Universidade Federal do Paraná

History

In 1892, José Francisco da Rocha Pombo, an intellectual of the state of Paraná would have initiated the construction of the university, but his project was frustrated by the Federalist Movement.

Twenty years later, Paraná had a reduced number of intellectuals (nine doctors and four engineers), but it was in true development because of the production of the yerba mate.

Moreover, at this time, the Contestado War appeared as an incentive to the efforts of political leaderships concerning the creation of a university. In this context, Victor Ferreira do Amaral, deputy and director of public instruction of Paraná, started the effective creation of the university.

On December 19, 1912, the university was established and, in 1913, it has initiated its activities as a private institution in an old building situated on Comendador Araújo street. The first courses offered were Juridical and Social Sciences, Engineering, Medicine and Surgery, Commerce, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Obstetrics. After the establishment of the university, Victor Ferreira do Amaral, who was also its first president, initiated the construction of a central building in a land donated by the municipal government.

Due to the economic recession caused by the World War I, difficulties started to appear. In 1920, a federal law determined the closing of all universities. In a contradictory measure, the federal government created the Universidade do Rio de Janeiro, currently Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). The alternative to this law was to split the UFPR in several colleges.

Throughout several years, efforts in order to restore the university took place. Only in the beginning of the fifties the colleges were reunited once again in the University of Paraná, its federalization happening just after that, in 1951, when the university became a public and free-of-charge institution.

After its federalization, a process of expansion began with the construction of the Clinic's Hospital (Portuguese: Hospital de Clínicas da Universidade Federal do Paraná) in 1953, the Reitoria Campus in 1958 and the Polytechnic Center in 1961. The Polytechnic Center campus occupies 617,128 square metres (6,642,710 ft2).

Historical Building

Construction of the building in Santos Andrade Square began in 1913, based on a project by military engineer Baeta de Faria. It was inaugurated in 1915.

Seven years later, in 1923, two lateral wings were added according to the original project. The construction of the right wing was completed in 1925 and designated for the Engineering degree program. The following year, the left wing was finished and assigned to the Dentistry program. Additional additions were made to the right side of the building, which was fully repainted in 1940. The building was extended toward XV de Novembro Street, and in 1952, new work on the right wing led to the demolition of part of the lateral façade built in 1940.

In 1954, the building occupied an entire block bounded by Santos Andrade Square, XV de Novembro Street, Presidente Faria Street, and Alfredo Bufren Lane. The final modifications included a new façade featuring several columns and a wide set of staircases, and the covered dome was removed. The inauguration of the neoclassical, 17,000-square-meter building took place in 1955.

In 1999, the mayor of Curitiba signed a law designating this building as the official symbol of the city.

Academics

Technical High School

Besides the above-mentioned courses, it offers high school education through its Technical High School. [1]

Admissions

Students are admitted by an entrance exam, known as the vestibular, which from 2004 to 2025 used to consist of two parts:

Phase I was composed of 90 multiple-choice questions with 5 possible choices. The test had sections for each of the following subjects: Portuguese, Literature, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Geography, History and Biology, Philosophy and Sociology plus eight questions of a foreign language which could be chosen from English, Polish, Japanese, French, Spanish, German or Italian.

Over 50,000 people apply every year and sit for exactly the same exam. After two weeks time or so, 15,000 used to be called to take the Phase II, of written exams.

Phase II was composed of a Portuguese test which covers five (previously seven) compulsory writing essays. Certain courses require that the candidate take an additional one or two exams involving open-questions in Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Geography, History, Biology, Philosophy or Sociology, the specific exam choice being determined by correlation between the subject and each major course. Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology candidates, for example, used to take Mathematics and Biology tests.

The wait for the results of Part II used to take much longer, approximately between 4 and 7 weeks.

A list with all the admitted candidates comes out usually in the middle of January—on the same day as the Mud-bath Party sponsored by the Central Directory of Students (Portuguese: Diretório Central dos Estudantes, DCE) occurs.

However, as of 2026, the entrance exam system changed to consist on one phase only.

Single Phase consists of 80 multiple-choice questions with 4 possible choices. The subjects tested before remain the same in the new format. There are now two short compulsory writing essays, however, no specific subject open-questions. To cope with this, most courses opted to have questions related to their subjects hold a higher weight in grading.

Laboratories

Centro de Documentação e Pesquisa de História dos Domínios Portugueses – CEDOPE

Centro de Capacitação e Consultoria do Departamento de Ciência e Gestão da Informação do Setor de Ciências Sociais Applicadas – 3CGI

Centro de Ciência de Segurança Computacional - CCSC

Centro de Computação Científica e Software Livre – C3SL

Centro de Estudos do Mar - CEM

Centro de Microscopia Eletrônica – CME

Centro de Pesquisa e Processamento de Alimentos – CEPPA

Ciências Sociais Applicadas – CCCGI

Centro de Estudos de Engenharia Civil Prof. inaldo Ayres Vieira – CESEC

Grupo IMAGO de Pesquisa em Visão Computacional, Processamento de Imagens e Computação Gráfica

Instituto de Tecnologia para o Desenvolvimento – LACTEC

Laboratório de Análises Clínicas veterinárias

Laboratório de Acústica e conforto Ambiental

Laboratório de Eletroquímica de Superfícies e Corrosão – LESC

Laboratório de Estudos em Monitoramento e Modelagem Ambiental – LEMMA

Laboratório de Ictiologia Estuarina - Ictiologia UFPR

Libraries

The university has over 400,000 books and theses as well as thousand of periodicals that, for now, can't be accessed through its intranet, but will be in the future.

Campi

In Curitiba

Campus Juvevê

Campus Batel

Campus Centro

Campus Reitoria

Campus Ciências Agrárias/Cabral

Campus III/Centro Politécnico

Campus III/Escola Técnica

Campus III/Jardim Botânico

Other cities

Campus Palotina – Palotina

Campus Estudos do Mar – Pontal do Paraná

Campus Litoral – Matinhos

Campus Jandaia do Sul – Jandaia do Sul

Publications

Archives of Veterinary Science

Acta Biologica Paranaense

Boletim Paranaense de Geociências

Educar em Revista

Jornal de Ciências do Exercício e do Esporte

Jornal do Hospital das Clínicas

Revista de Ciências Humanas

Revista de Sociologia e Política

Revista do Departamento e Programa de Pós-Graduação

Revista Eletrônica de Musicologia

Revista Floresta

Revista Interação

Revista Letras

Scientia Agraria

Revista de Engenharia Térmica

Notable alumni

Blairo Maggi — agrobusiness entrepreneur

Clèmerson Merlin Clève — jurist, lawyer, and entrepreneur

Dalton Trevisan — writer, Camões Prize winner

Daniel Przybysz — radiation oncologist

Edson Fachin — jurist, lawyer

Edith Fanta — Antarctic researcher

Enedina Alves Marques — civil engineer, first Black woman to receive an engineering degree in Brazil

Henry Bugalho — philosopher and writer

Jaime Lerner — governor of Paraná (1995-2002)

Jorge Reis-Filho — scientist

Laurentino Gomes — writer and journalist, Jabuti Prize winner

Marçal Justen Filho — jurist, lawyer

Newton da Costa — logician and mathematician

Roberto Requião — governor of Paraná (2003-2010) and senator since 2011

Tirone E. David — medical doctor

Wilson Martins — politician (Governor of Piauí from April 1, 2010, to April 2, 2014.)