Federal University of Paraná facts for kids

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Federal University of Paraná
Universidade Federal do Paraná

Other names	UFPR
Former names	Universidade do Paraná
Motto	Scientia et Labor
Motto in English	Science and Work
Type	Public (federal)
Established	1912
Budget	R$ 1,038,070,033.68 (2013)
Rector	Ricardo Marcelo Fonseca
Academic staff	2,328
Administrative staff	3,759
Undergraduates	28,048
Postgraduates	8,658
Location	Curitiba, Paraná , Brazil
Campus	Curitiba, Matinhos, Palotina, Pontal do Paraná and Jandaia do Sul

The Federal University of Paraná (known as Portuguese: Universidade Federal do Paraná, or UFPR) is a big public university in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. It's one of the oldest universities in Brazil.

UFPR is ranked among the top universities in Latin America and the world. It's also considered one of the best universities in Brazil by the "Ranking Universitário Folha (RUF)".

Today, UFPR has campuses in Curitiba and other cities in the state of Paraná. It offers many different courses for students. These include 124 undergraduate degrees, 44 doctorate programs, 66 master's programs, and 5 professional master's programs.

History of UFPR

The idea for the university started in 1892 with José Francisco da Rocha Pombo. But his plan was stopped by a political movement.

Twenty years later, in 1912, Paraná was growing thanks to yerba mate production. Even though there weren't many educated people, the state was ready for a university.

Victor Ferreira do Amaral, a local leader, worked hard to create the university. On December 19, 1912, UFPR was officially started.

Early Years and Challenges

In 1913, UFPR began teaching classes as a private school. It was in an old building on Comendador Araújo street. The first courses included Law, Engineering, Medicine, Commerce, Dentistry, and Pharmacy. Victor Ferreira do Amaral was the first president. He started building a main university building on land given by the city.

The university faced problems because of World War I. In 1920, a federal law almost closed all universities. To avoid this, UFPR split into several smaller colleges.

Becoming a Public University

For many years, people worked to bring the colleges back together. In the early 1950s, they finally reunited as the University of Paraná. Then, in 1951, it became a public and free university. This meant students didn't have to pay to study there.

After becoming a public university, UFPR started to grow a lot. They built the Clinic's Hospital in 1953. The main administration campus (Reitoria) was built in 1958. The Polytechnic Center, a large campus for science and technology, opened in 1961. This campus is very big, covering an area of about 617,128 square meters (6.6 million square feet).

Foundation stone inauguration

Historic Main Building

UFPR – Historic building at Santos Andrade Square, in Curitiba

The famous building in Santos Andrade Square started being built in 1913. It was designed by military engineer Baeta de Faria. It officially opened in 1915.

Later, in 1923, two side parts were added to the building. The right side was finished in 1925 and used for Engineering courses. The left side was finished in 1926 and used for Dentistry. More changes and additions were made over the years.

By 1954, the building covered a whole city block. The last big changes were made, giving it a new look with columns and wide staircases. The dome on top was removed. This large, 17,000 square meter building was officially opened in 1955.

In 1999, the mayor of Curitiba made this building an official symbol of the city.

What You Can Study at UFPR

UFPR offers a wide range of subjects for students.

Undergraduate Courses

Here are some of the many subjects you can study for your first degree:

Accounting
Agriculture Engineering
Agronomy
Architecture and Urbanism
Biology
Biomedical Informatics
Business Administration
Chemical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Computer Science
Dentistry
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Environmental Engineering
Food Engineering
Forestry Engineering
Geography
History
Information Management
Languages and Literature (like English, French, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish)
Law
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medicine
Music
Nutrition
Pharmacy
Philosophy
Physical Education
Physics
Psychology
Social Sciences
Statistics
Tourism
Veterinary Medicine
Visual Arts

Master's Programs

After an undergraduate degree, students can continue their studies in master's programs. Some examples include:

Physical Education
Pharmacology
Biochemistry
Genetics
Zoology
Child and Teenager Health
Nursing
Geology
Geography
Applied Mathematics
Information Systems
Chemistry
Physics
Education
Anthropology
Sociology
History
Psychology
Law
Electrical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Mechanical Engineering

Doctoral Programs

For those who want to study even further, UFPR offers doctoral programs in many fields, such as:

Agronomy
Anthropology
Forestry Engineering
Computer Science
Cell Biology
Pharmacology
Biochemistry
Genetics
Zoology
Surgery
Mechanical Engineering
Chemistry
Physics
Education
Sociology
History
Law
Veterinary Medicine
Philosophy

Technical High School

UFPR also has a Technical High School. This school offers high school education along with technical training.

