A group of ten students from the Local Design Workshop of the Design major participated in the meeting along with teachers Wilson Vigorena, Débora Zepeda, Nicolas Cerda and Christian Méndez, along with professionals from the Foundation for Overcoming Poverty.

Within the framework of the Fondart project "Value and contribution of Service Design Prototyping for the strengthening of the industry." From the Finnish experience to the Chilean context, an interesting dialogue was developed with the rapporteurs Dr. Mariluz Soto and Dra. c) Look at Alhonsuo.

This initiative aims to investigate the Service Innovation Corner laboratory, SINCO, of the University of Lapland, Finland, with the purpose of developing a model appropriate to the Chilean sociocultural context for the incorporation of service design prototyping that links the academic and public sectors. and private for the benefit of the generation of knowledge and well-being of Compare the attributes and characteristics of both cultures to specify the variables that will define the model and its applicability.

As part of the process, participants were able to learn about the work of Service Prototyping from an experiential perspective that combines technology with experimentation, getting closer to the Nordic vision of services and analyzing the possibilities of integrating good practices in our way of designing and innovating. the definition of service experiences.

A group of ten students from the Local Design Workshop (third year) of the Design degree participated in the meeting along with teachers Wilson Vigorena, Débora Zepeda, Nicolas Cerda and Christian Méndez, along with professionals from the Foundation for Overcoming Poverty .

“These experiences are relevant to us, since the topic includes a disciplinary area prevalent in today's design and in some way this workshop allows us to introduce ourselves to this discipline and analyze the experiences developed in this field,” says academic Christian Méndez.

It should be noted that this is an initiative with the support of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, the University of Development and the Embassy of Finland in Chile and for the optimal development of the research, it was linked with institutions that They collaborated in some of the stages in which their participation was fundamental for the realization of the project, they are Service Innovation Corner (SINCO), Inacap and the School of Design of the University of La Serena.

Written by Claudia Farías, Faculty of Humanities

In the framework of the webinar “Reflections on Public Higher Education”, the president of the Consortium of State Universities of Chile (CUECH), Ennio Vivaldi, pointed out that it is the duty of Public Universities to provide compelling information that contributes to the debate on the future Constitution.

This Wednesday, June 30, the successful webinar “Reflections on Public Higher Education” was held, carried out by the Consortium of State Universities of Chile; The event brought together more than 200 participants through the Zoom platform and social networks.

The central presentation was given by the president of CUECH and rector of the University of Chile, Ennio Vivaldi Véjar, who developed the central ideas of the document “State Universities and the New Constitution.” This text, which was prepared by the 18 public universities of Chile, was subsequently commented on by the national prizewinners Diamela Eltit, José Maza and Elicura Chihuailaf.

The document is now available for download here.

“Our country is preparing to experience an unprecedented process in its history and for the first time a new Magna Carta will be written through a democratically elected representative body, said the president of CUECH”, Ennio Vivaldi.

The rector added that this instance seeks to cement a new model of society, which in its genesis differs from the current one, which was imposed during the dictatorship, in accordance with an ideology based on individualism and the denial of the public sphere; “The current process offers us the opportunity to recover certain principles and rights that were reduced to a minimum in the 1980 Constitution,” he said.

The president of CUECH also made reference to the entry and unregulated expansion of private higher education institutions, a process that was promoted by the military dictatorship and that limited the existing public university system in the country, progressively reducing the basal funds provided by the State. to State Universities.

The decrease in basal resources, in addition to undermining the foundations of the social right to education, implied a loss of recognition of the multiple tasks that public institutions have, beyond their teaching work.

The reflection of state universities

Given the country's need to have a robust higher education, which allows it to adequately face the challenges of the future, the document released today by the State Universities explains that the new Constitution should explicitly guarantee the right to higher education , following the example of countries like Portugal, Norway or Sweden.

Along with this, the text points out the need for this right to be materialized through the free provision of education in a set of state institutions at the technical and university level, financed mostly or completely through basic public contributions.

“We must rebuild a system of public, inclusive and excellent education that successively articulates its basic, secondary, technical and university levels,” Ennio Vivaldi emphasized during his presentation.

The reflections of the National Awards

After the presentation of the document, a space was opened for reflection by three prominent academics and National Prize winners: Diamela Eltit, 2018 National Literature Prize; José Maza, National Prize for Exact Sciences 1999 and Elicura Chihuailaf, National Prize for Literature 2020.

Diamela Eltit carried out an in-depth analysis of how the imposition of neoliberalism and its legitimization during the transition affected Chilean society, culminating in the social outbreak of October 2019, which highlighted the distance between the elites and citizens.

“From this context the next constitution will be written,” he stressed. Furthermore, he added that the composition of the Constituent Convention is important, because its representativeness indicates that it is possible to "rethink the model and restore the role of the State as a precautionary in the production, surveillance, assistance and course of the common good."

