University of São Paulo

The University of São Paulo (in Portuguese Universidade de São Paulo; USP) is one of the three public universities funded by the State of São Paulo. The Brazilian publication Guia do Estudante currently ranks USP as the best university of the country.^[1]

USP is one of the largest institutions of higher education in Brazil and Latin America, with approximately 75,000 enrolled students. It comprises nine campuses, four of them in the City of São Paulo[1] (the main campus is called Campus Armando de Salles Oliveira, with an area of 7,443,770 m²). There are campuses in the cities of Bauru, Lorena, Piracicaba, Pirassununga, Ribeirão Preto and two in São Carlos. USP is involved in teaching, research and university extension in all areas of knowledge and has been recognized as the best academic university in Latin America according to the 2007 Academic Ranking of World Universities and the 2007 The Times Higher Education Supplement.

USP is considered as Brazil's top academic and research institute. In its 2007 edition, The Times Higher Education Supplement considered USP the 175th best university institution in the world.^[2] According to the 2007 Academic Ranking of World Universities, published by the Shanghai Jiaotong University, USP is placed in the group of the 102-150nd top world universities. The EGI (European Graduate Institute) reported that USP is the 58th best university in the world, according to the 2006 edition. USP is considered the 45th most productive university on the globe. [2]

USP is the 33rd most popular university in the world, among 7600 colleges in 200 countries [3].

According to the results of the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities (Top 200), USP is the best university of the set of countries named BRIC (est. population: 2.7 billion - 07/2006).

History

During the "search for alternatives" period in the 1930s, political centralization and the first attempt to provide Brazil with modern administrative, military and educational institutions took place. The main initiatives included the University of São Paulo, which was created in 1934. Its nucleus was the creation of the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters, with professors coming from France, Italy, Germany and other European countries. USP also brought together several research and higher-education institutions in the state created before, such as the Faculty of Medicine (Faculdade de Medicina), the Polytechnic School (Escola Politécnica), and the Faculty of Law (Faculdade de Direito). The Polytechnic School includes civil, electrical, mechanical, mining, metallurgical, naval and oceanic, and chemical engineering departments.

Admissions

Students are admitted by an entrance exam, known as the vestibular (FUVEST), consisting of two steps:

• Part I is composed of 90 multiple-choice questions (Portuguese, English, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Geography, History and Biology).

• Part II is composed of up to 40 write-in, short-answer questions related to each candidate's intended major. Engineering candidates, for example, take Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry exams, whereas Law-School applicants are required to take History and Geography tests. All candidates however, irrespective of their intended course, must take the Portuguese Language and Literature exam, which includes a compulsory written essay.

Moreover, candidates who attended a public school for their entire course of high-school studies get a 3% bonus on their Part I and Part II scores, in order to compensate for the generally low quality of Brazilian public basic education.

USP's entrance exam is prepared and administered by FUVEST (University Foundation for Vestibular), subject to regulations approved by the university's Undergraduate Studies Council. In 2006, 142,656 students signed up for Fuvest's vestibular to apply for admission to the University of São Paulo. There were 10,202 openings. One of the most competitive courses was Journalism, with about 45 applicants per opening. In order to pass to Part II, the most difficult course (Medicine) required a grade of 83%. USP is a free university, and students do not have to pay tuition fees.

A renowned Brazilian publication has selected USP the best university in Brazil in 2006.^[3]

Academic career

• Teaching Assistant (Auxiliar de Ensino) - MS-2 (must have a Master's degree and be enrolled in a doctoral program)
• Professor Doutor - MS-3 (must have a doctoral or equivalent degree)
• Professor Associado - MS-5 (must have a Livre Docente title; equivalent to the German Habilitation)
• Professor Titular - MS-6 (top rank, only MS-6 professors are allowed to hold positions such as Dean of a Faculty/School or Rector of the University)

Notable Alumni

Presidents of Brazil

• Prudente de Morais (1894–1898)
• Campos Sales (1898–1902)
• Rodrigues Alves (1902–1906)
• Afonso Pena (1906–1909)
• Nilo Peçanha (1909–1910)
• Venceslau Brás (1914–1918)
• Delfim Moreira (1918–1919)
• Washington Luís (1926–1930)
• Nereu Ramos (1955–1956)
• Jânio Quadros (1961)
• Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995–2003)