How to Get Into UFPR

Students get into UFPR by taking a special entrance exam called the vestibular. This exam has two main parts.

Part I of the Exam

Part I has 80 multiple-choice questions. These questions cover nine subjects: Portuguese, Literature, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Geography, History, and Biology. There are also eight questions in a foreign language. Students can choose between English, French, Spanish, German, or Italian.

Every year, over 50,000 people take this first part of the exam. About two weeks later, 15,000 students are chosen to take Part II.

Part II of the Exam

Part II is a written exam. It includes a Portuguese test with five required writing essays. Some courses also need students to take one or two extra exams. These extra exams have open questions in subjects like Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Geography, History, Biology, Philosophy, or Sociology. The specific subjects depend on the course the student wants to study. For example, students applying for Engineering will take Mathematics and Physics tests.

Waiting for the results of Part II takes much longer, usually between 4 and 7 weeks. The list of students who are accepted usually comes out in mid-January. On that day, there's a fun "Mud-bath Party" organized by the student group.

University Facilities and Resources

UFPR has many resources to help students learn and research.

Research Laboratories

The university has many laboratories for different types of research. Here are just a few examples:

Centro de Documentação e Pesquisa de História dos Domínios Portugueses (CEDOPE) - For history research.
Centro de Ciência de Segurança Computacional (CCSC) - For computer security.
Centro de Computação Científica e Software Livre (C3SL) - For scientific computing.
Centro de Estudos do Mar (CEM) - For studying the ocean.
Centro de Microscopia Eletrônica (CME) - Uses powerful microscopes.
Laboratório de Análises Clínicas veterinárias - For animal health.
Laboratório de Eletroquímica de Superfícies e Corrosão (LESC) - For studying electricity and materials.
Laboratório de Ictiologia Estuarina (Ictiologia UFPR) - For studying fish.
Laboratório de Pesquisas Hidrogeológicas (LPH) - For studying water underground.
Laboratório de Genética Molecular Humana (LGMH) - For human genetics.

University Libraries

UFPR has a large library system with over 400,000 books and thousands of magazines and journals. These resources are spread across different campuses:

Juvevê campus has libraries for Agricultural Science.
Centro campus has the main administrative library, and libraries for Human Science, Health Science, and Law.
Centro Politécnico campus has libraries for Science and Technology, Biological Science, and the Technical High School.
Jardim Botânico campus has libraries for Forest and Wood sciences, Health Science (secondary campus), Applied Social Sciences, and Physical Education.
Matinhos campus has the UFPR Litoral library.
Paranaguá has the Archeology and Ethnology Museum of UFPR.
Pontal do Paraná has the Sea Studies Center library.

University Campuses

UFPR has several campuses in Curitiba and other cities.

Campuses in Curitiba

Campus Juvevê
Campus Batel
Campus Centro
Campus Reitoria (main administration)
Campus Ciências Agrárias/Cabral (Agricultural Sciences)
Campus III/Centro Politécnico (Science and Technology)
Campus III/Escola Técnica (Technical High School)
Campus III/Jardim Botânico (Botanic Garden)

Campuses in Other Cities

Campus Palotina – in Palotina
Campus Estudos do Mar – in Pontal do Paraná (for marine studies)
Campus Litoral – in Matinhos (on the coast)
Campus Jandaia do Sul – in Jandaia do Sul

Famous People Who Studied at UFPR

Many notable people have studied at the Federal University of Paraná. Here are a few:

Blairo Maggi — a successful businessman in agriculture.
Dalton Trevisan — a famous writer who won the Camões Prize.
Edson Fachin — a jurist and lawyer.
Enedina Alves Marques — a civil engineer, and the first Black woman to get an engineering degree in Brazil.
Jaime Lerner — a former governor of Paraná.
Laurentino Gomes — a writer and journalist who won the Jabuti Prize.
Newton da Costa — a well-known logician and mathematician.
Roberto Requião — a former governor of Paraná and a senator.
Tirone E. David — a medical doctor.