UNR celebrates its first 56 years of life immersed in a process of academic innovation and expanding its training proposal like never before in its history. “The university is much more than the production of professionals and UNR is much more than a university,” said the rector.
This Friday, November 29th, Universidad Nacional de Rosario (UNR) celebrates 56 years since its creation in 1968 when the autonomy of the faculties located in the city was achieved. In the context of a complex year, the UNR continues to move forward and on its anniversary recognized outstanding personalities in an event at the Monument to the Flag.
In the framework of this commemoration, the rector Franco Bartolacci, valued this date as a “moment of projection”. And he explained: “Given all that is happening, it is perhaps more important than ever that we assume the expectations that society places on an institution like ours by going after the challenges that are needed. Argentina needs to rebuild an epic for inclusion, coexistence and development. And that especially challenges an institution like ours, for what it does, for what it produces and because this society that is in a bad way supports us, with its effort, every day. That is why I want to call on you to go after the dreams that are missing, to make the transformations that are necessary.”
“Defending the Public University also means defending it from routine, and that requires bringing about a second reform, an administrative modernization, an academic, pedagogical, and curricular revolution that allows us to put the university in tune with the challenges of the present and direct all our energies toward what Rosario, the region, and the province of Santa Fe need in order to transform what is happening to them. We are convinced that the right to higher education is not only an individual right that allows each person to grow personally, but also a collective right of society to transform the ills that plague it. The university is much more than the production of professionals, and the UNR is much more than a university. Thank you all for making this possible,” the rector thanked.
“We are celebrating our 56th anniversary and you know that we are doing so at a very delicate time for scientific production, for the country’s public universities. As never before we have been subjected to harassment, defunding and attacks with the aim of de-ranking the contributions that the Public University, Higher Education and the scientific system have to make to the nation. Of all these things, perhaps the most ungrateful, the most unfair is the disregard and mistreatment with which the scientific and university community of the country has been referred to. I want to, in this celebration, first make an act of vindication of the university and scientific community of our university and of the entire system. That every day with poorly paid salaries, with ignorance of the tasks they perform, they make an enormous effort to train the future professionals of the nation, to produce science and knowledge that help transform the things that happen to the nation,” he praised.
The governor of Santa Fe, Maximiliano Pullaro, a graduate of the UNR, joined in the tribute: “Santa Fe is the most productive province in the Argentine Republic, Santa Fe is the countryside, Santa Fe is the industry. Santa Fe is the ports, but Santa Fe is also knowledge, Santa Fe is science and technology and it is the opportunity that we have fundamentally to be able to move forward and to release a recovery process that has to come in our country. If we work together with the provincial government, together with the universities, together with knowledge, I feel that we can really enhance all the possibilities that we have and be able to build a different country. Equality unfortunately continues to be one of the pending debts that democracy has in the Argentine Republic. We have to work together defending the values that the Public University shows and that it permanently trains hundreds of young people to be able to bring this society forward.”
The transition to the year 2024 was not easy; the budget and salary crisis mobilized the UNR community, which gathered in massive demonstrations and social expressions of all kinds in defense of the Public University.
Despite the lack of funding and the constant attacks on the university system, UNR concentrated its efforts on maintaining all its activities, enhancing educational quality and continuing its process of educational innovation, to transform the way of teaching and learning, continuing to create new educational paths, in strategic line with academic excellence and curricular development.
In 2024, two undergraduate programs began their first year of instruction: Bachelor's Degree in Real Estate Brokerage and Bachelor's Degree in Citizen Security, and registration has already opened for the Bachelor's Degree in Data Science, which begins in 2025. These three new programs are added to six others that were created in recent years: Bachelor's Degree in Tourism (2018), Industrial Design (2019), Bachelor's Degree in Cultural Management (2020), Technical Degree in Artificial Intelligence (2021), Graphic Design (2023), and Clothing Design (2023). Each of these new programs respond to the demands of students and the world of work. They have modern study plans and a duration of 3 to 4 years, in compliance with the new undergraduate program ordinance promoted by UNR to encourage the development of shorter courses.
In 2024, 25.808 students were enrolled in undergraduate courses, some five thousand more than the previous year. Never before in the history of the UNR has there been such a significant jump from one year to the next, almost 25%. Of these, 4 thousand opted for these new paths.
