The University of Campinas commonly called Unicamp, is a public research university in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, and one of the best universities in the country and in Latin America.
Established in 1962, Unicamp was designed from scratch as an integrated research center unlike other top Brazilian universities, usually created by the consolidation of previously existing schools and institutes. Its research focus reflects on almost half of its students being graduate students, the largest proportion across all large universities in Brazil, and also in the large number of graduate programs it offers: 153 compared to 70 undergraduate programs. It also offers several non-degree granting open-enrollment courses to around 8,000 students through its extension school.
Its main campus occupies 3.5km2 located in the Barão Geraldo district, a suburban area 12km from the center of Campinas, and, built shortly after the creation of the university. It also has satellite campuses in Limeira, Piracicaba and Paulínia, and manages two technical high schools located in Campinas and Limeira. Funding is provided almost entirely by the state government and, like other Brazilian public universities, no tuition fees or administrative fees are charged for undergraduate and graduate programs.
Unicamp is responsible for around 15% of Brazilian research, a disproportionately high number when compared to much larger and older institutions in the country such as the University of São Paulo. It also produces more patents than any other research organization in Brazil, being second only to the state-owned oil company, Petrobras. Multiple international university rankings place it amongst the best universities in the world, with QS placing it in the Top 200 globally and ranking it the 11th best university under 50 years, and in 2015 it was rated as the best university in the country by Brazil's Ministry of Education.