• Representatives of renowned universities showed themselves very interested in establishing agreements and exchange programs in fields like nanoscience, food technology, didactics of mathematics and Latin American studies, among others.

On Monday 17th, our University was visited by representatives of thirteen renowned British universities that showed their deep interest in creating academic links and establishing mutual collaboration agreements.

Particularly, the most attractive fields for the European universities were research in mathematics or in Latin American studies, nanoscience, food technology, technology transfer and English language practice. In these areas, significant collaboration opportunities were open in the short and the medium term.

Óscar Bustos, Vice President of Research, Development and Innovation of Universidad de Santiago, who also took part in the meeting with the British academics and academics from our university, said that this meeting “allows us to have great expectations with respect to potential studies conducted together with some of the most prominent universities of the United Kingdom.”

“The importance of this visit lies in the experience and international recognition of the participating institutions. Universities like Edinburgh or Sheffield are well positioned in world rankings and the work they do is in agreement with our own lines of research,” he added.

According to Vice President Bustos, the fact that our University is recognized for its research work “is one of the factors that attracted the British delegation.”

“Nowadays, our University is in the fourth place in the national rankings of research productivity, publications and awarded projects. These developments, in all areas of knowledge, must have persuaded these British institutions into coming to Universidad de Santiago and proposing academic exchange programs, collaborative works and research,” he concluded.

For her part, Carol Johnson, Head of the Department of International and Inter-University Relations of our University said that the British academics had “excellent” references of Universidad de Santiago “and they knew that we are a complete and complex institution that is well positioned in international rankings; therefore, their visit was not by chance: it is the result of our prestige as university.”

According to Carol Johnson, this first meeting is consistent with Universidad de Santiago’s internationalization policy that has the goal -among others- of establishing links with the best institutions in the world.

“This contact was very promising. It will open many doors to our students and academics, and also, it allows us to put in practice our ambitious internationalization policy,” she added.

At the meeting, that was held at the Rectoría building, Óscar Bustos, Vice President of Research, Development and Innovation; Carol Johnson, Head of the Department of International and Inter-University Relations; Rafael Labarca, Dean of the Faculty of Science; Jaime Eugenín, Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Programs of the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology; Francisco Castañeda, professor at the Faculty of Administration and Economics; Fernando Estenssoro, professor at IDEA; Gastón Herrera, professor at the School of Architecture and Roxana Orrego, professor at the Department of Linguistics and Literature, were present.

The authorities and academics of the following thirteen universities were present at the meeting: University of Ulster, Durham University, University of Sheffield, University of Edinburgh, University of Warwick, University of Bath, Bristol University, Middlesex University, University of Kent, Northumbria University, Glasgow Caledonian University, Cranfield University and University of South Wales.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• On April 04th, quantitative genetics researchers from all over the country will meet at Universidad the Santiago. This scientific discipline could be a significant contribution towards improving species and generating new products.

Transgenic products are a controversial issue; however, little is said about techniques that would help to avoid their use, which results may have a positive impact on the different productive sectors of the country. This help is quantitative genetics, a field that gave rise to the “1st Population Genetics Conference: bridging the genotype-phenotype gap.”

This activity will be held on April 04th, when experts coming from all over the country will meet to discuss about this matter, its significance, implications and progress.

The conference was organized by Dr. Francisco Cubillos, researcher at the Applied Biotechnology and Microbiology Laboratory (Lamap, its acronym in Spanish) of the Food Science and Technology Research Center (CECTA, its acronym in Spanish) of Universidad de Santiago. According to the academic, this opportunity arises from the lack of similar activities in Chile. “Through this conference- he says- we seek to create a community that contributes to optimize the work that we are doing.”

Regarding the participants, Dr. Cubillos says “they are scientists working at the quantitative genetics field, particularly, in narrowing the gap between genotype, our differences at a genetic level, and phenotype, the traits observed in a particular population.”

With respect to the status of this line of work in the country, Dr. Cubillos thinks that it is highly developed, since studies are carried out in different areas: plants, fish, algae and yeasts.

Dr. Cubillos explains that the former is possible as quantitative genetics “is a very friendly technique to improve a species or to enhance the generation of a new product.” “What we do is to try to understand the existing genetic variation and incorporate it so as to create, for example, individuals able to resist a disease or some environmental stress factors, using only what already exists in nature,” he adds.

Regarding the expectations for the conference, the researcher says that he expects “to have debates on the issues, to foster the creation of collaboration networks and partnerships, to give support to students and to continue with this activity in the future.”

