The IGC takes into account in its assessment factors such as infrastructure, faculty and graduates' scores in the National Student Performance Exam (ENADE).

[14] In 2004, the Ministry of Education sent Bill 3.962 / 2004 to the National Congress, which provided for the creation of the Federal University of ABC Foundation.

This law was sanctioned by the President of the Republic Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and published in the Federal Official Gazette (D.O.U.)

The current campuses are based in the municipalities of Santo André (headquarters) and São Bernardo do Campo.

[15] The first rector of UFABC was the ex-rector of the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), professor Hermano Tavares (PhD in Automation at the Université de Toulouse), whose term lasted from 2005 to 2007.

[16] Tavares was succeeded by the former president of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), professor Luiz Bevilacqua (PhD in Applied Mechanics at Stanford University and Grand Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit), who had been his vice-chancellor and presided over the university implantation committee.

[17] For health reasons, Bevilacqua left office in mid-2008, being succeeded, pro tempore, by the former president of the Brazilian Society of Physics, Professor Adalberto Fazzio (PhD in Renewable Energies by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Great Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit).

The fact that the curriculum has no fixed order introduces some disadvantages, for example, one professor may apply harder exams than the others, creating a disparity between grades on the same discipline.

It is similar to the CR, however, if a student takes the same discipline multiple times, only the one with the higher grade will be accounted.

The idea behind that is to have students working with interdisciplinary subjects via a methodology that encourages an investigative approach to situations and stimulates scientific research and production.

[35] The university employs professors who received the Capes awards for Best Thesis, researchers with the Commendation and the Grand Cross of the Brazilian Order of Scientific Merit, members of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, and representatives of national scientific organizations.

[29] UFABC participates in major research projects worldwide, among them the presence of the university in the largest scientific project of all time, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) that is operating the largest particle accelerator ever built[37] and also in the DZero Experiment of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) of the United States Department of Energy that conducts research on the basic structure of matter in the second-largest particle accelerator in the world.

[58] The university has instituted a Scholarship Assistance - Events, which finances the participation of its students in extracurricular activities such as presentation of scientific work (e.g. work of graduate students approved at international conferences[59]) and going to technological events such as the Campus Party.

The campus of Santo André has equipment such as[60][61] Atomic force microscopy and Tunneling, Circular dichroism, Elemental Analysis, Electron Paramagnetic Resonance, Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy of High Resolution, Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, Gas chromatograph, Atomic Emission Spectroscopy, Infrared spectroscopy, Potentiostat / Galvanostat, Centrifuge Refrigerated Superspeed, Absorption Spectroscopy and Atomic Emission For Multicomponent Analysis, Gas Chromatography-Mass Detector, Liquid Chromatography System, Modular Electrochemical Microscope, Spectroscopy of Fluorescence, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer, Differential scanning calorimetry, Thermogravimetric Analysis, Optical microscope, High performance liquid chromatography Coupled With Mass spectrometry With Mass Detector, Scanning electron microscope, X-ray crystallography, wind tunnel and supersonic wind tunnel.

Also available are a list of acquisitions in recent months and the articles published on scientific journals by researchers of the UFABC.

[63] They are:[64] Since 2010 UFABC has offered a preparatory course for the ENEM, free for public school students in the ABC Region, as part of an extension project of the university.

In this course, classes are held Monday through Friday by students from the undergraduate institution; these are complemented with cultural activities and lectures by professors from UFABC on Saturdays.

The Bachelor of Science and Technology of UFABC was the most sought-after course in the country in the "Unified Selecting System" (SISU) of Ministry of Education in 2010.

[66] According to statistics collected by the institution,[67] the Bachelor of Science and Technology (BC&T) had a demand of 13,758 applicants competing for 1,500 places (candidate/vacancy ratio of 9.2, with a 10,9% acceptance rate), while the Bachelor of Science and Humanities (BC&H) has 2320 registered for 200 places (candidate/vacancy ratio of 11.6, with an 8,6% acceptance rate).

[71] The university has acquired a large piece of land to the other side of the Avenida dos Estados (across from the current headquarters) to build new research laboratories and support to engineering.

[72] On 25 August 2009 President Lula, accompanied by first lady Marisa Leticia, the Minister of Education, Fernando Haddad, the mayor of Sao Bernardo do Campo, Luiz Marinho, the deputy mayor, Frank Aguiar, and the Senator of the state of São Paulo, Aloisio Mercadante, laid the foundation stone of the campus of UFABC the city of São Bernardo do Campo.

[73] The Board of Education and Research (Consep) of UFABC published in 2010 a resolution asking for corporations and industries interested in signing agreements of internship to enable the students to form placements in these firms.

Among such companies are names like[75] IBM, Itaú, Nestlé, Globo Organizations, General Motors (GM), Ford, Siemens, Honda, Sun Microsystems, Pirelli, BASF, and Accenture.

Students can play basketball, chess, handball, futsal, volleyball, swimming, table tennis, soccer, rugby and martial arts.

In the Tournament "Semana da Asa" that occurs in the CTA, annually organized by the ITA, the athletes of UFABC won 3rd place overall in the first year of participation in 2008, and 1st place overall in the second year of participation in 2009;[77] In 2010, the Engenharíadas tournament brought together engineering colleges),[78] the University Games Paulistanos (organized by the city of São Paulo), the Liga Deportiva Universitaria Paulista (major league sports university in the country)[79] and the Cup of the University of São Carlos, the TUSCA, (organized by UFSCar and USP-São Carlos).

In 2007 a group of students began the Athletic UFABC, starting the Academic Athletic Association XI September (Portuguese: Associação Atlética Acadêmica XI de Setembro), AXIS, whose name was chosen in homage to the days of the first class.

[81] AXIS is now a student representation recognized by UFABC formed by an elected board and that represents all athletes of the university.

AXIS works closely with the DCE (Central Directory of Students) of UFABC organizing parties, sponsoring the travel of athletes, performing the manufacture and sale of customized sports equipment (such as shirts, kimono, swimming caps,[85] etc.

Groups linked to Athletic's UFABC are Cheerleaders, the Infantry (responsible for the UFABC's fanfare in sports tournaments) and the Martial Arts Group, who train practitioners of Karate, Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do and other martial arts.

Some of these are officially recognized by the university while others rely on the coordination of support from professors and education cores,[87] including: