The Universidad Cientifica del Sur or Scientific University of the South (UCSUR) is a private institution of higher education, which is accredited by Ministerio de Educación, Peru and is located 19km to the south of the city of Lima.
Founded and recognised in 1998 by a group of education representatives led by Carlos Dextre, it began by offering medicine and systems engineering programmes; now it overs 18 bachelor and 13 master’s degree programmes to over 2,000 students, as well as several specialisation courses.
Most academic and administrative activities take place in Campus Villa, located near the Pantanos de Villa Wildlife Refuge, a 263 hectare protected marsh area in the district of Chorrillos.
The university also has a Cultural Centre, which was established in 2004, and promotes and manages artistic and cultural events within the community. Its motto is "Mejoras tú. Mejora el mundo," meaning "You improve. The world improves" in Spanish.
The university supplies a transport service for students and personnel from Lima to Campus Villa and for students inside the campus, the university provides bicycles.
The academic year at The Universidad Cientifica del Sur has two semesters. Each semester has 18 weeks and most courses are designed to be completed in that period. UCSUR’s research incentives are mainly for the following areas: veterinary and husbandry, agrarian and forest sciences, medicine, marine biology and environmental engineering and research.
One of the university’s easiest to access attractions is the nearby Pantanos de Villa wildlife, which, with a total of 210 different bird species, is a birdwatcher’s paradise.