At the same time, its secondary education proposal expanded like never before. This year, the second year of the new Pre-university School of Social Sciences was taught, which next year will have 100 new students, and the proposals that the UNR launched in General Lagos (2022), Puerto General San Martín (2022) and El Trébol (2023) were consolidated, as well as the continuity of the virtual secondary school Otra Vuelta. Today, these proposals call on more than 1800 young people from the provincial center and are added to the traditional and century-old Superior of Commerce, Polytechnic and Agrotechnic of Casilda.
In addition to the 90.056 undergraduate students who attended UNR in 2024, there are 6.836 graduate students, plus 3780 students from middle schools and educational centers; and another 500 from Otra Vuelta. To this, we must add the launch of the School of Trades (2022) with more than 11 thousand people who took short courses of up to 6 months and the 4300 students from the Open University for Older Adults. Never before in its history has the expansion of its academic offering been so great.
Within the framework of innovation and academic excellence, the regulations for higher education teaching competitions and study plans were updated, the evaluation of secondary and higher technical level teachers was regulated, and training was provided for the permanent updating of secondary level teachers. In line with curricular innovation, the Permanent Seminar: Current Challenges of the University Curriculum was held, aimed at authorities, management teams and higher education teachers with the idea of taking on debates about these problems, while advancing on the new challenges of the UNR.
This year, the University Degree Supplement was incorporated, an addition to the transcript that allows the recognition of the academic career of students that not only includes the study plan of each degree. The first graduates who obtained their diploma with this supplement were from the Faculty of Psychology and their degree accredits the student's career in activities related to teaching, research, university extension, technology transfer, among others. Meanwhile, support and accompaniment programs continued, such as the Pre-university Course, Codo a Codo and Puentes. In addition, Regresar, an initiative that brings back students who were close to graduating, so that with the guidance of a tutor, they return to study and are accompanied to complete their degree.
The Regresar program was essential to increase the percentage of graduates, which increased compared to 2022 when there were 2.659 graduates, with 3014 receiving their degree in 2023.
At 56 years old, in a complex context and despite everything, the UNR continues to promote profound transformations that it considers unavoidable in a world that is changing rapidly and that demands the University's ability to reinvent itself to meet these changes and contribute to the challenges that the country demands.
Innovation and updating; expansion and diversification of the academic proposal are the distinctive features of this stage. A university that in the diversity of its activities is much more than a degree, a UNR that due to its development is much more than a University.
Pride of the Public University
During the ceremony, outstanding members of the university community were recognized for their valuable contribution to strengthening public education and its impact on society. “They are the result of an extraordinary community that makes everything happen and the synthesis of the strategic value for a nation that the Public University and the scientific system have,” said Rector Bartolacci.
Firstly, tribute was paid to the School of Music, which celebrated its 75th anniversary. Likewise, recognition was given to Dr. Elenora García Vescovi, a scientist from the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology (IBR), who was the creator of the “LibreCiencia” project, an initiative aimed at promoting scientific vocations in adolescents.
The University also celebrated the creators of the educational games “Humedales Expedition”, “Maritime Expedition” and “Serrano Expedition”, directed by Ignacio Negri, for their valuable contribution to learning and science. A well-deserved tribute was paid to Dr. Néstor Carrillo, who was one of the main promoters of the creation of the Biotechnology degree and its first director.
Literary talent was also recognized, with Alisa Lein being the winner of the XXVIII International Short Story Award and the Bilbao Prize. Meanwhile, researcher Evelyn Tevere was praised for her tireless work in eradicating Chagas disease.
Regarding the students' achievements, the work of Alan Clerici was celebrated, who developed an innovative device for the digital presentation of results obtained from the measurement of nuclear radiation. In addition, the students of the Artificial Intelligence Technician's Degree were recognized: Julieta López Ceratto, Giuliano Crenna and Bruno Pace, winners of the local stage of the NASA Space Apps Challenge. Likewise, the UNR team, made up of Federico Bersano, Franco De Rico and Sebastián Mestre, was recognized for their classification and outstanding participation in the 2023 and 2024 programming world championships.
Leonel Aguirre was also highlighted, having been selected for the 2024 Balseiro Institute Scholarship from among more than 300 applicants. The achievement of María del Rosario Moyano, who obtained first place in the VIII Accounting Olympiad, and Julia Mighetto and Valentina Bahamonde, who obtained second and third place, respectively, were also celebrated.
