• The implementation of this new research instance was announced by the University’s President, Juan Manuel Zolezzi, on December 3rd, during the launching of a Program for Institutional Improvement (PMI, in Spanish), funded by the Ministry of Education. The purpose of this new Information Technology Innovation Center for Social Applications (Citiaps, in Spanish) is to be an intermediary between research and its viability as software products that could be commercially developed, based on the premise of integrating innovation and science.

The PMI was created by this Corporation as a strategy to achieve world-class excellence in an innovative way, integrating three research areas to develop science- based innovation: Information technology, psychology and neuroscience. The University was awarded a grant from the Ministry of Education’s contestable fund to finance the program through a performance agreement.

“With this project we intend to improve our international competitiveness, increase the University’s scientific productivity in a significant way, and reach higher levels of teaching and scientific discoveries. All this will be done through the highly specialized and interdisciplinary research centers that we already have and through others that we are committed to create,” said President Zolezzi.

In the program’s launching ceremony, held on December 3rd in the University’s Salón de Honor, the University’s President said that the PMI will outline the future of applied research and that a significant share of this goal will lie on this new Information Technology Innovation Center for Social Applications.

Applied innovation for society

“The Citiaps will integrate the work done until now and it also considers the technological origins of this University and the great development of social sciences during the last years,” President Zolezzi said, emphasizing at the same time the center’s efforts to develop strategic partnerships among researchers, entrepreneurs and companies, doing a state-of-the-art interdisciplinary work.

“The PMI will strengthen the Vice Presidency of Investigation, Development and Innovation (Vridei, in Spanish) and to consolidate a technology transfer platform to do research in association with companies and to transfer and commercialize the R+D results,” the President added.

Oscar Bustos, Vice President of Investigation, Development and Innovation said that, although the Citiaps will be focused on three main areas (Information technology, psychology and neuroscience), its goal will be to cover all disciplines. “We want our students- who are very creative- to channel their ideas through the center, so that researchers develop these ideas and create products which are useful to society.”

“The idea is to generate innovation based on high-impact science. We have set ambitious but real goals,” the Vice President said.

Contributing to the country

Alberto Vásquez, Head of the Ministry of Education’s Higher Education Division, referred to the excellent assessment that the PMI had during the contest, which meant being granted the funds, and to the significance of contributing with new knowledge for Chile. “We would like to congratulate and support this initiative and say that for our country is good, important and relevant to award this performance agreement to Universidad de Santiago.”

John Fraser, American expert and professor at the Florida State University, who was a special guest at the ceremony, valued this interdisciplinary initiative from an international point of view saying that this was the best moment to invest in knowledge and to promote creativity, considering the economic success of the country.

Finally, Luis Magne, Head of the Vridei’s Technological Management Department awarded the winners of the First Patent Contest for Students: Roberto Santiago, from the Department of Chemical Engineering; Jaime Lagos and Álvaro Espejo, from the Department of Physics; Camila Manfredi, from the School of Architecture, and Loreto Acevedo, from the Department of Food Science and Technology.

Fernando Vial, Head of the Ministry of Education’s Institutional Financing Department; Mauricio Marín, PMI and Citiaps’ Scientific Director; Pablo Vera, Citiaps’ Deputy Scientific Director; Ramón Blasco, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering; Rafael Labarca, Dean of the Faculty of Science, Augusto Samaniego, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, and other authorities, also attended the ceremony.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• They shared with 400 youngsters from 71 countries, met 15 Nobel laureates in the fields of science and received recognition for their enthusiasm and creativity in the picture that they took and sent to the organizing committee before their trip.
• Felipe Recabal Rivas and Eduardo Cancino Jaque, students at the Faculty of Science, and Renato Leiva Tubino, student at the Technological Faculty, represented Universidad de Santiago at the first version of this important science meeting for youngsters worldwide.
• The three students, together with Maricarmen Castro Amaro, student at Universidad de Chile, represented Chile in the activity that, according to the surveys, exceeded expectations.
• The group was accompanied by Dr Dora Altbir Drullinsky, director of the Center for the Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. She said that after the trip, “They came back highly motivated for what they are studying, aware of the impact that science may have on a country’s welfare and of the importance of personal efforts to have good results. This experience will mark them for many years, both personally and at their work in their disciplines.”

