| A
Project in Perspective Unicamp was founded on
October 5, 1966. Even within the reality of the
Brazilian university setting, where the oldest
university has been operating for less than 70
years, Unicamp may be considered a young
instituition. Nevertheless, it has already earned
a strong reputation for education and
technological research.
The original
project for the founding of Unicamp was developed
in the 1960's in response to a growing demand for
qualified personnel in the region. At that time,
the state of São Paulo accounted for 40% of the
industrial production of the country, as well as
24% of the working population.The existing system
of higher education was devoted to the training
of professionals necessary for the process of
urbanization, such as lawyers, doctors and civil
engineers.But there was a definite need for a
university with a special emphasis on
technological research which could, from the
beginning, maintain close ties with the produtive
sector.
|
ABOVE:
Gateway to the university campus in Campinas,
site of 20 research and teaching units which
conduct some 6,200 research projects |
 |
LEFT:
Students circulate
in the central commons of the Campinas campus.
Approximately 18,000 undergraduate and graduate
students are enrolled at the university |
BELOW:
Fallen blossoms
provide a
veritable carpet beneath the
flowering trees on campus |
ABOVE:
Downtown Campinas, a city of a
million inhabitants wich is an important
industrial and cultural center, as well as
home to two major universitie. |
 |
| Unicamp in
Numbers |
| Year
of foundation |
1966 |
| Teaching
and research units |
20 |
| Total
area |
2.946.399 m2 |
| Area
of construction |
450.664m2 |
| Total
students (undergraduate, graduate and special) |
38.252 |
| Faculty
members |
1.893 |
| Undergraduate
courses |
46 |
| Graduate
programs |
223 |
 |
LEFT:
One of the avenues
skirting the campus, lined by elegant flowering
poincianas, which bloom in the spring from
September to November |
| It
was not by chance that the initial plan for
Unicamp favored the consolidation of institutes
for the teaching of basic sciences (Physics,
Chemistry, Mathematics), stimulating projects for
the development of technological resources, such
as lasers, optical communications, and computers,
but the project also paved the way for modern
engineering careers - electrical, mechanical,
chemical, civil, food and agricultural. Once the
biomedical area was firmly established, offering
degrees in Medicine, Biology, and Dentistry, the
university organized courses in the area of
physical education.The 1970's brought the
development of the humanities (Philosophy, Social
Sciences, Economics, Linguistics, and
Literature). and the 1980's the flourishing of a
series of courses in the arts (Theater, Dance,
Art, Multimedia, and Music). The 1990's have
witnessed the arrival of courses in hi-tech
areas, especially biotechnology, fine chemistry,
and computer sciences. |
 |
LEFT:
More than a hundred
species of birds visit the
campus during the year. This
greater ani belongs to
the family Crotophaga. |
ABOVE:
High school students
visit the university
campus during the annual university open house |
| This gradual
installation of the areas of concentration in a
period spanning two decades does not detract from
the original coherent design. One of the major
considerations in the establishment of Unicamp
was to break away from the tradition of a
university created by the simple juxtaposition of
courses. Suffice it to say that, even before the
groundbreaking ceremonies, Unicamp had already
attracted over 200 foreign professors from
various areas of specialization to its ranks, as
well as nearly 180 from the best of the Brazilian
universities of the time. |
ABOVE:
Student finds peace and
quiet to study in the central
commons of the campus
|
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