The consultation with the academic community to choose the new rector of Unicamp will be defined in a second round, to be disputed between professors Paulo César Montagner (Cesinha), professor of the School of Physical Education, and José Antônio Rocha Gontijo, professor of the School of Medical Sciences. According to the counting data released by the Organizing Committee of the Consultation (COC) late in the afternoon of this Wednesday (12), Montagner obtained 46,88% of the votes and finished in first place. Gontijo came in second, with 39,58% of the votes. Professor Maria Luiza Moretti finished the consultation in third, with 13,54% of the votes, and is out of the dispute. According to the data collected by the committee, a total of 11.352 voters participated in the first round.
The electoral college is made up of approximately 38.300 voters, divided into approximately 1.900 teachers, 6.900 other civil servants and 29.400 students. Voting is optional. To win in the first round, the candidate would need to obtain more than 50% of the valid weighted votes – from the categories of teachers, students and civil servants. The weight of the vote of teachers is three-fifths. The weight of the votes of civil servants and students is one-fifth. (See table below)
According to the commission, the two days of voting went by without incident. “This was a very respectful process. There was mutual respect between the candidates and that seemed to us to be a very good thing,” said Professor Márcio Cataia, president of the COC.
From now on, the two best-placed candidates will have 12 days of campaigning, during which they will be able to visit units, participate in debates and get in touch with voters. According to Cataia, there are already three debates scheduled.
At the end of the second round, the University Council (Consu), the highest decision-making body of the University, must prepare a list of three candidates and forward the document to the state governor, who will appoint the new rector. Traditionally, the governor indicates the first name on the list prepared by Consu.
The consultation marks the succession of Rector Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, who has been in office since April 2021. The date of the new rector's inauguration has not yet been defined, but it should take place between April 22 and 24. The nominee will lead the University from April 2025 to April 2029.
The campaign at Unicamp began at the end of January, when the COC approved the three candidates. Since then, three official debates proposed by the committee have taken place. In addition to these, others were promoted by professional associations, such as the Unicamp Teachers Association (Adunicamp), the Unicamp Workers Union (STU) and student organizations. The candidates also visited several of the University's units, spoke with voters about localized problems and discussed structural issues.
Unicamp
Unicamp, responsible for 8% of the academic research carried out in the country, has around 33 thousand undergraduate and postgraduate students. In the most recent Times Higher Education (THE) ranking, released at the end of last year, the University is ranked as the second most important in Latin America.
Unicamp's healthcare sector is one of the most important in the state. In addition to the Hospital de Clínicas (HC), the Hospital da Mulher Prof. Dr. José Aristodemo Pinotti (Caism), the Gastrocentro and the Hemocentro, the structure also includes the Sumaré State Hospital (HES) and the Piracicaba Regional Hospital.
The University also runs Medical Specialty Clinics (AMEs) in Amparo, Limeira, Mogi Guaçu, Piracicaba, Rio Claro, Santa Bárbara D'Oeste and São João da Boa Vista. In total, Unicamp's services in this sector cover 125 municipalities.
With campuses in Campinas, Limeira and Piracicaba, Unicamp also manages two technical colleges – the Campinas Technical College (Cotuca) and the Limeira Technical College (Cotil) –, in addition to the Multidisciplinary Center for Chemical, Biological and Agricultural Research, in Paulínia.
By 2025, the University should have a budget of R$4,2 billion.
Meet the two candidates
Paulo Cesar Montagner
I was born on November 22, 1963, the second child of a loving and large family. On July 22, 1989, I married Denise, and the arrival of our beloved children, João Vitor and Isabela, became a special moment in our lives. I studied in public schools and, in 1984, I graduated in physical education from the Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas (PUC-Campinas). The choice was right, because sports have always been present in my life, especially basketball, which provided me with many opportunities as an athlete in my youth and as a coach in the sport. My career at FEF-Unicamp began on May 15, 1988, when the school was still young and faced great challenges to be implemented. These experiences in sports were fundamental to my development as a professional in the area at the University. I obtained a master's degree in philosophy of education (1993) and a doctorate in physical education from FEF (1999). In 2015, I obtained a postgraduate degree in the area of sports and training and, in 2022, after passing a public examination, I was promoted to full professor.
Throughout my career at Unicamp, I have held several positions, including professor, researcher, and administrator. I was undergraduate coordinator at FEF (2000-2006), director of FEF (2006-2010), technical-scientific coordinator of the Center for Advanced Studies (Ceav) in the sports area at Unicamp (2010-2013), executive director of Funcamp (2010-2014), and head of the Rector's Office in two administrations (2013-2017 and 2021-2025). I have intensified my scientific production, published articles, books, and book chapters, coordinated research projects, and integrated international networks, such as the International Basketball Research Network (IBRN). I have supervised doctoral theses, master's dissertations, scientific initiation projects (IC), and more than a hundred course completion papers (TCCs). In addition, I worked as a consultant and member of editorial boards for journals and funding agencies.
Jose Antonio Rocha Gontijo
I was born in 1956, in Piumhi (MG), a city nestled in a valley between Serra da Pimenta and Serra da Canastra.
For ten years, I lived as an itinerant on the banks of the Rio Grande, starting in Piumhi, where I attended elementary school and, during high school and high school, I attended eight institutions, as a result of moving around due to my father's work. I was accepted in first place in 1974 for a degree in medicine at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Brasília (UnB), and graduated in 1981.
Combining clinical medicine and scientific experimentation, I sought an area of knowledge in which I could integrate these purposes. Thus, I completed my medical residency in nephrology at the Department of Clinical Medicine at FMRP-USP. In 1983, I got married and, from this marriage, I have three children of whom I am very proud. In 1983, I began my postgraduate studies at FMRP-USP. In 1987, while still working on my doctorate, I took on the role of teaching technician in internal medicine and semiology at RDIDP at Unicamp. Between 1992 and 1994, I completed my postdoctoral studies at the University of Iowa (United States), expanding my international experience.
At FCM, I coordinated the Postgraduate Committee, was associate director and director of the faculty. At the national level, I coordinated the Medicine I area of Capes for eight years. I was head of the Office of the Rector of Unicamp, collaborating with the management of the University during a very challenging period.
Currently, as a full professor at FCM, I dedicate myself to teaching and research on renal function, neural control of the kidney, arterial hypertension and the effects of nutritional stress on renal ontogenesis. I am a CNPq 1D productivity fellow and have published approximately 180 articles in national and international scientific journals, in addition to ten book chapters. I have supervised or am currently supervising 36 master's degree students, 30 doctoral students and 4 postdoctoral projects, reflecting my commitment to training new researchers. With this trajectory, I have established a reference in the field of medicine, both in Brazil and internationally.