Felipe Recabal Rivas and Eduardo Cancino Jaque, students at the Faculty of Science; Renato Leiva Tubino, student at the Technological Faculty, and Maricarmen Castro Amaro, student at Universidad de Chile, were the only Chilean representatives at the first version of the World Science Conference- Israel (WSCI). They were accompanied by Dr Dora Altbir Drullinsky, director of the Center for the Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.

More than 400 students from 71 countries attended the conference, and the four Chilean students fulfilled the requested tasks with enthusiasm and creativity, the abilities that this conference sought to foster.

The Chilean students received recognition for the creative picture that they took of themselves together with a moai a few days before leaving the country, showing their eagerness to participate. With this picture, they won the second place in the contest of most original photographs.

Besides, each student participated in groups made up of students from different countries and science disciplines, to promote collaborative work among scientists. Eduardo Cancino participated in a team that was recognized for its work in making one of the best posters of the conference.

Inspiration

For the students, the conference was a great experience, as “It reflected the great interest that Israel has for scientific activity, as a key part of development,” Felipe Recabal said after the trip.

He highlighted that working with international multidisciplinary teams showed him that “There is always more than one way of interpreting and analyzing a phenomenon, what makes science much more complete.”

Eduardo Cancino stressed how interesting the presentations were, particularly the ones given by researchers whose scientific-technological developments seemed “impressive to him.” “A significant factor was that they had received funding for their studies, what is very encouraging in research matters,” he said.

He added that, from his personal point of view, the experience shared by the speakers made him understand the importance of persistence and hard work. “Once, they were like us, so we have a long way of efforts and dedication to go.”

Renato Leiva highlighted the level of the organization of the conference and its goals. The conference sought “To inspire young scientists, and I feel that, at least in my case, I am now more eager to continue working in science and doing my best to contribute to my country and the world.”

He was surprised by the scientific environment in which Israel lives. “I was able to notice that young Israelis who I talked to are very eager to contribute to their country. I believe this enthusiasm should be replicated in Chile. What all Nobel laureates stressed the most (both in presentations and in conversations) was ‘Do not give up.’ I will use this message in my academic development,” he said.

For Maricarmen Castro, student at Universidad de Chile, the experience was “Out of this world!” “It put into perspective all I had thought about science since I was a girl. Listening to Nobel laureates and see how they got where they are now was very exciting and gave me a lot to learn. Effort, motivation and persistence are the key words to say ‘Eureka’ some day.”

Motivation for the future

For her part, Dr Altbir described the activity as “fantastic.” “The possibility of interacting with such renowned scientists as the 15 Nobel laureates and other scientist from different universities of Israel, plus the huge cultural diversity given by the students of 70 countries, and an environment that fostered creativity and imagination, made this conference a “once in a lifetime experience,” she said.

She added that she has been able to see that the students came back “Highly motivated for what they are studying, aware of the impact that science may have on a country’s welfare and of the importance of personal efforts to have good results. This experience will mark them for many years, both personally and at their work in their disciplines.”

The conference was held in Jerusalem and it was conceived to contribute to the cooperation and the sense of responsibility, for a better future for the new generations of scientists.

The activity was organized by the Hebrew University, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel.

The Chilean delegation was supported by the Center for the Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (Cedenna) and the Israeli Embassy in Chile.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Professor Osvaldo García was invited to give a presentation on an organizational self-observation tool, called CLEHES©, to postdoctoral students of Takashi Ikegami Laboratory, an institution specialized in the field of artificial life, at University of Tokyo.

