Hyundai Motor Co. agreed to sponsor Brazil’s scholarship program to send 100,000 undergraduate students to study in the world’s top schools by 2014.

The carmaker inked a preliminary deal with the Brazilian education ministry at the ministry building in Brasilia on Thursday to offer students internship opportunities in Korea and grant scholarships.

The “Science without Borders” scholarships will be given primarily to students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics as part of the South American country’s efforts to foster leaders of long-term national growth.

“Hyundai Motor will support the ‘Science without Borders’ program to help Brazil nurture top-notch technological manpower for the advancement of science,” Han Chang-kyun, chief of Hyundai Motor’s Brazilian arm, said as he attended the signing ceremony.

“In addition to supplying high-quality cars, we will be a company that actively contributes to Brazilian society.”

Hyundai Motor has sponsored housing repair works in Sao Paulo and Piracicaba and Korean college students’ volunteer activities in Brazil on five different occasions.

The carmaker plans to push ahead with social contributions including auto-related professional technical training for Brazilians.

Hyundai Motor is building a factory with an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles in Piracicaba, which is scheduled to begin mass production in the second half of this year.

Launched under the initiative of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the “Science without Borders” program is aimed at sending the country’s best students in science and engineering to the world’s top 150 universities in the U.S., Europe, Canada, China, Japan and Korea.

The Korean education ministry, major schools including the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Yonsei University and the National Institute for International Education held explanatory sessions in Brazil on studying in Korea last October.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)