The campus was built with donations from institutions and foundations in the early 1940s. In the early '60s the
USA through its
American Schools and Hospitals Abroad program donated the building now named after President
John Kennedy; the grant was received during his administration. Besides the Central Library there are three specialized libraries. Solar Grandjean de Montigny (built in 1823 by the architect of the
same name), PUC-Rio's Cultural Center, has year-round visual arts exhibitions. Pilotis (Kennedy building's ground floor) hosts cultural events such as political debates, shows, and fairs. The "Festa Junina" each June features folkloric food, costumes, and dance from old Brazil. There is also the "Vila dos Diretórios" (Academic Directories Village), a small cobblestone alley that used to house employees from a local factory, but which since the opening of the campus, has become a place of social interaction. Each house in the alley belongs to an academic directory, which must maintain and look after the property, and can use it for whatever it wishes. The engineering directory house, for example, is often used for studying and to heat up meals in a public microwave there located. Parties, themed or not, are often held in the village, always on Thursdays. On campus are three restaurants, five coffee-shops, a bookstore, an office supply store, copy centers, branches of
Banco Itaú and
Banco Santander Brasil, newsstand, and
ATMs. The neighborhood of the university contains more shops, banks, the Rio Planetarium, specialized bookstores, restaurants, and a mall. Most students use
Rio de Janeiro's municipal bus system to get to the campus. A
metro station was being built on the site of the former university parking lot as part of the construction work for the
Rio 2016 Olympic Games. However, due to accusations of overpricing, the work was halted and, to this day, has not been completed. PUC-Rio can be divided into four university centers, each center is made of dozens of units and supplementary organs responsible for education, research and extension in their respective areas of knowledge. •
Center for Social Sciences (CCS): It consists of nine departments administration, social science, social communication, law, economy, geography and environment, history, social service and international relations. •
Science and Technology Center (CTC): The CTC offers ten engineering programs (Petroleum, Control and Automation, Production, Computing, Chemical Engineering, Materials and Nanotechnology, Electrical, Mechanical, and Environmental Engineering), as well as two computer science programs (Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence), and undergraduate degrees in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry. The
Lua programming language was created at the Tecgraf Institute, which is part of the CTC. • '''
Center of Theology and Human Sciences (CTCH):''' It consists of seven departments, eight undergraduate courses, eight graduate programs, In addition to the departments of architecture and urbanism, arts and design, education, philosophy, letters, psychology and theology. The Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities (IEAHu) and the Carlo Maria Martini Chair are part of the deanery. • '''
Center for Biological and Health Sciences (CCBS):''' it encompasses several departments, including the Department of Biology, Department of Medicine (House of Medicine), and the Department of Nutrition. While the university does not yet offer an undergraduate Medicine program, it provides postgraduate courses through the School of Medical Postgraduate Studies within the House of Medicine, located near the main campus. Plans for an undergraduate Medicine course are in development but have no set release date. ==Admission==