Dr. Claudio Martínez Fernández
Director
718 4500
The Center of Studies in Sciences and Food Technology (CECTA, in Spanish) is a research center of the Universidad de Santiago, whose mission is to constitute itself as a study, research and meeting place to promote a multidisciplinary activity in our University aimed at the development of science and technology in the field of foods. Some of its objectives are: to organize groups of academics who can work in different lines of food research; to improve the use of human and material resources that the University devotes to this field; to contribute to the solution of problems of national concern within this field; to promote the connection with national and international organisms; to promote the technical assistance and service in the areas of its competence.
The Center is located at the Foods Building, a modern building constructed specifically for research work in 2003 on the basis of a project financed by the Ministry of Education to promote food research at the University.
The Center has modern laboratories properly equipped, which permit the development of projects, and laboratories devoted to technical assistance and technological transfer. In this way, the research carried out at the Center, or in other laboratories of the University, has the adequate channels to transfer these advances to commercial enterprises and public or private institutions.
The University’s research laboratories and the Center encompass a wide range of study objects about food. The Center has Microbiology, Physical- Chemical Analysis and Chromatography laboratories that meet the demand from manufacturing, processing or services enterprises in the food area.
Since its creation in 1986, the Center has carried out several national and international projects of research and it has gotten funds from organizations such as PNUD, EEC, FONDECYT, FONDEF, INNOVA, etc. Since 2009, with the aim of professionalizing its function of technical assistance and technological transfer, the Center has started a strong activity in order to get the accreditation of its industry service laboratories, according to the 17025 standard, and its recognition as a certified center by CORFO.
