The objective of the present work is to characterize the trajectory followed by the nuclei and interdisciplinary research center of the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP-Brazil), between 1982-1994, as well as to describe the dynamics of social processes and the complexity of human activity in the process of transformation of UNICAMP into an Interdisciplinary University.The research highlights the emergence of interdisciplinary structures in the process of modernization of Brazilian higher education, the efforts made and the results achieved, the development of the trend towards interdisciplinarity in post-war science.