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Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ),[a] alternatively known as University of Brazil,[b] is a public research university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the country and is one of the Brazilian centers of excellence in teaching and research.[6]

"University of Rio de Janeiro" redirects here. For other uses, see University of Rio de Janeiro (disambiguation).

Other names

UFRJ

A Universidade do Brasil

"The University of Brazil"

December 16, 1792
(231 years) (Royal Academy)
September 7, 1920
(103 years) (University)[1]

R$3.8 billion (2020)[2]

Roberto de Andrade Medronho[3]

4,218 (2021)[4]

9,153 (2021)[4]

69,200 (2021)[4]

53,500 (2021)[4]

15,700 (2021)[4]

University town
2,338 acres (946 ha)
(Main campus)

Yellow and White
   

Brazil's first official higher education institution,[7] it has operated continuously since 1792, when the "Real Academia de Artilharia, Fortificação e Desenho" (Royal Academy of Artillery, Fortification and Design, precursor to the university's current Polytechnic School) was founded,[8] and served as basis for the country's college system since its officialization in 1920.[9] Besides its 157 undergraduate and 580 postgraduate courses, the UFRJ is responsible for seven museums, most notably the National Museum of Brazil, nine hospitals, hundreds of laboratories and research facilities and forty-three libraries. Its history and identity are closely tied to the Brazilian ambitions of forging a modern, competitive and just society.[10]


The university is located mainly in Rio de Janeiro, with satellites spreading to ten other cities. Its main campuses are the historical campus of "Praia Vermelha" (Red Beach) and the newer "Cidade Universitária" (University Town), which houses the "Parque Tecnológico do Rio" (Technology Park of Rio) - a science, technology and innovation development cluster. There are also several off-campus units scattered in Rio de Janeiro: the School of Music, the College of Law Studies, the Institute of Philosophy and Social Sciences and the Institute of History, in downtown Rio; the National Museum and the Valongo Observatory (not to be confused with the National Observatory); and the high-school unit "Colégio de Aplicação" (Application College) in Lagoa. To the city of Macaé, located in the State's northern region, was dedicated a research and learning center focused on environmental issues and oil-related matters, and the city of Duque de Caxias, in partnership with the National Institute of Metrics, Normalization and Industrial Quality (Inmetro), saw the implementation of "Pólo Avançado de Xerém" (Advanced Center of Xerém), aimed at boosting research in the fields of biotechnology and nanotechnology.


UFRJ is one of the main actors in the formation of the Brazilian intellectual elite, contributing significantly to build not only the history of Rio de Janeiro but also of Brazil. Some of its former students include renowned economists Carlos Lessa and Mário Henrique Simonsen; Minister Marco Aurélio Mello; the architect Oscar Niemeyer; the philosopher and politician Roberto Mangabeira Unger; the educator Anísio Teixeira; the engineer Benjamin Constant; writers Clarice Lispector, Jorge Amado and Vinicius de Moraes; politicians Francisco Pereira Passos, Oswaldo Aranha and Pedro Calmon, besides the great physicians Carlos Chagas, Oswaldo Cruz and Vital Brazil.

(CCS): the university's largest, involved in activities and research related to biosciences. As a whole, it gathers ten units and fourteen supplementary organs: three hospitals, three "nuclei" (headquarters), two schools, three colleges and thirteen institutes. Activities are developed mostly at CCS's main building at College City, but there are also units at Praia Vermelha, in downtown Rio, in Macaé and in Xerém.[52]

Center of Health Sciences

(CT): the university's second largest center, it manages two sprawling engineering schools and two high-tech research institutes, all located at College City. The CT also controls two business incubators and one foundation focused at technological studies. These units were all previous to the center's foundation, each with a unique history, and their performance is crucial to the national technological environment, given that together they form one of the country's most influential tech-poles.[53]

Center of Technology

(CCMN): originated from the traditional and influential National School of Philosophy, it is made of five institutes and one observatory. Its main infrastructure is located at College City. The Institute of Chemistry and the Institute of Physics are located at Center of Technology's Block A and the Institute of Mathematics, at its Block C, but both are units of CCMN. The Valongo Observatory is placed near the Mauá Park, at the top of Morro da Conceição, and it is the country's only federal institution to offer undergraduate course in Astronomy.[54]

