Science 2030 project launched to promote applied science and innovation

The USM is part of the initiative that seeks to encourage the link between the new generations and the different territorial, national and global realities.

USM Communications.-The Federico Santa María Technical University together with the University of Valparaíso, and in collaboration with the National Agency for Research and Development, ANID, presented the project “Science and Innovation 2030: An alliance for the challenges of the future”. The initiative aims to promote applied science and innovation in the faculties and science departments of the consortium universities, and thus support the diversification of the productive matrix through new generations of science professionals who are linked to the realities territorial, national and global.

Funding for the project comes from ANID’s Sub-directorate of Networks, Strategy and Knowledge and its purpose is to promote science and technology in the country. Likewise, Science and Innovation 2030 seeks to establish strategies that allow the integration of research and innovation into society and thus contribute to the development of the country in the scientific-technological field.

Juan Yuz, Rector of the USM, and his counterpart from the UV, Osvaldo Corrales, led the event, which also included the participation of the Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation Seminary of the Central Macrozone, Jorge Soto; the academic vice-rector of the USM, Andrés Fuentes; the general director of Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the USM, Mónica Pacheco; the academic vice-rector of the UV, Carlos Becerra; the vice-rector for Research and Innovation of the UV, María Soledad Torres; and the vice-rector for Links with the Environment of the UV, Carlos Lara. The meeting was also attended by directors general, researchers and students from both institutions.

The highest authority of the USM, Juan Yuz, revealed that the initiative seeks to strengthen the work in science within the institutions and value it in society. “It is a very interesting project, in the sense that it allows us to act with universities in the region, such as the University of Valparaíso, with which we have a long history of collaboration. In addition, the project has important axes of development, such as taking the work that is done in science within our institutions and putting it in value in society. It will also allow us and relieve the role of our researchers, our academics, and we hope that it will allow us to attract many women in science and technology, and contribute to the development of the country”.

He also pointed out that, by promoting scientific and technological development in the region, the USM seeks to strengthen the existing ecosystem and recognized the importance of contributing to the assessment and application of science.

Strengthen research

The rector of the UV, Osvaldo Corrales, stated that he was very enthusiastic about strengthening research capacities and making them available to meet the great challenges facing the region and the country. “We are very happy to be launching this Science and Innovation 2030 project, together with the Federico Santa María Technical University, with which we want to address a gap we have in terms of innovation and technology transfer. Our challenge is, of course, to solve and strengthen our investigative capacities, but above all, to make them available to solve some of the great challenges that our region and the country have. The only way that our country will achieve development is precisely from the development of knowledge, from adding value to the production process, from diversifying our productive matrix, but also from facing very relevant challenges that we are having in multiple areas”.

Corrales affirmed that the project represents a unique opportunity for the development of the country at a scientific and technological level, and he hopes that it will have a positive impact on society and the economy in the coming years.

Along these lines, he added “we hope that this initiative will help our country improve and strengthen its research capabilities and overcome this gap between research and innovation and technology transfer.”

Similarly, the academic vice-rector of the USM, Andrés Fuentes, noted that “the importance of the alliance between the University of Valparaíso and the Federico Santa María Technical University lies mainly in the fact that they have different educational axes. In particular, the USM has a mainly technological development, while the University of Valparaíso has an important tradition in basic sciences, and I think that this combination is essential for the success of this project”.

Meanwhile, María Soledad Torres, vice-rector for Research and Innovation of the UV, indicated that “the union with the Federico Santa María Technical University is not new. We currently have two doctoral programs together and, in addition, we are united by a long history of research collaborations. In such a way that this launch is a new opportunity that will allow us to continue collaborating in a better way between all the different areas of science that are involved here. It will also allow our students to have a new focus on innovation and development, and to be able to capture all that this new way of doing education means in the different areas of science”.

Ricardo Bravo, dean of the Faculty of Marine Sciences and Natural Resources of the UV, expressed that “it is a tremendously important project, with many projections, from the alliance that means working together with the Technical University Federico Santa María, with which we have a long history of interaction, to what this learning means in terms of transferring basic research to applied research. Innovation, entrepreneurship, as well as the relevance of promoting gender equality are some of the aspects that he considers this project. Therefore, we are very motivated and we have quite a few expectations.”

Link with the environment

In relation to this context, Carlos Lara, vice-rector for Links with the Environment of the UV, highlighted that “this type of project is transcendental for links with the environment of both universities, because it seeks to bring science closer to society through products that the project generates, in such a way that it will allow not only an approach through actions, but also with concrete products that have meaning for society and the region. I am left with two great ideas: the modification of study plans on the one hand and, on the other hand, the enhancement and contribution of women in the area of ​​science”.

Carlos Becerra, academic vice-rector of the UV, pointed out that “it is a very relevant initiative that allows us to promote science, but also transfer and innovation. It is also very important how we look at the graduation profiles and the training of our undergraduate and postgraduate students in such relevant aspects as science, innovation and technology transfer. But also the training and joint work of our academics. Therefore, it is a very relevant project for society, for the country and for our region”.

During the ceremony, the project’s advisory committee was presented, which will support the definition of strategies and guidelines to be able to contribute with concrete solutions from the area of ​​science. The team will be made up of CORFO’s manager of Technological Capacities, Fernando Hentzschel; the executive director of the V21 Innovation District, Jaime Arnaiz; the Macrozona Centro Science Seremi, Jorge Soto; the expert in female entrepreneurship and leadership María Esther Fernández and Marcela Carrillo, from the Digital Assistance Network Strengthens PYME Aconcagua-Quillota.

The support of deans and department directors was also appreciated, such as Ricardo Henríquez, director of the USM Physics Department; Alejandro Allendes, director of the Department of Mathematics at USM; Luis Espinoza, director of the Department of Chemistry at USM; Marisol Tejos, dean of the Faculty of Sciences of the UV; and Ricardo Bravo, dean of the Faculty of Marine Sciences and Natural Resources of the UV;

The ceremony featured a master class by academic Eduardo Vera, PhD in Physics from Brown University (Rhode Island, United States), who gave the conference “Innovation from Science”.