Universidade Federal da Bahia

The Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA) is located in Salvador, state capital and Brazil's fourth largest city. Its origins are in the Arts, Letters and Philosophy courses of the Real Colégio da Bahia founded by the Jesuits in the sixteenth century. However it was not until 1808 that the first official course was offered under the auspices of the Escola de Cirurgia da Bahia, subsequently the College of Medicine. This was the first institution of higher learning and the nucleus of the future university which was to incorporate, during the nineteenth century, the courses of Pharmacy in 1832, Dentistry in 1864, the School of Law in 1891 and the Polytechnic School in 1896.

On the 8th of April, 1946 the Universidade Federal da Bahia was officially founded. In 1947 the Academia de Belas Artes was incorporated under the name of School of Fine Arts, which included a course in Architecture. The University Hospital was inaugurated in 1950, one of the most modern in South America and a pioneer in the area of public health.

In 1968, as a result of government decree, the Brazilian university system underwent sweeping. UFBA was the first to implement the attendant changes. In practice, this meant that some of the original centers for teaching, research and scientific production were altered to bring them in line with the new needs of a developing country. At the same time an attempt was made to forge a distinctive academic and institutional identity for the University at large.

The first graduate program was introduced in 1968 with a course leading to a Master's in Chemistry. Over the next decade a further 17 Master's programs were added as well as a Doctoral program. The result was a very significant increase in research in the fields of Science, Technology, Health, Humanities and Letters.