Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro

Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro

Coat of arms of the university
Other name
 PUC-Rio
Motto Alis Grave Nil
Motto in English
 With wings, nothing is heavy
Type Private, non-profit
Established October 30, 1940 (October 30, 1940)[1]
Affiliation Roman Catholic Church and Society of Jesus
Chancellor Orani João Tempesta, O. Cist.
Rector Josafá Carlos de Siqueira, S.J.
Vice rector Francisco Ivern Simó, S.J.
Academic staff
 800[2]
Students 17,900
Undergraduates 10,400
Postgraduates 7,500
Location Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Campus Urban
Colors Yellow and Blue
Website puc-rio

The Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (Portuguese: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, PUC-Rio) is a Catholic pontifical university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the joint responsibility of the Catholic Archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro and the Society of Jesus. In 2016, PUC-Rio was ranked as the fifth best university in Latin America by Times Higher Education magazine.[3]

History

The University was created in 1941 by the Society of Jesus to emphasize humanistic values in the pursuit of knowledge. PUC-Rio has 12,000 undergraduate students, 2,500 graduate students, and 4,000 extension students. In 2009 it ranked first among 2,252 higher education institutions in Brazil on ENADE, a benchmark exercise run by the Brazilian Ministry of Education.[4][5]

PUC-Rio has highly accredited faculties in Law, Engineering, Computer science, Psychology, Economics, Business, and International Relations.[6] It fosters cultural diversity in its student body. It has participated in exchange programs with Harvard, Notre Dame, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Brown University as well as European universities, with hundreds of students participating each year.

Location

PUC-Rio is located in Gávea[7] in the south of Rio, at the edge of Tijuca National Forest. The campus was once a coffee farm. A creek crossed by three bridges runs through the campus. Several city bus lines pass the university, which is near the suburban neighborhoods of Leblon, Ipanema, Jardim Botânico, and Lagoa. Metrô busses connect the campus to the General Osório station in Ipanema and the Botafogo subway station on Botafogo beach. The Botanical Gardens and Leblon beach are within walking distance of the university.

Campus

Main building
The church of the Sacred-Heart of the PUC

The campus was built with donations from institutions and foundations in the early 1940s. In the early '60s the USA through its American Schools and Hospitals Abroad program donated the building now named after President John Kennedy; the grant was received during his administration. Besides the Central Library there are three specialized libraries. Solar Grandjean de Montigny, PUC-Rio's Cultural Center, has year-round visual arts exhibitions. Pilotis (Kennedy building's ground floor) hosts cultural events such as political debates, shows, and fairs. The "Festa Junina" each June features folkloric food, costumes, and dance from old Brazil.

On campus are three restaurants, five coffee-shops, a pizza-parlor, a bookstore, an office supply store, copy centers, branches of Banco Itaú and Banco Santander Brasil, a post office, newsstand, and ATMs. The neighborhood of the university contains more shops, banks, the Planetarium, specialized bookstores, restaurants, and a mall.

Admission

Undergraduate admission to PUC -Rio takes two forms of entry to graduation: ENEM and Vestibular own. Through these tests are distributed academic scholarships to students.

Research

The Lua programming language was developed by Roberto Ierusalimschy, Luiz Henrique de Figueiredo, and Waldemar Celes, members of the Computer Graphics Technology Group[8] at PUC-Rio, beginning in 1993.

Notable alumni

Faculty

The following are a partial list of professors from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro.

See also

References

Coordinates: 22°58′45.48″S 43°13′56.82″W / 22.9793000°S 43.2324500°W / -22.9793000; -43.2324500

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