The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Portuguese: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS) is one of the largest federal universities in Brazil. It is almost completely located in Porto Alegre, with four campi (Campus do Centro, Campus Saúde, Campus Olímpico and Campus do Vale), some isolated buildings (e.g. the Business School and the Institute of Arts) and some isolated units in other cities. UFRGS is among the best Brazilian universities, and has one of the greatest numbers of scientific publications. UFRGS has around 23.000 undergraduate students and around 8.000 graduate students. The Institute has around 260 teachers, over half of them with PhD’s. As a public institution, the course is absolutely free of cost to the students who are selected through an annual competitive exam. The Institute also has a profound political history. Between 1964 and 1969, during the worst years of the military dictatorship, 33 professors were eliminated, as well as a good number of students. The experience echoes a tradition of social commitment and combativity.