In the field of research, the team led by David Ávila made an archaeological discovery in Villa Cañas, where remains of fauna and megafauna bones, human fossils and lithic artifacts were found. Researcher Darío Krapf and his team were highlighted for the development of a new method that improves the effectiveness of fertility treatments. Teachers Sandra Gerlero, Cecilia Augsburger, Ana Bloj and Marianela Fondato received praise for the creation of the podcast “Primera Escucha”, dedicated to the mental health of adolescents.
Non-teaching staff Analía Provensal and Aneley Magariños were recognized, winners of the Martín Fierro for their ABC Universidad program on Radio UNR. Recognition was also given to the Laboratorio Escolar Ciudadano, winner of the DEMO.RESET call, organized by the Pre-university School of Social and Human Sciences.
The achievements of Micaela Mailén Pozzo, the first graduate of the University Degree in Artificial Intelligence, and Emilia Faci, the first graduate of the Industrial Design degree, were valued. The Polytechnic students who participated in the 34th Argentine Chemistry Olympiad were recognized: Franco Moriconi, winner of the gold medal, and Valentino Formaggini, José Wheeler and Alejandro Ferreyra, who obtained bronze medals.
Andrés Monti Falicoff was also recognized for his work on the Caramelos Surtidos Radio Program, with mental health users, and the work of Adriana Ipiña, Aristides Pochettino and Bettina Bongiovanni, who created a team that detects contamination and measures its impact on the human immune system. For his part, Fernando Bessone was recognized for his successful coordination of research on drug-induced liver damage in Latin America. The work of professor and researcher Eduardo Williams, director of the Preventive, Individual and Collective Dentistry Model (MOPIC), was also highlighted.
Finally, the efforts of Silvia Elisa Alegre, who managed to graduate as a nurse thanks to the rEgresar program, were appreciated, and the School of Social Communication was recognized for its 50 years of the School of Social Communication.
living history
On November 29, 1968, the Universidad Nacional de Rosario (UNR) through Law 17.987 that determined the autonomy of the powers established in the city that since 1919 and until then depended on the Universidad Nacional del Litoral (UNL).
But university life in the city began much earlier, the first antecedents dating back to 1910 when a commission was created with the purpose of building a teaching hospital, promoting science and education. In those years, with the donation by the Municipality of the land located between Vera Mujica, Santa Fe, Urquiza and Francia and private contributions, the buildings that began to function in 1920 began to be built.
At that time, in addition to the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Pharmacies and minor branches, the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical-Chemical, and Natural Sciences applied to Industry were established in Rosario; and the Faculty of Economic and Political Sciences. In the following years, others were incorporated: Philosophy; Politic science; Odontology; Agricultural Sciences, Architecture, Veterinary Sciences and Psychology. In addition to the teaching hospitals, two secondary schools, the Superior Institute of Music of Rosario and the Superior Institute of Fine Arts.
There were several occasions in which projects were presented to formalize the University in Rosario, but they did not prosper. Already in 1968, due to negotiations for the creation of the School of Law, progress was finally made in the grouping of the academic and administrative units that gave rise to the UNR.
With the recovery of democracy in 1983, the university recovered its autonomy, its freedoms, the fullness of student life, the legality of its statutes. When President Raúl Alfonsín took office, he determined to begin the normalization of the universities that were directed towards institutional reconstruction following the paths of the reformist tradition.
The UNR first adopted the UNL statute while retracing the normalization that concluded with the 1986 statute where co-government was ratified with teachers, students, graduates and non-teachers. For the first time since its creation, the UNR had its governing bodies fully operational and began a period of transformations and continuous actions, which have not been interrupted to this day.
UNR structure
UNR is one of the most prestigious public institutions in the country with more than 90 thousand undergraduate students in its classrooms according to the 2023 registry. The current structure includes 12 faculties, 7 secondary education proposals, 1 virtual secondary school and 1 center for interdisciplinary studies. There are 10.500 teachers and non-teaching staff (more than 60% with simple teaching positions and teaching hours, not full or exclusive), 716 research teams, 13 research institutes with double dependence in conjunction with Conicet. In addition, UNR has 5 sports facilities, 6 university cafeterias, 1 cultural space, 1 publishing house, 4 university residences, 3 health centers to assist students without medical coverage, 2 teaching hospitals (Dentistry, Veterinary Sciences), and 2 assistance services in hospitals (Eva Perón and Centenario).
Journalist: Micaela Pereyra / Photographer: Camila Casero