University of São Paulo

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Universidade de São Paulo


Motto	Scientia Vinces (Through science you win)
Established	August 11, 1827 (oldest constituent faculty - school of law); January 25, 1934 (granted university status as a federation of faculties)
Type	Public
Rector	Suely Vilela
Staff	4,953
Undergraduates	44,696
Postgraduates	31,410
Location	São Paulo and other 6 cities, São Paulo, Brazil
Campus	Urban
Website	www.usp.br

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.

USP is one of the largest institutions of higher education in Brazil and Latin America, with approximately 75,000 enrolled students. It is comprised of eleven campuses, four of them being in the City of São Paulo [1] (the main campus is called Campus Armando de Salles Oliveira, with 7,443,770 m² of area). The others campuses are located in the cities Bauru, Lorena, Piracicaba, Pirassununga, Ribeirão Preto and São Carlos (2). USP is involved in teaching, research and university extension in all areas of knowledge and has been recognized as being the best academic university in Latin America according to the 2005 Academic Ranking of World Universities.

In 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 a School 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, such as the School 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).

USP is considered as Brazil's top academic and research institute. In its 2005 edition, The Times Higher Education Supplement considered USP to be the 196th best university institution in the world. According to the 2005 Academic Ranking of World Universities, published by the Shanghai Jiaotong University, USP is placed in the group of the 101-152nd top world universities. The EGI (European Graduate Institute) reported that USP is the 58th best university in the world, according to the 2006's edition. USP is considered the 45th most productive university on the globe. [2]

USP is the 28th most popular university in the world, among 7000 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).

1 Admissions
2 Academic Career
3 Notable Alumni
4 Trivia
5 Global Engineering Study
6 Schools and Institutes
7 External links
8 See also

[edit] Admissions

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

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

- Part II is composed of up to 40 write-in questions related to each candidate's intended major. Engineering candidates for example take Math, 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 study in High School get a 3% bonus in their Part I and Part II scores, in order to compensate for the generally low quality of Brazilian public basic education.

USP's exam for admission (called "vestibular") is prepared and administered by FUVEST (University Foundation for Vestibular). [4], 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 into the University of São Paulo. There are 10,202 vacants. One of the most selective courses was Journalism, with about 45 applicants per vacancy. USP is a free university, there is not a monthly tuition.

A renowned publication (Guia do Estudante - Student's Guide) indicated that USP is 2006's best university in Brazil.

[edit] 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)

[edit] Notable Alumni

[edit] Former Presidents

Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995-2003)
Jânio Quadros (1961)

[edit] São Paulo state governors

[edit] Writers

[edit] Others

Adib Domingos Jatene - physician
Amyr Klink - sailor and explorer
Carlos Zara (Antônio Carlos Zaratini) - actor, got the degree of bachelor engineer at the Polythecnic School in the 50's
César Lattes - physicist, co-discoverer of the pi meson
Drauzio Varella - physician, educator and medical science popularizer
Euryclides de Jesus Zerbini - physician, he did the first heart transplant in the Latin America
Fernando Meirelles - film director, he did City of God [5] and The Constant Gardener
Guido Mantega - the current Brazil's finance minister
Henrique Meirelles - the current president of the Banco Central do Brasil (Brazil's Central Bank)
José E. Moreira - system software architect for Blue Gene/L, the fastest supercomputer in the world
José Goldemberg - scientific leader and research scientist
Mário Schenberg - physicist
Miguel Nicolelis - physician and neurobiological researcher
Miguel Reale - jurist, he is considered the chief architect of Brazil's current civil codes
Ruy Barbosa - jurist, politician and diplomat
Sebastião Salgado - photographer and photojournalist