This text is the result of bibliographic and documentary research in the field of History of Education. It presents the history of education institutions in Brazil, from the their foundation, at the beginning of the 19th century, through to the 1960s. This work examines the separation between
technical/professional and philosophical/scientific education that existed with the creation of the
first Brazilian universities, as a result of the social and economic needs of the time. It demonstrates that the split between basic and applied research is derived from the primary export model that was prevalent at the time, in which the higher education demanded by the country was focused mostly on bachelor degrees, unrelated to scientific research practice.