Some of the renowned researchers that will take part in the conference are Patricio Hinrichsen, from Grupo Vides Inia La Platina, Levi Mansur, from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Roberto Nespolo, from Universidad Austral, among others. Universidad de Santiago’s representatives will be Dr. Rodrigo Vidal and Dr. Renato Chávez, from the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, in addition to the researchers of the yeast-research area of the University.

The conference will be held on Friday, April 04th, between 09:00 and 18:00 hr., at Sala de Conferencias A, (Conference Room A) in the Centro de Eventos Nacionales e Internacionales of the Vice presidency of Outreach and Engagement, located at Las Sophoras #175.

Registration contact e-mail: francisco.cubillos.r@usach.cl
 
Translated by Marcela Contreras

• While visiting Chile for the presidential hand-over ceremony, the highest authority of this Mexican institution, José Alfonso Esparza, met with Universidad de Santiago’s President, Juan Manuel Zolezzi and expressed his interest in creating academic partnerships in the fields of mining, engineering and social sciences.

On Monday 10th, Dr. Juan Manuel Zolezzi was visited by José Alfonso Esparza, President of Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Mexico, and by other representatives from that university, who showed their deep interest in creating formal links between both institutions in order to allow academic collaboration and student exchange.

President Esparza came to Chile to take part in the presidential hand-over ceremony and he seized the opportunity to visit our University, with which he has kept in contact thanks to our Department of International and Inter-University Relations.

During the meeting held at the Casa Central building, the two Presidents shared experiences regarding the higher education systems in Mexico and Chile and they agreed to foster the establishment of these academic partnerships that will benefit both institutions.

After the meeting, BUAP’s President highlighted the willingness that our University has shown to develop agreements, particularly in the fields of mining, engineering and social sciences.

“It was a very interesting meeting that exceeded our expectations. I think that this University has many experiences to share and we are very likely to settle an agreement in the short term, because we are very interested in this and Universidad de Santiago’s President showed his interest too. We will probably be signing a frame agreement soon to start with student exchanges,” Esparza said.

BUAP´s highest authority said that Puebla, Mexico, is starting to extract mineral resources, but it does not have any university program related to this field. This is why he thinks it is an area in which they could start learning from other experiences.

“Also, our researchers in the field of social sciences expressed their interest in forging links with this University. The engineering programs are equally interested,” he said.

The Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla is an independent, decentralized higher-education institution, located at Puebla City. It was founded 435 years ago and it has 65,685 students in undergraduate and graduate programs (2010). Today, it has shown its willingness to strengthen links with our renowned University.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• On February 28th, the University’s President submitted the statutory documents to Paula Beale, the Executive Secretary of the National Accreditation Commission. The dossier was delivered previous to the Institutional Self-Evaluation Report, which will be submitted by the end of this month, to subsequently have the visit of the external peer reviewers. President Zolezzi invited the University’s community to face this process with the maximum commitment and to stress our University’s strengths, both quantitatively and in terms of values.

On February 28th, President Juan Manuel Zolezzi arrived into the National Accreditation Commission (CNA, in Spanish) offices to submit to Paula Beale, its Executive Secretary, the documents included in the “institutional file” of our University.

Submitting the dossier is the starting point for the process through which our University seeks to renew the institutional accreditation, which is valid until October, for the maximum period of seven years.

“That is what I expect and many people at the University expect it too. We do not see any obstacles to proudly consider that possibility,” President Zolezzi said.

President Zolezzi invited the University’s community to participate in the process and to wait for the visit of the external peer reviewers that could be scheduled for the beginning of the second term. “No matter what the circumstances may be, the University’s community spirit should be the best and we would expect that the academics, the administrative staff and the students consider the University as a priority,” he said.

“We are entering the last stretch (of the process); there is no way back. We have been working for a while and the deadlines have been met,” he added. The goal is to focus the efforts “for the University to be the best institution possible.”

The institutional file contains a letter of introduction by the University’s President, the University’s Strategic Plan, the balances of assets and liabilities for the past three years and the organization chart, besides basic statutory definitions regarding the Institution’s statute, the way of appointing the University’s President, the University’s constitution and several productivity indicators regarding the number of students and academics and the proportion between them.

The purpose of all this quantitative information is to offer a picture of the different dimensions of Universidad de Santiago. The next step is the submission of the Self-Evaluation Report, on March 28th, so that the CNA calls the external peer reviewers that will visit our University.

