Unicamp officially launched on Monday morning (3) the undergraduate course in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, which will be offered jointly by the Faculty of Applied Sciences (FCA) and the Faculty of Technology (FT), on the Limeira campus. The event brought together teachers, students and other guests to discuss the objectives of the course and the role of AI in professional training, including a round table with representatives from the University, industry and the science and technology sector. The new undergraduate program will receive its first class in 2027, with 40 places available in the next entrance exam.
For the director of FCA, Milena Serafim, the creation of the course represents a new moment in the unit's expansion trajectory. According to her, after the implementation of the courses that marked the creation of the Faculty, the approval of the degrees in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science and in International Relations – another new course, which will be launched on Tuesday (4) – represents a “second cycle” of growth, this time driven by a demand identified by the community in general. “Unicamp combines academic excellence with inclusion and retention policies, allowing students from different backgrounds to have access to highly qualified careers,” said the director. In addition, according to Serafim, the initiative also strengthens the project of consolidating the Limeira campuses within the University's structure.
Cristiano Torezan, associate director of FCA, explained that the AI degree program has characteristics that differentiate it from similar initiatives across the country. In addition to being the first specific course in the field among São Paulo's public universities, its pedagogical approach is interdisciplinary and geared towards developing solutions that produce concrete benefits for society. "The three training tracks—Health and Sports, Sustainable Smart Cities, and Digital Government and Public Policies—were structured to encourage the development of technologies focused on social challenges," he noted.
Tuning
Edmilson Manganotti, advisor to the Pro-Rector of Undergraduate Studies, highlighted that the creation of this undergraduate program aligns the University with a rapidly expanding job market. “The national demand for professionals in this area already reaches hundreds of thousands of vacancies, making the training of specialists strategic, even more so with the endorsement of Unicamp,” he said. The professor also assessed that the new course will contribute to attracting students from all over Brazil and abroad.
Professor Ulisses Martins Dias from the Faculty of Technology emphasized that the distinguishing feature of the AI degree will be its solid mathematical and computational training, allowing future professionals to understand all stages of data processing, from collection to decision-making based on artificial intelligence. "The quality of the faculty and the tradition of Unicamp lend credibility to the new program," he opined.
Professor Leonardo Tomazeli Duarte, one of the coordinators of the new course, celebrated the fact that the launch marked the official presentation of the undergraduate program to the community. He noted that this is the first course in the field at Unicamp and represents an important step in keeping pace with the transformations brought about by artificial intelligence in society.
During the event, Professor Rodolfo Pacagnella from the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM), who participated in the morning's roundtable discussions, addressed the application of AI in the healthcare field. He showed that the advancement of these technologies requires professionals capable not only of using tools but also of developing them with ethical responsibility and based on data representative of the Brazilian population. "The training proposed by the new course incorporates fundamental technical, social, and ethical aspects so that artificial intelligence contributes to reducing inequalities, especially in access to healthcare services," Pacagnella pointed out.
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