The trajectory of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (Federal University of Rio Grande) – FURG is based on the involvement and commitment to society.
 
Our history begins with joint efforts by sections of municipal community which came together to make possible the implementation of Higher Education in the city in the 1950s. This collaborative motivation continued to inspire the university community to engage with regional and national development, taking part in the demands from its environment. For this reason, since 1987, FURG has assumed the coastal and oceanic ecosystems as an institutional vocation. That is, we commit ourselves to the creation and diffusion of knowledge dedicated to understanding the complexity of natural, social, cultural and historical manifestations of the ecosystem in which we are. FURG relies on the involvement with surrounding community and region.

Nowadays, through its different campuses, FURG extends activities to the cities of Santo Antônio da Patrulha, São Lourenço do Sul, and Santa Vitória do Palmar, thus consolidating itself as an important social activator in the very south of Rio Grande do Sul state and Brazil.

Our teaching, research and extension activities provide thousands of students with a citizenship experience, in addition to technical and scientific knowledge. Through affirmative actions and strategic decisions, the university pursuits to offer an egalitarian environment so that students can develop their academic life including all diversity, from university admission to graduation.

We are one of the first Higher Education Institutions in the country to offer specific selective process for the admission of indigenous and quilombola students. Furthermore, all seniors at FURG have guaranteed free participation on the Graduation solemnity. Since 2007, the graduations are coordinated and executed by the institution to ensure its official and public aspect.

Increasingly, we are a university that believes in free and public higher education in the advance of social, scientific, citizenship and solidarity development.

FURG in numbers

64 Undergraduate Degree Programs

14 Residency Programs

24 Specialization Degree Programs

33 Masters’ Degree Programs

13 Doctoral Degree Programs

150 Research Groups certified by CNPq

More than 9 thousand undergraduate classroom students

More than 300 students in distance education

About 2,500 graduate students

About 900 professors

More than 1,200 educational staff