University of The Philippines Diliman

The University of the Philippines Diliman (commonly referred to as U.P. Diliman, or U.P.D., or informally, Peyups), is a coeducational and public research university located in Quezon City, Philippines. It is the flagship campus, seat of administration, and the fourth oldest constituent university of the University of the Philippines System.

In 1948, the newly established Republic of the Philippines sited an area now known as Quezon City as the nation's capital. The following year, the university acquired a 493-hectare area in the Diliman district of the city, which was assigned as the university’s main campus and seat of administration.

U.P.D. was formally established as a constituent university on April 23, 1985 at the 976th Meeting of the U.P. Board of Regents.

U.P.D. is the biggest in terms of number of degree-granting academic units, student population, faculty, and library resources.

The campus occupies 493 hectares of gently rolling terrain. There are 25 degree-granting units on campus, accounting for 23,385 students. Of this number, 17,789 are undergraduates.

In addition to the units in the main campus, U.P.D. has extension programs in Pampanga and Olongapo City. In the Academic Year 2011-2012, U.P.D. offered academic programs in 244 major fields. There were 127 programs at the undergraduate level, 144 at the master’s level and 55 at the doctoral level.

As of August 2011, U.P.D. had a complement of 1,539 full-time faculty, of whom 36 percent have doctoral degrees. Of the total, 302 are Professors, 293 are Associate Professors, 506 are Assistant Professors, four are Research Professors and 434 are instructors.

The library resources of U.P.D. are the largest in the country. The total book and non-book collections number 1,170,723 volumes, which include books, pamphlets, bound periodicals, theses, dissertations, microforms and various multimedia titles. The serial collection totals 60,450 divided into 26,679 print titles and 33,771 unique titles in online journals. This collection has steadily grown through acquisitions and generous donations.

The Commission on Higher Education declared nine (9) U.P.D. units as Centers of Excellence as of 2009, currently the highest recognized by this agency.

Between the '70s and '80s, U.P.D. was the site of much student activism. It was during these times that student demonstration and opposition against Marcos' administration became heavy and aggressive. This was one of the precursors to Marcos' declaration of martial law in 1972.

Notable research units of U.P.D. include: the Marine Science Institute (MSI), the National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS), the National Institute of Physics (NIP), the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology-Diliman (NIMBB-Diliman), and the National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development (NISMED), which are all pioneers of scientific research and development in the Philippines.

Its athletic teams, collectively called the Fighting Maroons, are members of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), while its cheerdance group, the U.P. Pep Squad, represents the university in its annual UAAP Cheerdance Competition and considered as the only superior and number one cheerleading squad in the entire Philippines.