São Paulo state governors

• José Alves de Cerqueira César (1889–1892)
• Américo Brasiliense de Almeida Melo (1891)
• Bernardino José de Campos Júnior (1896–1902)
• Campos Sales (1896–1897)
• Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves (1912–1916)
• Altino Arantes Marques (1916–1920)
• Washington Luís (1920–1924)
• Carlos de Campos (1924–1927)
• Júlio Prestes (1927–1930)
• Armando de Sales Oliveira (1935–1936)
• José Joaquim Cardoso de Melo Neto (1937–1938)
• Lucas Nogueira Garcez (1951–1955)
• Jânio Quadros (1955–1959)
• Carvalho Pinto (1959–1963)
• Abreu Sodré (1967–1971)
• Paulo Maluf (1979–1982)
• André Franco Montoro (1983–1987)
• Mário Covas (1995–2001)
• Cláudio Lembo (2005)
• José Serra (2006–present)

Politicians

• Gilberto Kassab - the current mayor of São Paulo (engineering and economics degree)
• Guido Mantega - the current Brazil's Finance minister (economics degree)
• Fernando Haddad - the current Brazil's minister of Education (law degree)
• Aloizio Mercadante - current Brazilian senator (economics degree)
• Antonio Palocci - former Brazil's Finance minister (M.D. degree)

Writers

• Alcides Nogueira
• Alphonsus de Guimarães
• Antônio Cândido de Mello e Souza
• Augusto de Campos
• Álvares de Azevedo
• Antônio de Alcântara Machado
• Bernardo Guimarães
• Castro Alves
• Décio Pignatari
• Fagundes Varella
• Haroldo de Campos
• Hilda Hilst
• Ismail Xavier
• José de Alencar
• Lygia Fagundes Telles
• Manuel Bandeira
• Monteiro Lobato
• Olavo Bilac
• Oswald de Andrade
• Paulo Emílio Salles Gomes
• Raduan Nassar
• Raul Pompéia

Scientists and physicians

• Mário Schenberg - physicist
• César Lattes - physicist, co-discoverer of the pi meson
• Oscar Sala - Italian nuclear physicist
• Ennio Candotti - physicist and scientific leader
• José Leite Lopes - theoretical physicist
• Jayme Tiomno - experimental and theoretical nuclear physicist
• Roberto Salmeron - electrical engineer and experimental nuclear physicist
• José Goldemberg - scientific leader and research scientist
• José E. Moreira - system software architect for Blue Gene/L, the fastest supercomputer in the world
• Adib Domingos Jatene - physician
• Drauzio Varella - physician, educator and medical science popularizer
• Euryclides de Jesus Zerbini - physician, he did the first heart transplantation in Latin America
• Miguel Nicolelis - physician and neurobiological researcher
• Mayana Zatz - molecular biologist and geneticist
• Warwick Estevam Kerr - geneticist, researcher on the biology and genetics of bees
• Sérgio Henrique Ferreira - physician and pharmacologist, discovered the active principle of a new drug against hypertension

Others

• Nelson Pereira dos Santos - filmmaker (law degree)
• Amyr Klink - sailor and explorer (economics degree)
• Fernando Meirelles - film director, he did City of God [4] and The Constant Gardener [5] (architecture degree)
• Henrique Meirelles - the current president of the Central Bank of Brazil (engineering degree)
• Sebastião Salgado - photographer and photojournalist (economics degree)
• Paulo Autran - actor (law degree)
• José Celso Martinez Corrêa - playwriter (law degree)
• João Batista Vilanova Artigas - architect (architecture degree)

Trivia

• The Polytechnic School has a program known as "double diploma", where the graduation course is legally valid in both Brazil and the European Union.

• This college is the only institution outside the European Union to integrate the TIME (Top Industrial Managers Europe) association.

• For six months, USP had a supercomputer indicated on the TOP500 list on rank 363. It was the only Brazilian university who appeared in that list.

• In the Higher Education Evaluation & A. Council, USP obtained the 94th place [6] .

• USP was classified in the 34th place, in the Professional Ranking of World Universities [7] .

• USP was ranked 26th in the ACM 2007, among approximately 1,750 universities [8] .

Global Engineering Study

The "Global Engineering Excellence" will study the importance of technology in the competitiveness of nations. The selected universities are:

• Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany
• Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Switzerland
• Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
• Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
• Tsinghua University, China
• Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
• University of Tokyo, Japan

Schools, Faculties and Institutes

• Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades

School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities

Courses: Fashion and Textile Arts, Tourism and Leisure, Environmental Management, Gerontology, Information Systems, Marketing, Obstetrics, Physical Education, Public Administration, Science Education

• Escola de Comunicações e Artes

School of Communications and Arts

Courses: "Audiovisual" Arts (Film, Animation and TV), Theatre (Acting, Directing, Dramaturgy and Scenography), Communications (Journalism, Editing and Publishing, Advertising and Publicity, Public Relations), Library Science, Music (Conducting, Composing, specific musical instrument, Singing), Plastic Arts (Printmaking, Painting, Multimedia and Sculpture), Tourism

