UFU drops two positions, but remains among the 20 best universities in the country; see top rated courses

In 2025, the UFU occupied 16th position and moved to 18th this year, a drop of two places. In total, 205 Brazilian universities were evaluated. With this, the university returns to the place it occupied in 2023. This is the second consecutive drop in the ranking, since from 2024 to 2025 the institution fell from 14th to 16th place.

The university ranked 8th in innovation in Brazil and 2nd in Minas Gerais. According to the director of Innovation and Technology Transfer at UFU, Luciana Carvalho, the result shows high quality science that is increasingly connected with real challenges.

"The main role of innovation within the university is to make the knowledge produced here generate an impact abroad. The university researches, teaches and trains people, and innovation is the bridge that brings all of this to people's lives, whether in a new product, a treatment, a technology for the field or a company that is born from research. Innovating is also a way of valuing the researcher: it is showing that his work, often lasting years, can change realities", he said.

"We accompany the researcher every step of the way. Through Agência Intelecto, our Technological Innovation Center, we take care of the protection of intellectual property, such as patents, software registrations and brands, and the transfer of these technologies to companies through licensing and partnerships. We also have CIAEM (Entrepreneurial Activities Incubation Center), our incubator, and TecnoUFU, the technology park, which support the birth and growth of technology-based companies. CIEU, the University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, which is a meeting space between the university and the productive sector. There, students, researchers and companies come together, exchange experiences and build solutions together", he added.

The survey considers information from universities operating in Brazil and uses national and international indicators. The evaluation considers the 42 university courses with the highest number of entrants in the country. At UFU, 39 of the current 93 were evaluated. Each career considers a series of degrees in the same area that have different nomenclatures. At UFU, for example, the Journalism course was included in the "Communication" nomenclature.