The time for the visit

Although 2013 was marked by the institutional work towards renewing the accreditation, this year there will be an election process at the University: something that could affect the peer reviewers’ visit.

“We think that elections days are not a good time for the visit of peer reviewers. And in case that we have a new President and new authorities, we think that a visit after those changes is not optimum either. Therefore, the best time would be July-August this year. We have pointed out this situation and I think that the CNA will take it into consideration, due to the changes in the University’s environment,” President Zolezzi said.

Strengths of our Institution

President Zolezzi explained that, even though it is still necessary to fix some details of the Self-Evaluation Report, there are important strengths that should be stressed, like the University’s social commitment, and in this regard, the defense of public education that defines Universidad de Santiago’s spirit through its institutional management. He also highlighted the University’s competitiveness in the field of research, particularly in innovation and patenting, and in the area of outreach and engagement, “in which, for example, our radio station has shared the University’s way of feeling with the community that listens to it,” he said.

President Zolezzi concluded by emphasizing the University’s performance regarding our undergraduate and graduate programs, considering that the students of our Institution graduate in a reasonable time and become part of the world of work a few months after graduating, getting paid accordingly. “This is an example of the design and the product that the University is developing, including all our support to students, not only from the technocratic point of view but also from the human one, what allows us to say that we will have positive data regarding this aspects.”

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Universidad de Santiago was among the four national universities that will receive more funds from the National Fund for the Scientific and Technological Development (Fondecyt, its acronym in Spanish), according to the results of the 2014 Contest. Universidad de Chile, Universidad Católica and Universidad de Concepción were the other three universities.

• In recognition of his extensive career in the area of electrochemistry, Dr. José Zagal, professor at the Department of Chemistry of Materials, was invited to be part of the editorial board of Electrochemistry Communications, an international journal with the higher impact index in its field.

Dr. José Zagal, professor at the Department of Chemistry of Materials of our university, was selected to be part of the editorial board of Electrochemistry Communications, the renowned scientific journal partnered with Elsevier that has the higher impact index in the field of electrochemistry.

In a conversation with UdeSantiago al Día, the academic said that he understood his inclusion in the board as “recognition of my work over many years; but most important, the recognition of a work that has mainly been done by a team.”

Professor Zagal has a vast experience in the scientific research field, particularly in the study of oxygen and reactivity. He started to work at Universidad de Santiago 40 years ago and he has kept on publishing specialized articles in his field of interest since then.

Besides, he has been part of editorial boards of different scientific journals, like the International Journal of Electrochemistry of Hindawi Publishing Corporation, since 2011 and the International Journal of Biotechnology & Biochemistry (IJBB), since 2012.

Zagal said that it is very important that both students and academics produce publications in their fields and get involved in different creative processes “to contribute not only to this University’s development but to all the country.”

“I think that it is necessary that students in any program should take part in creative and practical processes, that is to say, they should get involved in laboratory work since their first years at the university, so that they produce new knowledge that can reach most of the people through renowned publications,” he said.

“Publishing research results is essential. When you make public the work you do, your work becomes recognized in that field and, at the same time, you spread new knowledge,” he added.

For this reason, professor Zagal expects that his role at the Electrochemistry Communications’ editorial board means a contribution to the promotion of sciences and to the better positioning of Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

“You stay at this university because you love it and not for the money. Many researchers here might well be working at private sector companies, but they stay here because they feel a real bond with this institution,” he said.

“For the love that I have for this University, I expect that my inclusion in the editorial board will benefit the institution and will contribute to spread knowledge among society,” Dr. Zagal concluded.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The Food Science and Technology Research Center of Universidad de Santiago was accredited as a laboratory for 4 years by the National Institute for Standardization, an agency that is in charge of certifying infrastructure, equipment and qualified staff, in this case, to perform scientific tests in the areas of chemistry and microbiology. President Juan Manuel Zolezzi congratulated the Center’s managers, academics and students for this achievement, stressing that “the commitment of our University to science, technology and innovation is faithfully reflected in this laboratory, so we will continue making it stronger.”

On Wednesday 8th, the President of Universidad de Santiago, Juan Manuel Zolezzi arrived in the facilities of the Food Science and Technology Research Center (CECTA, its acronym in Spanish) to congratulate its managing team, academics and students for the accreditation of CECTA by the National Institute for Standardization (INN, its acronym in Spanish).

The INN is an autonomous foundation created by the Chilean Economic Development Agency (Corfo) that is in charge of promoting the creation and use of Chilean standards and accrediting conformity assessment institutions like CECTA of Universidad de Santiago, which was certified for the maximum period of 4 years.

