(by Filipe Albessu Narciso) – June 16th, 2021

In the year of 1971, the Instituto de Ciências Matemáticas e de Computação de São Carlos (ICMC), translated as Institute of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, was founded. The institute is a national and international reference on the development and promotion of knowledge regarding math and computer science. The story behind its creation and naming is deeply rooted in societal changes over the importance of computer science.

Photo by Francisco Emolo on USP Journal

In the last 50 years, the field of computer science has expanded dramatically. With the popularization of the internet, personal computers and the variety of virtual related activities, computer science has become a central part of contemporary life, being also recognized as a professional research area of undeniable relevance. Mathematics, however, has been a central topic of knowledge development for centuries and is probably going to be for many more years to come. In that sense, the Instituto de Ciências Matemáticas e de Computação (ICMC), translated as Institute of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, has been a protagonist in these fields throughout its entire history.

In 1971, the ICMC was founded. ICMC has four departments and occupies an area of 18,000 square meters. It also has around 150 faculty members, all with at least PhD degrees, and 120 administrative staff members. It offers seven different bachelor degree programs, as well as four graduate programs, having around two thousand students in total.

Located in the city of São Carlos, considered the “Capital of Science and Technology” in Brazil, the ICMC can count on the infrastructure of the USP campus in São Carlos, which offers facilities such as a restaurant, lodging, transportation between the campuses, medical and dental services, a day care center and a sports center. Its network of computers also includes 2,000 units and high-performance machines and clusters.

An important event for the foundation of ICMC dates back to 1953, when the Math Department of the São Carlos Engineering School (EESC) was founded by renowned Italian mathematicians and Brazilian professors. In 1970, another department, called the Computation Science and Statistics Department, was founded by professors from the Math Department and other departments of EESC. A year later, the Mathematics Science Institute of São Carlos, created by both the Math Department and the Computation Science and Statistics Department, was founded and made independent from EESC.

In November 1996 a process was started to request the inclusion of the term “Computer Sciences” in the name of the Institute. The idea came from the Computer Sciences Department. However, the request was also recognized by the academic society as a whole as valid and relevant. The addition of the term is able to highlight the relevance of computational science in contemporary society and the many research projects and activities that involve both math and computer science today in the world and inside the Institute itself.

On March 22nd 1998, the Congregation of the old ICMSC and USP’s Academic Council decided to change the name of the unit to the one that it is known for today. Now, students are able to enjoy an up-to-date facility that also has an extensive green area. Equipped with 24-hour open educational laboratories, two auditoriums, a library containing approximately 140,000 volumes and 23,000 electronic journal titles, as well as a museum, the Professor Odelar Leite Linhares Computer Museum (which has a collection of more than two hundred pieces of numerical calculation), ICMC is a fundamental part of USP and the global academic community. You can learn more about ICMC on the video below: