japan, which is the only country with a full scholarship, engineering is very big there so I would study electrical engineering. If I could find an appropriate scholarship in the USA or Australia I would like to work in biological sciences” he said.

Matheus’ interest in biological sciences started at a young age and was inspired by his childhood hero, Australia’s Steve Irwin.

“When I was young I wanted to be a zoologist like Steve Irwin, I love animals and it was thrilling to see him travelling the world and handling these snakes and crocodiles,” he said.

Unfortunately income inequality and the lack of opportunity in Brazil made this an unrealistic choice for Matheus.

“There is little opportunity in Brazil for zoology, there is no funding for research and my family were worried that pursuing this would mean a lifetime of struggling for me.”

According to Matheus, winning the competition was a positive end to a tough year.

“The year has been exhausting, but this competition showed me that one event does not decide who you are. You fall, you struggle, you fall again but if you keep rising you will find your place in the world. Everyone can do something to change our society,” he said.

And making a positive change to society is Matheus’ real goal, hence his pitch for a biofabrication course , something he sees as necessary in light of rising demand for animal products from a growing population.

“In Brazil the rainforest is being devastated to expand pastures. If we don't do something about that, the remaining forests of the world will become pastures. This also leads to conflict between Indians and landowners as indigenous villages are destroyed by farmers to expand their farms. Biofabrication can not only help the animals and the rainforest, but also people like the Brazilian Indians,” he explained.

“This is the industrial revolution of food,” he continued, “Soon, it won't be necessary to have farms and slaughterhouses. Cuts of meat will be produced in factories, with the same taste and nutritional quality, without the risk of having some tapeworm's eggs. And of course, the biofabricated meat will be cheaper. We will be able to use the thousands of miles of pastures for other purposes. The economy will suffer a huge transformation. But, if we want this to happen, we need to educate professionals to handle those factories. That's why we need a biofabrication course.”

Matheus’ enthusiasm for the topic is obvious, as is his desire to learn as much as he can about the world around him.

“I want to know this little dot called Earth. I want to meet people, and help them. I want to have fun, to fall in love, to reach peace. I want to light up the flame of life that is inside of me at the maximum rate,” he said.

With this kind of passion, there is little doubt Matheus will succeed in whatever he sets his mind to. We only hope that through this opportunity, his flame will burn a little brighter.