Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro facts for kids

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Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro

Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro
Coat of arms of the university
Motto	Alis Grave Nil (Latin)
Motto in English	With wings, nothing is heavy
Type	Private Roman Catholic Research Non-profit Coeducational Higher Education Institution
Established	30 October 1940; 84 years ago (30 October 1940)
Religious affiliation	Roman Catholic (Jesuit)
Chancellor	Orani João Cardinal Tempesta, OCist.
President	Fr. Anderson Antonio Pedroso, S.J.
Vice rector	Fr. André Luís de Araújo, S.J.
Academic staff	800
Students	21,240 (In year 2022)
Undergraduates	8,700 (In year 2022)
Postgraduates	2,566
Location	Rua Marquês de São Vicente, 225, Gávea - Rio de Janeiro , RJ , Brazil 22°58′45.48″S 43°13′56.82″W
Campus	Urban
Colors	Yellow and Blue
Website	www.puc-rio.br

The Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (often called PUC-Rio) is a well-known university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a Catholic university run by the Jesuits, a religious order. The university works closely with the Catholic Church in Rio de Janeiro.

A Look at PUC-Rio's History

PUC-Rio was started in 1941 by the Society of Jesus. They wanted to create a place where students could learn many subjects while also focusing on human values. Today, PUC-Rio has thousands of students. This includes about 12,000 students studying for their first degree and 2,500 students working on advanced degrees.

How PUC-Rio Ranks

PUC-Rio is known for being one of the top universities in Brazil. In 2009, it was ranked first among over 2,000 higher education schools in a big national test. This test is run by the Brazilian Ministry of Education.

More recently, in 2023, PUC-Rio was highly rated by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

• For Computer Science, it was the best in Brazil. It also led the country in how well it works with companies.
• In Physical Sciences, it was a national leader in working with companies and having international students. It ranked third overall in Brazil for this area.
• For Social Sciences, PUC-Rio was the top Brazilian university for international students.

In 2024, PUC-Rio was named the best private university in Brazil. It was also ranked as the 5th best university overall (including both public and private schools) by the QS World University Rankings.

What You Can Study

PUC-Rio has excellent programs in many fields. These include law, engineering, computer science, psychology, economics, business, and international relations. The university also welcomes students from many different backgrounds. It has student exchange programs with famous universities like Harvard, Notre Dame, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Brown University. Hundreds of students take part in these programs every year.

Where PUC-Rio Is Located

PUC-Rio is in a part of Rio called Gávea, which is in the south of the city. It sits right next to the Tijuca National Forest. The university campus used to be a coffee farm a long time ago. A small creek with three bridges runs through the campus, making it a pretty place.

The university is easy to get to by city bus. It's also close to popular neighborhoods like Leblon, Ipanema, Jardim Botânico, and Lagoa. You can even walk to the Botanical Gardens and Leblon beach from the university.

Exploring the Campus

Main building

The church of the Sacred-Heart of the PUC

The campus buildings were built in the early 1940s with help from donations. In the 1960s, the USA helped by donating money for a building now named after President John Kennedy.

Besides the main library, there are three special libraries. The Solar Grandjean de Montigny, which is PUC-Rio's Cultural Center, shows art all year. The ground floor of the Kennedy building, called Pilotis, hosts many events. These include talks, shows, and fairs. Every June, there's a fun "Festa Junina" with traditional Brazilian food, costumes, and dances.

There's also a special area called "Vila dos Diretórios" (Academic Directories Village). This small, cobblestone alley used to have houses for factory workers. Now, each house belongs to a student group. These groups use the houses for studying, heating up meals, and hanging out. Parties are often held here on Thursdays.

On campus, you can find three restaurants, five coffee shops, a bookstore, and an office supply store. There are also copy centers, banks, a newsstand, and ATMs. The area around the university has even more shops, banks, the Rio Planetarium, and a mall. Most students use the city bus system to get to campus. A metro station was being built near the university for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, but the work stopped and is not finished yet.

University Centers

PUC-Rio is divided into four main centers. Each center has many departments and groups that focus on teaching, research, and community work in their specific areas.

• Center for Social Sciences (CCS): This center has nine departments. They cover subjects like administration, social science, communication, law, economics, geography, history, social service, and international relations.
• Science and Technology Center (CTC): The CTC offers ten different engineering programs. It also has two computer science programs, including Artificial Intelligence. You can also study Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry here. The Lua programming language was created at the Tecgraf Institute, which is part of the CTC.
• Center of Theology and Human Sciences (CTCH): This center has seven departments and many courses. These include architecture, arts and design, education, philosophy, literature, psychology, and theology.
• Center for Biological and Health Sciences (CCBS): This center includes departments like Biology and Nutrition. While PUC-Rio does not yet have an undergraduate Medicine program, it offers advanced medical courses. There are plans to offer an undergraduate Medicine course in the future.

How to Get In

To get into PUC-Rio for an undergraduate degree, students usually take two exams. These are the ENEM exam and PUC-Rio's own entrance test. The scores from these tests help decide who gets academic scholarships. In 2022, PUC-Rio accepted about 12% of students who applied, which means it's a very selective school.

Amazing Research at PUC-Rio

PUC-Rio is a place where important research happens. For example, the Lua programming language was created here. It was developed by Roberto Ierusalimschy, Luiz Henrique de Figueiredo, and Waldemar Celes, who were part of the Computer Graphics Technology Group at PUC-Rio, starting in 1993.

The Tecgraf Institute for Technical and Scientific Software Development was founded in 1987. It started as a lab in PUC-Rio's Department of Information Technology. This was a partnership between PUC-Rio and Petrobras, a big Brazilian oil company. Their goal was to create computer graphics projects.

Over time, Tecgraf grew and now works on projects for all parts of Petrobras. This includes areas like seismic studies, oil reservoirs, automation, environment, and logistics. In 2013, Tecgraf became its own institute within PUC-Rio.

Today, the institute has over 400 people working there, including students and professors. Many of the new technologies and methods they use come from student theses and other academic work at PUC-Rio.

Tecgraf/PUC-Rio currently develops about 40 computer systems and many core technologies. Their main areas of work are:

• Digital Interactivity (how people interact with computers)
• Modeling and Simulation (creating computer models of real things)
• Data Analytics (studying large amounts of data)

Tecgraf often works with different departments at PUC-Rio, especially the Computer Science Department. This helps professors and students with their academic projects. The institute also welcomes master's and doctoral students, giving them work that matches their research. Besides Petrobras, Tecgraf also partners with the Brazilian Navy and the Federal University of Maranhão.

Famous People Who Studied at PUC-Rio

Notable Faculty Members

Here are some of the well-known professors who have taught at PUC-Rio:

See also

• Brazil University Rankings
• List of Jesuit sites
• Universities and Higher Education in Brazil