Welcome to the future!

Photo: Bruno Todeschini

Throughout the year of 2017, the University’s excellence in multiple dimensions was recognized as it won several national and international awards. Some of these achievements include the institution being recognized for having the best graduate programs among public and private institutions in Brazil. Also, the institution is now considered the best private university according to Folha de S. Paulo and the most innovative educational institution (Revista Amanhã). Ultimately, PUCRS won the Orsalc-Unesco Award of Social Responsibility, as well. However, we are well aware that there is much more to be done. Hence, a new shift of paradigms concerning PUCRS’ undergraduate programs and learning environments is underway, under the project known as PUCRS 360º. 2018 will also see 22 academic departments merge and give rise to 8 schools focusing on specific academic areas, which will result in a number of benefits.

This current issue, featured both in English and Spanish, will bring the world closer to our reality and will introduce you to this movement of transformation. In our vision of future, we want to become an international reference in Higher Education through innovation and social, environmental, scientific, cultural and economic development. Mission and vision must inspire our decisions and actions. The University is in a context where the quest for excellence and sustainability calls for stronger integration with the external environments.

We must be flexible to changes and have a sense of opportunity. A context of complexity and uncertainty calls for new forms of interaction with society. It is not just about the promotion of training for competent professionals to the job market, but being a provider of authentic human, personal, social and professional excellence. The society’s expectations about the institutions and what it actually can accomplish are the factors that will determine the relevance of a university.

These institutions are being “called” to integrate with society. They have to expand. They must be in close connection with businesses, governments and the society. An innovative and modern university must play a leading role in the process of development of its own country.

As PUCRS puts the individual and their education first in its quest for humanist values, as a central vector of development and innovation, it must be in the center of all fundamental issues concerning people and the community, as we bear in mind that the word community now encompasses both a local and a global place.

Br. Evilázio Teixeira
President of PUCRS