University of Brasília

Universidade de Brasília
Established	April 21, 1962
Type	Public University
Rector	José Geraldo de Sousa Júnior
Academic staff	1,757
Admin. staff	2,391
Undergraduates	27,419
Postgraduates	5,054
Location	Brasília, DF, Brazil
Campus	Urban, 3.950.579 m²
Website	www.unb.br

The University of Brasília (in Portuguese: Universidade de Brasília, often abbreviated as UnB), is one of the largest and most prestigious Brazilian public universities funded by the Brazilian federal government. It is located in the country's capital, Brasília.

In Brasilia there are over 114 colleges recognized by the MEC (Ministry of Education)^[1].

History

University of Brasília's Library

Central Institute of Sciences - ICC ("Minhocão")

The University of Brasilia Foundation was created on December 15, 1961. Professor Darcy Ribeiro, who became its first chancellor, was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of its creation. The architect Oscar Niemeyer designed its main building, the Central Institute of Sciences (ICC). From its very beginning, the University of Brasilia (UnB) strived for excellence in teaching, research and outreach courses open to the community at large, thereby ranking as one of the most respected universities in Brazil. The institution was created on April 21, 1962, following the plan of its founders, educator Anísio Teixeira and anthropologist professor Darcy Ribeiro. As of 2010, it had 1,757 professors and 2,391 employees as well as over 30,000 graduate and undergraduate students. Each semester, the University of Brasília accepts nearly 2,000 incoming students for its 61 undergraduate programs. On the graduate level, the university offers 49 master's degrees and 27 doctoral programs.

Academics

It has 22 institutes; 50 departments; 16 scientific, technological, cultural, artistic and general service centers; student and staff residences; a University Hospital; a Sports Center; a Seismological Observatory; several physical experiment facilities, including plasma, liquid crystals, complex fluids and optical spectroscopy; an Animal Research Laboratory; a library with a huge archive; a restaurant for students; a farm for ecological, agricultural and forestry research; and an Ecological Station. University of Brasília is about to build its own technological park.

The University was one of the first in Brazil to offer the Continuous Evaluation Program (in Portuguese: Programa de Avaliação Seriada, PAS), an alternative way for high school students to get into college without having to pass by the two phases of vestibular. The University of Brasilia entrance exam (vestibular) is regarded as one of the most competitive and difficult in the country.

Each semester, the University of Brasilia accepts nearly 2,000 incoming students from a pool of approximately 25,000 candidates for its 61 daytime or evening undergraduate programs. On the graduate level, the university offers 56 masters programs and 31 doctorate programs. It also offers various advanced non-degree programs, many of them conducted in other Brazilian States, such as Bahia, Amazonas, Rondônia, Goiás and Rio Grande do Norte. The Technological and Scientific Development National Council (CNPq) and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) support most of these courses, offering scholarships and research grants. Distance education is another expanding activity in UnB, being managed by the Center for Open, Continuous and Long Distance Education (CEAD) and the School of Education. The United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) sponsors the Long Distance Education chair at UnB.^[2]

Ranking

The University of Brasilia has been consistently ranked as one of the top 5 public universities in Brazil by Guia do Estudante ("Student Guide"), an annual publication of Editora Abril. It currently ranks at #3 in the list of the best universities in the country.^[3] Several of its graduate programs have been graded 6 and 7 (in a scale from 1 to 7) in the annual assessment conducted by the government agency CAPES, including its programs in Anthropology, Mathematics, Geology, Economics, among others.

Campus

UnB is located in the heart of Brasilia, on the banks of Paranoá Lake, marked by an unmistakable modernist architecture.

UnB’s Central Library has the largest archive in midwestern Brazil and caters to the needs of the federal district and of researchers from across the nation. UnB maintains a modern university restaurant, as well as the Fazenda Água Limpa, a farm in the outskirts of Brasilia where ecological, agricultural and forestry research is conducted.

Community involvement

The university runs 115 community outreach projects, offering a total of 438 courses and events. Involving the direct participation of 240 professors and 65,132 students, these activities reach nearly 185,000 people in the federal district and the surrounding region.

The outreach activities include the Future with Art, Culture and Sport (FACE) program; the Community Initiatives Advisory Program (PRATICOM); the Program for Worker and Trade Union Leadership Training (PROSINT); the Rural Development Program and the Model Office for Legal Assistance. University members also offer consulting and assistance to the Community Health Training Program (PACs).

The Dean of Outreach Programs has recently formalized its Outreach School, which will expand the number of courses offered, further opening the doors of university to the community.