More than ten years ago, Osvaldo García, professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering of Universidad de Santiago, started to develop CLEHES, a tool that intends the individual to generate learning, both at a personal level and at workl, through self-observation and the observation of interactions among human beings and their constituting networks, developing a diagnosis and an organizational design through Body, Language, Emotion, History, Eros and Silence (CLEHES©, its acronym in Spanish).

The contribution made by the course given by professor García, called Human Reengineering for Action (Rihpla, its acronym in Spanish), of the Department of Industrial Engineering, together with the academic prominence and prestige of CLEHES, made the publication of this innovative tool to be among the 100 most important international scientific publications in the field. In turn, it called the attention of different institutions that were interested in this emerging and effective technology.

For this reason, the professor Takashi Ikegami´s artificial life laboratory at the renowned University of Tokyo, in Japan, contacted professor García and invited him to give a presentation in September 2013 to graduate students at that Asian institution.

Professor García explained that, at Takashi Ikegami Laboratory, where the latest advances in robotics are being developed, they had a closed seminar for postdoctoral students and, besides, they explored the applications of CLEHES to the field of artificial life.”

“Students there made an effort to evaluate what changes could be made to apply some aspects of CLEHES´ structural dynamics to robot building,” García said. “We even talked about the possibility of generating a CLEHES-Robotics tool in collaboration with our University,” he added.

Professor García, an academic at Universidad de Santiago, stressed that, in Japan, robot building “is not approached through aggressive or merely recreational policies. It is considered a contribution to society, for example, to help senior citizens.” Therefore, the social self-observation tool CLEHES would be very useful.

Professor García showed himself satisfied with the new possibilities of internationalization and collaborative work with Japanese specialists opened by the research during the Rihpla course and CLEHES, and besides, he highlighted the concept of applied “ortho-discipline”, that is to say, to respect the autonomy of the different specialists involved in a collaborative project.

“In the Japanese culture, it takes time to establish collaborative relationships, but even so, we were able to forge significant links with them and also with the Japanese Embassy, where entrepreneurship and innovation are developing valuable bilateral ties,” professor García concluded.

CLEHES used by young researchers

Susana Gómez, who is doing her dissertation on diagnosis for her Master´s degree in Engineering Sciences using CLEHES technology, said that this innovative tool has been very useful to young students who pursue a specialization in management solutions.

“The networks created due to the international prominence of CLEHES have been amazing,” she said.

“This is a really new tool for management that is gaining strength and is being put into practice. Japanese specialists have the theoretical knowledge and the laboratories, but they have not put this technology into practice. Here in Chile, we have taken it to companies and schools and we have also applied it in our academic unit both in undergraduate and graduate students,” she said

For his part, Roberto Álvarez, a student who obtained his Master´s degree in Engineering Sciences by doing his dissertation using CLEHES to solve organizational problems said: “This management tool has been very helpful for my professional career and for working at big companies.”

“Besides, studying and applying this meta-discipline has helped us to open opportunities and to differentiate ourselves from other universities’ students,” he concluded.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr Alan Bennet, Executive Director of the University of California-Davis Center of Excellence that started operating in Chile this year, visited Universidad de Santiago de Chile. The purpose of the visit was to meet with professors and inform them about the opportunities that the center provides to work in partnership in order to create a platform for the development of collaborative research with the national agricultural-food sector. This is the first department that the renowned university has opened outside USA.

University of California-Davis Center of Excellence, the first department of this university outside USA, opened in Chile last April. Its purpose is to create a platform for the development of collaborative research with the national agricultural-food sector.

Its Executive Director, Dr Alan Bennet, visited Universidad de Santiago on August 26^th and met with professors at the university to inform them about the opportunities that the center provide to do collaborative work.

“We work with industries to detect problems, form work teams with experts at Universidad de California-Davis and at Chilean universities that are part of the program, and now we want to find the best researchers at Universidad de Santiago to include them in this project,” Dr Bennet said.

