The Maria Sibylla Merian Center for Advanced Latin American Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CALAS) is a university-based Center for Advanced Studies founded by a consortium of Latin American and German universities. The CALAS seeks to foment research of interest in the social sciences and humanities in Latin America, applying historical, scientific and systematic approaches and employing transdisciplinary and transregional dialogue. Through this cross-pollination of ideas and methods, CALAS aims to stimulate the establishment of a new Latin American research landscape of Centers for Advanced Studies, which create a space for the development of a new generation of transregional and dialogue-oriented research on an international level.

As a result of a partnership between CALAS and the Federal University of Minas Gerais, under the responsibility of the Institute of Advanced Transdisciplinary Studies at UFMG, the CALAS-IEAT Chairs program aims to support researchers acting in the development of studies related to Latin America.