Research

More than 260 formally constituted research-groups work in more than 400 different laboratories, investigating close to 890 different areas. This research is supported by such programs as the Technological and Scientific Initiation Program (PIBIC) and the Special Training Program (PET), which also offers scholarships to gifted undergraduates. Among other agencies, programs are funded by the CNPq, the CAPES, the Research and Projects Funding Program (FINEP), the Technological and Scientific Development Support Program (PADCT) and the Federal District Research Support Foundation (FAPDF).

Rectory of the UnB

Other key players in the research area are the International Center for Condensed Matter Physics (CIFMC), the Brazilian Center for Protein Sequencing (CBSP), the Center for Maintenance of Equipment (CME) and the university Herbarium. The Technological Development Center (CDT) works to integrate the University to the business world, maintaining a small business start-up program and other types of consulting assistance to the entrepreneurial upstarts.

Continuous Evaluation Program

The Continuation Evaluation Program (Programa de Avaliação Seriada in Portuguese) gives students who want to study in the university the opportunity to be evaluated on a yearly basis during their three years of high school. This not only allows the university to know its prospective students better, but also stimulates them to study more intensely and continuously from their first day in high school. The university prefers this system to the old system of single entrance examinations.

International students

The university accepts international students through:

• Exchange programs: These are for international students from academic institutions and organizations that have an agreement or an accord signed with the university. The programme lasts from six months to one year.
• Undergraduate Students’ Program: This program (PEC-G - Programa de Estudante Convênio de Graduação) is for the students from university institutions of developing countries that have developed activities in cooperation with the Brazilian government. Students from Latin America, Africa and Asia are the biggest partners of the UnB in this project. The PEC-G searches the formation of human resources in developing countries and also wants to extend the effectiveness for the origin countries.
• Post-Graduate Program: This program (PEC-PG - Programa de Estudante Convênio de Pós-Graduação) is through the Brazilian embassies abroad. The main objective is to promote the qualification of senior staff of the developing countries, by offering masters and doctorate degrees.
• Courtesy of the Federal Constitution: This is foreseen by the Brazilian Federal Constitution and the foreign affairs treats to the diplomats that are working in Brasilia, the capital of the country, and to its legal dependents.

Notable alumni and faculty

Throughout its brief history, the University of Brasília has been frequented by notable students and professors. Some of its prominent alumni and faculty (former and current) are noted below.

Alumni

• Ana Paula Padrão, journalist, former anchor of Jornal da Globo, now at SBT.
• Gilmar Mendes, Justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court, former President of the Supreme Court.
• Joaquim Benedito Barbosa Gomes, Justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court.
• I'talo Fioravanti Sabo Mendes, judge of the Regional Federal Court of the 1st Region.
• Alexandre Tombini, President of Brazilian Central Bank.

Faculty

• Oscar Niemeyer, architect, Pritzker Prize 1988, founder.
• Athos Bulcão, artist, founder.
• Cyro dos Anjos, writer.
• Roberto Saturnino Braga, engineer and politician.
• Cristovam Buarque, mechanical engineer and politician, former governor of the Brazilian Federal District, senator, former Rector, as professor of the economics department.
• Claudio de Moura Castro, economist, educator, and columnist.
• Nelson Pereira dos Santos, film director.
• Teotonio Vilela Filho, politician, economist, current governor of Alagoas.
• Otto Richard Gottlieb, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry nominee.
• Darcy Ribeiro, anthropologist, founder.
• Roberto Aureliano Salmeron, nuclear physicist.
• Cláudio Santoro, composer and violinist.
• Anísio Teixeira, educator, founder.
• Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade, jurist, "full professor" at UnB, elected judge of the International Court of Justice (term begins in 2009), professor of International Relations.
• Francisco Rezek, former Justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court, former judge of the International Court of Justice (1996–2006), professor of Law.
• Gilmar Mendes, Justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court, former President of the Supreme Court, professor of Law.
• I'talo Fioravanti Sabo Mendes, judge of the Regional Federal Court of the 1st Region, professor of Law.

References

1. ^ Faculdades reconhecidas pelo MEC
2. ^ Portal Universidade de Brasília :: Portal UnB
3. ^ Guia do Estudante - GE - Melhores Universidades (in Portuguese)

See also

• Brazil University Rankings
• Universities and Higher Education in Brazil

External links

• UnB's website (English)
• UnB's website (Portuguese)
• UnB's website (Spanish)
• Website about the UnB vestibular (Portuguese)