This center is part of the Attraction of International R&D Centers of Excellence program promoted by the Chilean Economic Development Agency (Corfo) that seeks to make Chile a regional hub of innovation. For this purpose, the center is already working with three national universities, i.e., Universidad de Tarapacá, Universidad de Talca and Universidad Andrés Bello, and Universidad de Santiago will be joining in soon.

Dr Pablo Zamora, Scientific Director of the Center and PhD in Biotechnology from Universidad de Santiago, was also present at the meeting. He explained that, in the short term, they would like to expand their research lines to other production sectors that could require solving problems too. Currently, their projects are focused on viticulture and oenology, besides the three main initial research lines: genomic analysis, microbial detection and prediction of and adaptation to climate change.

In this regard, Dr Zamora said that their work is mainly oriented to develop applied science, driven by the industry requirements. “Therefore, it is not a space for fundamental science, because we know that universities and technological centers are covering that area,” he said.

The team of UC-Davis Chile said that they are looking for partners to expand their research lines; this is the reason why they have considered Universidad de Santiago as a strategic partner, with the capabilities required to face the challenges posed by this joint work.

“We know a lot about Universidad de Santiago, because Pablo was a student at that university. Thanks to him, we know about the faculties and programs, and this is very helpful, because it allows us to recognize each other as research universities,” Dr Bennet said.

A center for the agro-industrial sector

The decision to establish this center in our country relates, in first place, to the historical collaboration links between Chile and California that date back to the sixties, to the government of Eduardo Frei Montalva. This agreement was ratified in 2008, during the first term of President Michelle Bachelet, giving origin to the “Chile-California Plan: a strategic association for the 21^st century.” Besides, both territories share similar geography and climate conditions, as well as similar challenges, like diversifying the energy matrices.

On the other side, the drought and constant frosts that affect the agricultural-food sector require effective solutions, and the science developed at universities could successfully address these problems.

During his presentation, Dr Zamora said: “We want to bring capable people and, at the same time, we believe that in Chile, there are many researchers working on these issues who care about contingencies, and we want to help them to strengthen their work.”

In this regard, Dr Zamora thinks that the fact of having this foreign institution in our country will lead to new business opportunities for the Chilean and global economy; to new developments and technologies and to their faster transfer to the market; to strengthening bilateral relations; to developing studies focused on the market to accelerate innovation; and to supporting the area of Life Sciences, with a special emphasis on the agricultural industry.

The Department of Technology Management (DGT, in Spanish) will inform the researchers who may be interested in this alliance of what the process will be to present project proposals.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr. Maximiliano Salinas, researcher at the Department of History, was invited to Universidad de Concepción’s Summer School, where he talked about the meaning of festivities as part of the historical process of a country. “During festivities, people reencounter the essence of their human, spiritual and collective experience,” he stressed.

“Celebration: Dionysus’ times come back to us” was the name of the presentation given by Dr. Maximiliano Salinas, professor at the Department of History of Universidad de Santiago, to the Universidad de Concepción’s community in the inauguration of this university’s 2014 Summer School.

On this occasion, the activity that has been carried out uninterruptedly for more than a decade, has the topic “Festivities: the art of celebrating” as its central subject, a subject to which our University’s researcher can considerably contribute, as he is an expert in popular culture history.

Regarding the role that celebrations play in local identity, the academic says that in all cultures and civilizations, festivities are an integral dimension of people’s lives, because during celebrations people reencounter the essence of their human, spiritual and collective experience.

“In the case of Chilean history, festivities, like all life dimensions, are crossed by contradictions stemming from the colonial times. Indigenous peoples were prodigiously inclined to celebrating. The colonial times order, the European enlightened absolutism, tried to control and restrain that spirit,” Dr. Salinas explained.

However, according to Dr. Salinas, that was not possible, “because the celebration legacy was passed to mestizo peoples and it got mixed with the festive influences from Spain and Africa that left us the cueca, the dance of the Chilean celebrations. Although colonial aspirations- coercive and repressive ones- are replicated until today, festivities will always represent the extension of our humanity and our spirit. The student protests nowadays have undeniably included a festive component that is part of our more permanent culture.”