Center of Mathematical and Natural Sciences

(CCJE): responsible for activities concerning applied social sciences: administration, economics, law, library science and urban planning. It gathers three units (schools) and two supplementary organs (institutes) scattered throughout College CIty, Praia Vermelha and downtown Rio.[55]

Center of Law and Economic Sciences

(CFHC): encompasses interdisciplinary academic activities regarding social sciences, especially those with theoretical focus on society formation. The CFCH is made of six units (two schools, one college and three institutes) and two supplementary organs (one headquarter and the Application College, which supports professor-training courses). The CFHC is locates mainly at the campus of Praia Vermelha, though some minor buildings are found in the regions of Largo do São Francisco and Lagoa.[56]

Center of Philosophy and Human Sciences

(CLA): similar to the other centers, it was founded in 1967. It currently comprises four traditional units of UFRJ: two schools and two colleges focused on the arts, language and architecture. Its main buildings are placed at College City, except for the School of Music, which is located at downtown Rio.[57]

Center of Literature and Arts

(COPPEAD): The UFRJ School of the Business founded in 1973, located in its own building on the campus of UFRJ Fundão Island is the only business school associated with a Brazilian public university that has international certification, whose is the only of Latin America listed among the 100 best in the world by the prestigious Financial Times ranking.

COPPEAD Graduate School of Business

Students[edit]

Admissions[edit]

Similarly to most Brazilian public universities, admissions to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro are defined by highly competitive entrance exams held every year (commonly known in Brazil as "vestibular"). Anyone who was already graduated from high school is eligible to the undergraduate courses. Admission is also possible by transfer (known as "external transfer"), exemption from exams ("reentrance") or by international partnerships.[112]

(CENPES): founded in 1962 and managed by Petrobras, it is responsible for research and development (R&D) and for the company's basic engineering matters; it is the largest oil research pole in the southern hemisphere.[195]

Leopoldo Américo Miguez de Mello Research Center

(CEPEL): founded in 1974, it is part of group Eletrobrás and manages R&D related to the generation, transmission and distribution of electric energy. It is also the hemisphere's largest research center in the field.[196]

Electric Energy Research Center

(CETEM): founded in 1978 and under direct command by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), it acts on the technological development concerning to minerals.[197]

Mineral Technology Center

(GE): under construction, with inauguration planned to 2014. Until then, General Electric operates in the facilities of the Center of Excellence in Communication and Information Technology (CETIC).[198][199]

General Electric Global Technological Center

(COPPE): UFRJ's supplementary organ, it is Latin America's largest research and learning center of engineering.[200] Also notable for owning the world's largest (volume terms) and deepest oceanic tank, which is used to simulate sea-life conditions.[201][202]

Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute of Post-Graduation and Research in Engineering

The Parque Tecnológico do Rio (Technological Park of Rio) is also located in College City. It is a technopole geared towards research in energy, oil, and gas.[193] In partnership with Petrobras, UFRJ intends to convert an area of 350 000 m2 into the world's largest oil-related technological research center, given that exploration and oil extraction from the recently discovered pre-salt layer fields is in urgent need of new, more affordable techniques. Intense private and state investments in the region, plus the high expectations it has generated, led it to be considered a Brazilian "Silicon Valley".[194] The park gathers, among its main facilities:


Additionally, there is the Center of Excellence in Natural Gas (CEGN),[203] the Institute of Nuclear Engineering (IEN),[204] the Nucleus of Ecosystem Recovery Technologies (NUTRE)[205] and a virtual reality center linked to the Laboratory of Computational Engineering Methods (LAMCE).[206] Among the corporations with research units established in the Technological Park or in other spots of College City are: L'Oréal,[207] Siemens AG,[208] Usiminas,[209] Schlumberger,[210] Baker Hughes,[211] FMC Technologies,[212] Repsol YPF,[213] Halliburton[214] and Tenaris Confab.[215] Public biddings for the construction of new research centers and commercial tower, all capable of supporting one hundred new more enterprises, are currently under request.[216] The Park project has also attracted over 200 small or medium-sized companies to its centers, resulting in higher stakes for its innovational potential.[217]

Law School

(National Museum)

Museu Nacional

(House of Science)

Casa da Ciência

(Laboratory School)

CAp UFRJ

Brazil University Rankings

Education in Brazil

List of federal universities of Brazil

Universities and Higher Education in Brazil

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Official website

(in Portuguese)

UFRJ Official website