After a process started in 2009, with more emphasis as of 2011, the INN finally informed in December, 2013, that the CECTA has the infrastructure, equipment and qualified staff to run scientific tests as a test laboratory in the areas of chemistry and microbiology.

During his visit, President Zolezzi said that he was aware of “the great job done by everyone who is part of CECTA in an accreditation process that is not easy.”

“I know the efforts that CECTA has made to get accredited. These are not simple processes, but the excellent results obtained are worthy. Also, this certification significantly backs not only the Center but the University, that has contributed to this achievement with funds and will continue doing it,” President Zolezzi said.

“The commitment of our University to science, technology and innovation is faithfully reflected in this laboratory; this is why we are interested in continuing to make this type of organization stronger and we expect this to attract researchers from the University and other institutions,” he said.

For his part, Claudio Martínez, director of CECTA, described CECTA’s accreditation by the INN as “a milestone in the history of our Center.”

“This decision recognizes our very professional way of working and it open doors for us to undertake more complex projects, together with companies, exporting ones mainly, which we were not able to access before. It is a great opportunity and it is our challenge to make the most of it,” Martínez said.

“For example now, we can have access to other types of certification, through SAG (Agricultural and Livestock Service) or Sernapesca (Fishing National Service), which are agencies that require previous accreditations,” he added.

“This means that the accreditation was the first big step; now, our mission is to keep CECTA moving forward in the same way it has advanced up to now: meeting standards and regulations to the greatest possible degree,” concluded Claudio Martínez, director of this accredited Center.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The first meeting was held by the end of November at our University, with a delegation of University College London (UCL), which agreed to put in contact its experts with academics of the Faculty of Engineering and the Advanced Studies Institute of our University before the end of the year.

With the presence of a group of academics of the University College London, United Kingdom, our University’s authorities signed an agreement of collaboration and student mobility between both higher education institutions.

The three UCL representatives were the Pro-Provost for the Americas, Alejandro Madrigal; the Director of the Centre for Languages and International Education, Christine Hoffman; and the Director of the Office for International Affairs, Nigel Percival. Universidad de Santiago representatives who enabled the agreement were the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Ramón Blasco; the Head of the Department of Scientific Research Projects Management, Pablo Vera; the Head of the Department of International and Inter-University Relations, Carol Johnson; the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs of the Faculty of Engineering, Ricardo Vega; the Vice Dean for Research of the Faculty of Humanities, Miguel Farías and professor Gastón Herrera, from the School of Architecture.

Although it was the first meeting, it was very fruitful. Carol Johnson, Head of the Department of International and Inter-University Relations said, “Some agreements were already set, like the one regarding the collaboration between the UCL and the Faculty of Engineering to support or participate in ongoing projects, like Ingeniería 2030. We also agreed to put in contact UCL’s Centre for Latin American Studies with our Institute for Advanced Studies (IDEA, in Spanish). At the same time, we will work on a student mobility agreement.”

During the meeting, the delegations agreed on the main areas of interest for both institutions where some joint projects could be started and for which this British University has some funds awarded by the Santander Scholarship. “They offered these funds to us in case our academics and theirs are interested in starting some collaboration project,” Carol Johnson said.

History and quality

The possibility of finding common interests between UCL and Universidad de Santiago was enabled by the British Council, organization that already knew our university’s interest in creating bonds with other universities in the United Kingdom.

“Our Corporation, through its internationalization policy, has the purpose of building links with universities of excellence. University College London is a diverse and complete institution, with a great development in research, and it is in the fourth place in the QS Rankings,” Carol Johnson said.

The Engineering academics were going to contact each other before the British delegation left the country, while the contact between IDEA and the UCL’s Centre for Latin American Studies should be made before the end of this year. “And soon we will be working on a student mobility collaboration agreement and we expect it to yield results during 2014,” she added.

During the meeting where the agreements were signed, the three academics from the British institution showed themselves willing to broaden the areas of mutual collaboration. They learned about the history behind the 164 years of our University, its spirit, hallmark and culture; the quality of its academics, alumni, and its contribution to society.

Over more than 180 years of existence, the UCL has contributed to the scientific and social development through achievements and discoveries that have marked its legacy. Among its former students, there are several Nobel Prize winners and famous alumni. Besides, it has cooperation agreements with several universities around the world, with integrating and multicultural projects, from the point of view of a global university that to provides the world with solutions.