When asked how the military dictatorship affected this characteristic feature of Chilean culture, Dr. Salinas said that this process can be understood as a systematic effort to extinguish the spirit of popular celebrations, indigenous or mestizo festivities in the country. “Their ambition to impose manu militari, the neoliberal discipline was, basically, an aggressive aspiration to finish with community life and the merry communal living among Chilean people. The idea was to subdue us and turn us into consumerist, scared and indebted individuals,” he said.

According to the expert, a cultural reflection about our identity as a nation is a challenge today, especially in a context in which some sectors of our society express the need of having a new Constitution. “In this sense, it is essential to have a reflection and a discussion about celebrations, as they are part of our original biological and spiritual make-up as a country. This is much more deciding, lively and deep than legal texts or the discussion among constitutional ‘experts’,” he said.

Finally, Dr. Salinas thinks that we should recover the original religious spirit of celebrations, that is to say, the spirit reflected by Dionysus, the god of cosmic harmony, of beautiful lush vegetation; the god of the joy of a nude and equal community without disguises and without ambitious aspirations. “We have to recover the spirit that indigenous peoples had and cultivated for thousand of years and that mestizo peoples legitimately inherited. In that spirit, we should find the delighting value given by the historical vindications of our societies during the 19th and 20th centuries. This was especially expressed during the Government of the Popular Unity, in a much more decisive way than in any other particular political circumstance. There it lies the deepest mysticism of festivities,” he said.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

•  Dr Jenny Blamey, professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology described the 13^th International Thermophiles Meeting as a very important opportunity for the development of research at Universidad de Santiago and in the country. Worldwide prominent figures in microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, biocatalysis and biotechnology, participated in the conference. This is the first time that this global meeting is held in South America and Dr Blamey was in charge of the organization.

   

  In her closing speech, Dr Jenny Blamey, professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago, evaluated this global meeting as a very important opportunity for the development of research at Universidad de Santiago and in the country.

  Dr Blamey highlighted the scientific importance of this conference that always leaves its imprint on the research centers and the countries where it is held. This also happened in our university and it should be reflected on the country.

  During the activity, worldwide leading scientists in this field presented their top-notch studies.

  These experts in microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, biocatalysis and biotechnology informed about the progress in their specialities, in order to have a better understanding of thermophiles.

  The Thermophiles International Conference is a global meeting held every second year. For the first time the meeting was carried out in South America, under the general supervision of Dr Blamey, and with the support of an efficient team who coordinated different tasks for the organizing bodies: Bioscience Foundation and the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago.

  The program included sessions on topics like genomics and biochemical processes, keynote lectures and poster presentations.

  International experts like Dr Karl Stetter, Dr Michel Adams and Dr Juergen Wiegel met with students, researchers and Chilean and foreign scientists.

  They shared their questions and their knowledge about the last developments and potential biotechnological applications of thermophiles, which are considered key to science development in our country and the world.

  A space for discussion and proposals

  “For Universidad de Santiago de Chile, hosting and promoting this type of activity is essential, since our purpose as a public, state and complete university is to create, preserve, disseminate and apply knowledge for the welfare of society,” Dr Juan Manuel Zolezzi, President of Universidad de Santiago, said.

  The Thermophiles 2015 International Conference contributed “To our institutional essential work, as it became a space for discussion and proposals, in a multidisciplinary and pluralistic dialogue; on this occasion, in the field of extremophiles, a new important field worldwide, not only for biological sciences but also for industrial biotechnology,” he added.

  For his part, Dr Gustavo Zúñiga, Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, highlighted the importance of having been selected to organize the activity and receive these distinguished scientists, and give the students the opportunity to ask questions and talk to them.

  Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Professors Dr. Juan Sepúlveda, Dr. Astrid Oddershede and Dr. Felisa Córdova, who were invited by the International Academic Program, took part in a seminar where they acquired new tools for problem solving through creative thinking. This will considerably benefit the students and will allow improving and updating the Industrial Engineering curricula.