• Escola de Educação Física e Esporte

School of Physical Education and Sports

Courses: Physical Education and Sports Science

• Escola de Enfermagem

School of Nursing

Course: Nursing

• Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto

Ribeirão Preto School of Nursing

Course: Nursing

• Escola de Engenharia de Lorena

Lorena School of Engineering

Courses: Biochemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Chemical Industrial Engineering, Materials Engineering

• Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos

São Carlos School of Engineering

Courses: Architecture and Urban Planning, Aeronautical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Production Engineering, Electrical Engineering (Electronic Engineering or Energy and Automation Systems), Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics

• Escola Politécnica

Polytechnical School

Courses: Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Materials Engineering, Mining Engineering, Production Engineering, Electrical Engineering (Control and Automation, Computer Engineering, Energy and Automation, Electronic Systems, Telecommunications), Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Metallurgical Engineering, Naval Engineering, Chemical Engineering (Materials), Petroleum Engineering

• Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz

Luiz de Queiroz School of Agriculture

Courses: Agricultural Engineering, Biology, Food Science, Economics, Forestry, Environmental Management, Agricultural Education, Biology Education

• Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo

Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism

Courses: Architecture and Urban Planning, Design

• Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas

Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Course: Pharmacy and Biochemistry

• Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto

Ribeirão Preto Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Course: Pharmacy and Biochemistry

• Faculdade de Direito

Faculty of Law

Course: Law

• Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade

Faculty of Economy, Management and Accounting

Courses: (Business Administration), Economics, Accounting, Actuarial Science

• Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade de Ribeirão Preto

Faculty of Economy, Management and Accounting of Ribeirão Preto)

Courses: Management (Business Administration), Economics, Accounting

• Faculdade de Educação

Faculty of Education

Course: Pedagogy

• Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas

Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences

Courses: Geography, History, Languages and Literatures (German, Arab, Armenian, Chinese, Spanish, French, Greek, Hebrew, English, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese, Russian), Linguistics, Philosophy, Social Sciences (Anthropology, Political Science, Sociology)

• Faculdade de Medicina

Faculty of Medicine

Courses: Medicine, Speech and Language Therapy, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy

• Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto

Ribeirão Preto Faculty of Medicine

Courses: Biosciences (medicine emphasis), Medicine, Bioinformatics, Physiotherapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy

• Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science

Course: Veterinary Medicine

• Faculdade de Odontologia

Faculty of Odontology

Course: Dentistry

• Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru

Bauru Faculty of Odontology

Courses: Dentistry, Speech and Language Therapy

• Faculdade de Odontologia de Ribeirão Preto

Ribeirão Preto Faculty of Odontology

Course: Dentistry

• Faculdade de Saúde Pública

Faculty of Public Health

Courses: Nutrition, Public Health (graduate studies)

• Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos

Faculty of Animal Science and Food Engineering

Courses: Animal Science, Food Engineering

• Instituto Oceanográfico

Institute of Oceonography

Course: Oceanography

• Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas

Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences

Courses: Astronomy, Geophysics, Meteorology,

• Instituto de Biociências

Institute of Biosciencies

Course: Biology

• Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas

Institute of Biomedical Sciences

Course: Health Sciences

• Instituto de Ciências Matemáticas e de Computação de São Carlos

Institute of Mathematics Sciences and Computer Science of São Carlos

Courses: Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Scientific Computing, Computer Science and Informatics

• Instituto de Física

Institute of Physics

Course: Physics

• Instituto de Física de São Carlos

Institute of Physics of São Carlos

Courses: Physics, Computational physics, Biomolecular sciences, Exact Sciences (Teaching)

• Instituto de Geociências

Institute of Geosciences

Course: Geology, Environment and Geosciences (Teaching)

• Instituto de Matemática e Estatística

Institute of Mathematics and Statistics

Courses: Applied Mathematics and Computer Mathematics, Mathematics (Bachelor and Teaching), Statistics and Computer Science

• Instituto de Psicologia

Institute os Psychology

Course: Psychology

• Instituto de Química

Institute of Chemistry

Courses: Chemistry

• Instituto de Química de São Carlos

Institute of Chemistry of São Carlos

Courses: Exact Sciences (Teaching), Chemistry

• Instituto de Relações Internacionais

Institute of Foreign Affairs

Course: International Relations

Museums and art galleries

The University of São Paulo has endowed a rich set of museums and important art galleries, most of them located in the central campus in São Paulo, such as:

• Museu de Arte Contemporânea de São Paulo (Museum of Contemporary Art)
• Museu Paulista (Historical Museum of São Paulo)
• Museu de História Natural de São Paulo (Museum of Natural History)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

University of São Paulo

• University of São Paulo
• University of São Paulo social networking site (in Portuguese)

See also

• State University of Campinas - UNICAMP - WWW page
• Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP - WWW Pageals:Universidade de São Paulo

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