The Public Science program of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and
Innovation selected 47 projects from the last call 2022 in the three
categories that seek to finance products, regional public spaces and
local knowledge, which allow the social appropriation of knowledge.
During the current contest, a total of $1,372,932,947 was awarded, which will finance
various projects in each of the regions of our country.
To the call made during the months of July and August, 331 projects applied
of different institutions and natural persons. Of these, 220 were declared admissible
for the selection stage, which were evaluated by three external experts from the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, selecting 47 projects.
The undersecretary of the Ministry of Science, Carolina Gainza, highlighted that a priority for the
government “in the field of research, development and innovation, is that all the
knowledge that is generated in the University, Institutes and Study Centers of our
country, have a concrete impact on people’s lives” and the Science contests
Public “are at the heart of that goal.”
Equity and decentralization
This is the first time of the Public Science Contests that a majority of
women in project management. Of the total of 220 admissible initiatives, one
53.6% of the projects were led by women, a trend that was reinforced in the
47 selected projects, where the percentage increased to 55.3%.
A figure that is no less taking into account the notorious gender gap in the CTCI world and
which the Ministry is responsible for various policies and public initiatives. “It is relevant
for the Ministry to highlight female participation in these contests and contribute from
the dissemination and socialization of knowledge towards a more equitable and diverse science
that also contemplates the voice of women”, indicated the head of the Science and
Society of the ministry, Sonia Pérez Tello.
Another important fact to highlight is the presence of projects from north to south of the country,
giving a national character to the contests. “We are deeply glad that
finance initiatives in all regions of the country, and above all with a notorious
decentralization of the Metropolitan region, since in previous versions of the
Public Science competitions, this has led the number of adjudications”, comments Luz
Oppliger, Program Director
.
Central South Macrozone
The OHiggins region was awarded three projects: two in the public spaces category
that finances the development and implementation of public access spaces
dedicated to the dissemination and socialization of knowledge, and one in the products category
outreach fund that finances the development and distribution of various formats for the
dissemination of science, technology, knowledge and innovation.
While the Maule region will have two projects: one in the space category
regional public and one in dissemination products. The Ñuble region a project in
regional public spaces and the Biobío region five projects: two in spaces
regional public, two in community projects and one in outreach products.
For the Seremi de Ciencia Sofía Valenzuela “It is a joy that in our Macrozone there are
11 initiatives from different houses of studies, cultural centers and boards of
neighbors, among others. Among the topics addressed are geoecology, the water cycle,
recognize biocultural memory, as well as prototyping and digital fabrication of themes
STEM. Bringing science closer to communities allows our society to become familiar
with knowledge and be an active participant in its development”, he pointed out.
