Located in the region known as ABC, Federal University of ABC, Federal University of ABC (UFABC) was created to contribute directly and indirectly to the education of Brazilian people, to advance knowledge in engineering, mathematics, computing, natural and human sciences; and to meet the demands for regional industrial activity and public administration.
UFABC is one of the youngest Brazilian universities. Founded in 2006, today it operates two campuses, both still partly under construction, but has already established a reputation for high-level interdisciplinary research and teaching.
Interdisciplinarity is a key concept at UFABC. It has been discussed since the second half of the last century, when a strong need for redeeming the integrity of knowledge led to this approach, which consists of combining efforts from a variety of disciplines to deal with any given problem.
At UFABC, undergraduate degrees are obtained in two phases. At first, all students follow one of the interdisciplinary programs: BC&T – Bachelor in Science and Technology or BC&H – Bachelor in Sciences and Humanities. These programs prepare the students for a wide range of activities in, respectively, sciences/technology and sciences/humanities. Both programs are highly interdisciplinary and flexible, which encourages students to make their own choices throughout their stay at university. While obtaining the first bachelor degree, students can, if they so choose, pursue a second kind of bachelor, teaching or engineering degree. This pedagogical approach favors the exercise of creativity instead of a passive attitude towards the educational process.
Research is another pillar of UFABC, which has as one of its missions the exploration of new paths in the great adventure of scientific and technological progress. The graduate programs at UFABC aim at the development of scientific and technological frontier research. The programs are committed to form researchers with broad capabilities in many knowledge fields and highly qualified professionals to meet the demand for higher education as well as national and regional technological development.
The Masters degree programs offer conditions to the development of studies that enable the students grasp of conceptual and methodological tools, essential to the field in research, and which qualify them as researchers and professors, through education and investigative works. The professional Masters degree programs create conditions to the development of business transforming practices by using the scientific method and applying the knowledge of new processes and techniques.
The Doctoral programs deepen the objective of the Masters programs by the production of a work that must be an original, creative and genuine contribution to the field of research.
Furthermore, UFABC considers fundamental to be open for interactions with society, contributing to the material and intellectual welfare of the people by means of outreach initiatives.