Between January 07th and January 09th, the academics of our University’s Department of Industrial Engineering, Dr. Juan Sepúlveda, Dr. Astrid Oddershede and Dr. Felisa Córdova were invited by the International Academic Program (IAP) to take part in the workshop “Design Thinking and Innovation” at the renowned Harvard University, USA, where they acquired tools to solve problems in an innovating and creative way. They said this will enrich the educational experience of their students.

Specifically, the seminar was given by Professor Srikant Datar to 22 academics from different Latin American universities selected by the IAP and it was held at the Innovation Laboratory of Harvard Business School

Dr. Juan Sepúlveda, the Head of our University’s Department of Industrial Engineering, claimed that this continuing education program for university teachers “is a great progress in updating our teaching methodologies and in adopting thinking and problem solving innovative techniques that we will implement in our classrooms starting this year.”

“The topic that gathered us together in this seminar- Dr. Sepúlveda explained- was ‘Design Thinking’, an approach to develop innovation that is based on the designers and architects’ point of view, which have a very different way of thinking from engineers.”

Dr. Sepúlveda added that Design Thinking is “a very useful methodology to leave behind the conventional paradigms of engineering management, and for us academics, it will be very helpful to show our students that creativity can contribute to solve a large number of problems of our professional lives.”

“After this academic experience, we look for transmitting what we learned to students, so that they dare to break the known models and seek for creative answers to the challenges that they will face in the field of management,” he pointed out.

While, Dr. Felisa Córdova agreed with Dr. Sepúlveda and said that in this visit to Harvard, “we were able to see the learning and teaching methodologies used at this renowned American university and also had access to the researches that professors are now conducting there.”

“After this seminar, the idea is to promote and develop a disruptive way of thinking among our students at Universidad de Santiago de Chile and encourage them to develop a creative thinking, so that they behave out of the ordinary, break the paradigms to implement their innovations then,” Dr Córdova said.

“In the end, this will have an impact on our students, because when they know that their professors are constantly updating their knowledge and that they are taking part in academic activities at Harvard University, for example, they feel supported by teachers of excellence, what in turn makes them more committed with their classes,” she stressed.

For his part, the Head of the Department, Dr. Sepúlveda, concluded that updating knowledge and acquiring new learning and teaching experiences that are world-wide recognized “give our institution a great boost to keep our strong commitment to continue forming world-class professionals.”

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr. Kerryn McCluskey, from the University of Queensland, said that besides quickly connecting students to teaching practice, practicum since first year of program helps students to determine on their vocation.

During the International Seminar “Evaluation of Professional Practice in Early Teacher Training: An Overview form the Australian Model”, Dr. Kerryn McCluskey, the Director of the Secondary Program in the School of Education at the University of Queensland, Australia, explained the teacher professional training program design developed by that University. In this program, through implementing early practicums, education students get in contact with the class since first semester.

“Until pre-service teachers go to schools, they do not know if this is what they really want or the way of connecting what they do on campus with real life,” says Dr. McCluskey. She added that, in some cases, it takes years before students understand and connect the theoretical knowledge given by the university with teaching practice in the classroom.

For this purpose, the program that she directs organizes teaching practicums since first semester, for ten days, where students attend classes as observers. Then, as they move forward in their training, they have more practice periods and also more interaction with learners in terms of academic support, which can be measured according to the corresponding abilities and competences.

According to the expert, the difficulties posed by the model lie in the disposition shown by guiding teachers and supervisors who accompany the student during this process in schools and at the university, as the model demands personalized attention.

While visiting Universidad de Santiago, Dr. Kerryn McCluskey emphasized that there are not perfect models, but she trusts that after exchanging experiences, education students in Chile may have access to teaching practicums a little earlier.

This international seminar was organized by the Department of Education of the Faculty of Humanities and for his Director, Dr. Daniel Ríos, the experience shared by the Australian expert was very positive.

