From a comparative perspective, the creation of the Faculties of Medicine (1875) and Mathematics (1888), which will contemplate in their teaching some aspects of physics, may seem a path towards the autonomy of the discipline. In a way, the canonical bibliography on the history of Udelar seems to want to show that the reforms promoted by Alfredo Vázquez Acevedo led to transformations that, among other things, sought to adapt “to the scientific progress of the time.” On the other hand, Blanca Paris characterizes the same period using expressions from Eduardo Acevedo:In this way, it is often argued that Uruguay and its university would have entered a stage reigned by “scientism”, as material resources were provided to strengthen physics or chemistry courses, with appropriate equipment to accompany teaching. While this can be analyzed in a general and very simplistic way as a transformation of the university turned towards a better attention to scientific knowledge, such transformation does not enclose what essentially defines scientific universities. And the distinctive element is that, despite the resources poured, the ultimate concern was in the teaching of the student, and not in research. It is paradoxical to see how, in the same historical period, in Germany the concern was centered on the need for the state to allocate its resources towards laboratories and institutes so that, precisely, they do not limit themselves to the function of teaching. But while spaces dedicated to research in these new faculties created are not recognized, a closer look allows us to recognize academic trajectories where there is a different concern regarding the teaching function reduced to its pedagogical function.