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, BC&H – Bachelor in Sciences and Humanities, LCH – Human Sciences Teaching, or LCNE – Natural and Exact Sciences Teaching. These programs prepare the students for a wide range of activities in sciences/technology and sciences/humanities. The four programs are highly interdisciplinary and flexible, which encourages students to make their own choices throughout their stay at university. While obtaining the first bachelor or teaching degree, students can, if they so choose, continue their studies to achieve 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 Master’s degree programs offer conditions to the development of studies that enable the students grasp of conceptual and methodological tools, essential to the research field, and which qualify them as researchers and professors, through education and investigative works. The Professional Master’s degree programs create conditions for the development of business transforming practices by using the scientific methodology and applying the knowledge of new processes and techniques. The Doctoral programs deepen the objective of the Master’s programs by the elaboration of a work that must be an original, creative and genuine contribution to the field of research.
In addition, the University offers Academic Master’s and Doctorate Programs for Innovation – DAI and MAI. The Academic Master’s for Innovation (MAI) and the Industrial Academic Doctorate (DAI) are programs that encourage the interaction between the University and companies for innovation development.
In these programs, students are awarded a scholarship from the Btazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) to develop master’s (MAI) or doctoral (DAI) projects of industrial interest, in collaboration with private or public companies/industries, through the existing academic postgraduate programs at UFABC.
UFABC’s structure is neither rigid nor divided into Faculties. The undergraduate degree programs are organized into three academic units (centers). Each of them hosts and supports teaching, research, and extension in specific areas of study. The academic centers are:
- CCNH – Center for Natural and Human Sciences. Responsible for the Bachelor’s Degree in Biotechnology, the Teaching Degrees in Physics, Chemistry, Biological Sciences, and Philosophy, in addition to all undergraduate programs in Life Sciences and Physics areas.
- CECS – Center for Engineering, Modeling, and Social and Applied Sciences. Responsible for undergraduate and graduate programs in Engineering, Social Sciences, and Economic Sciences.
- CMCC – Center for Mathematics, Computing, and Cognition. Responsible for the Teaching Degree in Mathematics and the Bachelors in Neuroscience, Mathematics, and Computer Science. The graduate programs under CMCC’s responsibility are the Masters in Computer Science, Information Engineering, Mathematics, Neuroscience and Cognition (Master and Doctorate), and the Professional Master in Mathematics in National Network.
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.