“It was a good opportunity to share information about this significant issue, not only for the Department or the University, but for all the country, as it concerns teacher training,” the director said. He added that practicums are still the big connection between theory and practice, so it is essential to think about ways of improving them and strengthening them. He said it is an essential issue as right now “there is a discussion in the University about early teacher training.”

Dr. Ríos emphasized the collaborative view provided by this type of activities to open a broad reflection regarding professional practices during early teacher training. For this reason, representatives from other universities and from schools that have admitted our teaching practicing students were invited to the seminar. “We are very pleased because this has helped us to reflect on this issue, exchange ideas and experiences and continue along the line of learning communities,” he concluded.
 

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Between October 09^th and 12^th, representatives of all the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean will participate in more than 50 lectures and symposiums at Universidad de Santiago de Chile, where they will contribute with their multidisciplinary views about the scientific, technological and cultural aspects of this geographical area.
• This important meeting will have the presence of the Argentinean poet Ernesto Kahan, who is part of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War Federation (Recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize 1985) and the renowned Brazilian economist and social scientist, Theotonio dos Santos, a leading exponent of the dependency theory.
• According to Dr Fernando Estenssoro, acting director of the Institute for Advanced Studies of Universidad de Santiago and member of the organizing committee, this fourth version of the congress seeks to strengthen the development of the scientific and academic thinking in Latin America, “In order to benefit the people in our region and the world, showing our points of view and our demands.”

On October 09^th, the opening ceremony of the “IV Congress on Sciences, Technologies and Cultures: Looking towards the future of Latin America and the Caribbean” was held at the Aula Magna of Universidad de Santiago de Chile. The activity was organized by the Institute for Advanced Studies (IDEA, in Spanish) of Universidad de Santiago to promote a multidisciplinary debate on different issues that affect this part of the world.

Dr Fernando Estenssoro, member of the organizing committee of the congress said that they had high expectations. The activity finished on October 12^th and it had the presence of more more than 2,000 academics from Latin America and the world.

According to Dr Estenssoro, the purpose of the activity is to offer a common space where academics and scientists can meet and study different phenomena of the Americas and the world.

“This is a multidisciplinary congress, where the experiences that are analyzed are considered from a regional point of view, even if they are local; that is to say, how they affect Latin America and the Caribbean, in relation to their current problems and the current world,” Dr Estenssoro said.

In this context, “It is a congress that seeks to strengthen the development of the scientific and academic thinking in Latin America,” he added. It covers phenomena of philosophy, political science, sociology and medicine, but from a multidisciplinary point of view and in relation with the region.

Contribution of the congress

Dr Estenssoro says that to arrange a multidisciplinary meeting like this means a big challenge, as it is logistically difficult to organize the schedule of so many specialists and, for example, to find a place to hold the activity.

The series of panels of the congress were “A contribution, because sometimes we talk about doing multidisciplinary or even interdisciplinary analyses, but how? And this congress helped to put in practice what we usually keep as ideas.”

Dr Estenssoro says that bringing this congress to life required important efforts and, as a consequence, people from different parts of the world were able to appreciate the spirit of Universidad de Santiago with regard to the development of research in all the fields of knowledge.

“It has been a huge challenge. We are proud of having held this congress at Universidad de Santiago because experts from all over the world were participating and they were able to see our efforts to develop these research lines,” he said.

“For the characteristics that the congress has, it is a pioneering activity in Latin America. There have been many disciplinary meetings; for example, historians in Latin America, political scientists in Latin America or linguists in Latin America; however, we are pioneers in this multidisciplinary meeting,” he explained.

New blood

Dr Estenssoro explained that the former versions of the congress were the breeding ground for many publications that are part now of the main debates in the most important universities in Latin America.

In this regard, “It is cutting-edge knowledge, it is what our researchers are developing now, that essentially strengthens the work done by Latin American academics and scientists,” he said.

“What is most important is that our scientists get to know each other, share, debate, and produce joint knowledge,” he added.

