The Universidade del Norte, or the University of the North, was set up in 1991 and its motto is ※quality, science and culture§.
It is located in the medium-sized city of Asunci車n, in Paraguay, and has faculties in health sciences, chemistry, medicine, law, economics and business, engineering, education and human sciences. It is home to Paraguay*s first faculty of postgraduate study, as well as 13 community faculties and 40 buildings.
On-campus facilities include 23 research libraries, the largest multimedia collection in the Mercosur region, 47 laboratories and clinics with state-of-the-art faculties. There is also a university art gallery.
The faculty of medicine at the Universidade del Norte is the only university in Paraguay with a Nobel Prize in Medicine. Professor Louis J. Ignarro won the prize in 2000, for his discovery that nitric oxide is a signalling molecule of the cardiovascular system. Some 250,000 local residents are also patients at the university*s medical facilities.
The Universidade del Norte Paraguay has set up 70 international exchange agreements and programmes across the world.
Asunci車n is Paraguay*s capital city and is home to over 2.5 million people. Bordered by the Paraguay river, it is made of sprawling suburbs and a city centre filled with colonial, beaux arts buildings and shady plazas.
It is famous for the L車pez Palace, which is the government building and president*s offices. There is also the National Pantheon of Heroes, with a mausoleum and plaques to commemorate famous Paraguayan historical figures and the Independence House Museum, which is also a classical colonial building. Contrary to its heavy traffic and diesel fumes, Asunci車n is actually one of the lusher and well-liked capitals in South America.