The organizers of this fourth version of the congress set three goals. “First, we wanted to get out of the local sphere, where the national domain has to contribute to regional integration; second, it had to involve interdisciplinary work, and third, the work had to be done by academic networks,” he said.

“The idea is that researchers at the continent get to know each other, learn of what is being done, work together and read publications not only from Europe or USA, but also from Latin America. All this to benefit people in our region and in the world, because we want to contribute with our points of view and our demands,” he added.

Renowned speakers

Several worldwide renowned researchers and theorists participated at the meeting held at Universidad de Santiago.

One of the speakers was, for example, Dr Ernesto Kahan, an Argentinean physician and poet who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985), on behalf of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) Federation.

Theotonio dos Santos was another speaker. He is a social scientist, and renowned thinker and forerunner of the dependency theory. His ideas about the world economy based on an unbalanced model in which developed countries have a monopoly of the most important decisions and poor countries that produce raw materials have minimal returns, marked a milestone in the Latin American sociology

“He is one of the most important exponents of the dependency theory of the 60s. He came because our work matters to him,” Dr Estenssoro concluded.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Among the different speakers that took part in the Colloquium “Water: a renewable resource?”, one of them, Alfredo Zolezzi, founder of the Advanced Innovation Center, considers that the contrast between technology progress and the poverty and shortage of sanitary resources affecting millions of people is “dramatic”. He says that the solution to this problem is to make sure that innovation reaches people who need it.

The recent celebration of the World Water Day brought again to the national and international agenda the importance of promoting sustainable practices for the good use of water resources in the planet. The Colloquium “Water: a renewable resource?” was held in this context and it was led by the Association of Researchers for Development and Interdisciplinarity (INDI, its Spanish acronym), that groups researchers from the different faculties of Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

The activity brought together three speakers that approached the implications and significance of this strategic resource from very different points of view.

Leyla Noriega, journalist of Red Mi Voz*, who has experience in working with indigenous communities in the north of Chile, gave the presentation “Between the Andean world view and the community’s political core”. She explains that “our philosophy understands water like a living being. The resource is distributed according to its ancestral use by common law; that is to say, based on customs or natural rights.”

However, this expert in communications says that this approach is little respected, as a consequence of a series of processes that have affected the native peoples of the north of the country, like “Chileanization and the disassembly of ancestral authorities.”

Then, Alfredo Zolezzi, founder of the Advanced Innovation Center spoke about “Meaningful innovation”, considering it like a concept that has always been present in the history of humankind. “We have never had as much technology available as we do now, but it is dramatic to see this progress without recognizing that there are millions of people living in poverty, without basic sanitary services,” he says.

Effective solutions

In light of this situation that accounts for a complex reality, specific answers are required. According to Zolezzi, the solution lies in changing the way of doing things and he suggests “doing activism with proposals that make sure that innovation will reach people who need it.”
 
In his case, innovation became socially meaningful through the creation of the Plasma Water Sanitation System (PWSS), a water purification system that allows transforming polluted water particles into plasma, making it potable.

This system was implemented in 2011, in Fundo San José, a shanty town in Cerrillos, Santiago, thanks to a partnership with Un Techo Para Mi País**. It is worth to mention that this shanty town’s residents were resettled in June, 2013.

The last presentation was given by Dr. Silvio Montalvo, professor at the Department of Chemistry Engineering of our University, who spoke about his research regarding water resources.

At present, he is working on the treatment of sludge generated at sewage water treatment plants, in order to develop technologies to optimize the anaerobic digestion process that allows breaking down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen.

“If we are able to preserve the water that we already have and keep it less polluted, we will be contributing to this matter,” the researcher says.

Translator’s notes: *Red Mi Voz is a digital network that promotes the practice of citizen journalism. **Un Techo Para Mi País is a nonprofit organization that mobilizes youth volunteers to fight extreme poverty in Latin America, by constructing transitional housing and implementing social inclusion programs.

Translated by Marcela Contreras