Then, Professor José Maza explained, who focused his reflection on the importance of quality and free public education. Likewise, he also maintained that to take a leap in development, countries must invest in science and technology.

The astronomer specified that nations that have reached their development invested a high percentage of their Gross Domestic Product in science and technology in their intermediate stage of growth. “Israel invests 4,97% of GDP, Korea 4,8% and Sweden 3,34%,” Maza highlighted as examples to follow. "Chile, which is in an intermediate stage, only invests 0,36% of its GDP, very far from Brazil's 1,46% or Argentina's 0,58."

Finally, the poet Elicura Chihuailaf made a reflection that deepened the need to have a conversation where different visions are heard; have a dialogue between equals, but open to knowing the other's vision.

The poet emphasized that teacher training, decentralization and development centered on nature are part of the dialogues that are present in our society. “The State must consecrate education with preferential attention, education as a social right and not as a consumer good subject to the vagaries of the market, it must also establish the central guidelines for the training of teachers in accordance with the needs of the country,” he concluded.

Source: CUECH Communications 

For three days, students from various regions had to work as a team in order to solve the problems of access to water present in rural communities. The event called “Hackathon for Water” was organized by the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile, and had the support of the University of La Serena and the Quitai Anko Water Technology Center Consortium.

17 students from the University of La Serena were part of the Hackathon for Water, carried out on June 25, 26 and 27 online and simultaneously at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, the University of Concepción, the University of Frontera, the Austral University of Chile and the University of Chile. The event had more than 165 participants nationwide.

It should be noted that the activity organized by the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile together with the Engineering Without Borders Foundation, in support of the Quitai Anko Water Technology Center Consortium, sought to respond and find innovative solutions to the water crisis that the country faces, with the aim of contributing to solving the problems of access to water in rural communities, in an interdisciplinary and decentralized way.

This is how the Hackathon for Water is positioned as the first student water innovation event, which allowed, in the case of the ULS, four teams to develop their ideas guided by facilitators and mentors specialized in water issues, who collaborated in the development of each of the proposals.

Who was part of the event, being present at the opening and closing ceremonies, both national and regional headquarters, was the Rector of the University of La Serena, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés Pizarro, who valued the work and interest of the students in contributing with innovative solutions to the water problems that affect the area. “We are proud that it is our young talents who are dealing with the problem of water, its availability and access, and we highlight the importance of it being them who, based on their innovation and youth, seek solutions that, based on their training and values, are very remarkable, especially if the collaboration of joint work is taken as a basis.”

For his part, Dr. Pablo Álvarez, director of the Quitai Anko Water Technology Center Consortium and jury of the event, commented that it was a very intense activity, where “it was noted that the teams worked a lot during the three days. Something to highlight in my opinion is that it is a national event that brought together seven regions to address the water problem, that is very valuable, especially for the students because they saw themselves with their peers. The contribution goes beyond the borders of the region, it is a contribution to the entire water problem in the country.”

For Álvaro Leguia, Co-founder and Director of Engineering Without Borders, participating in a Hackathon was a very important event. “Here there are nearly 200 volunteers focused on finding decentralized solutions for everyone, collaborating and engineering solutions to improve the quality of life of communities that are in a context of vulnerability. Here is work from seven regions that, for more than a year, have been putting their efforts into something super big. I want to thank every professional, student, facilitator, mentor, every organization and above all every person. We can solve this drop by drop, person by person, until each community has access to the technologies it needs,” he said.

Winning team

Those in charge of evaluating the four participating teams and defining the winners of the ULS headquarters Hackathon were the jurors Dr. Pablo Álvarez, Director of the Quitai Anko Water Technology Center; Dr. Francisco Meza, Deputy Regional Director of Research and Development of Inia Intihuasi, and Dr. Claudio Vásquez, Corporate Manager of CEAZA.

In the ULS case, the name of the winning project is Monitored, generated by the students Catalina Barrios and Mauricio Milla, from the Industrial Civil Engineering major, and Carlos Millán and Mariana Tapia, from the Environmental Civil Engineering major.

Carlos Millán, ULS student and member of the team that won first place, emphasized that “we feel very grateful for the place that this Hackathon gives us, in order to continue advancing the project. We appreciate these types of instances, where such important issues are discussed, which gives us experience in different areas of our careers.”

The winning group will be able to participate in the pre-incubation process at Open Beauchef, Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the FCFM of the University of Chile, where subsequently, the three best groups will move on to an incubation stage between November and May 2022.

Written by Camila González, Quitai Anko Water Technology Center Consortium

It should be noted that this activity will be carried out to commemorate Librarian's Day.

With the aim of commemorating Librarian's Day, a holiday that in Chile is established for July 10, the date of creation of the country's College of Librarians, the Municipality of La Serena in conjunction with the Directorate of Liaison with the Environment and Extension ULS will hold the Conversation: Can you read a pandemic? on July 09 at 15:30 p.m.

The activity will feature the participation of Paola Faúndez, Librarian and Academic of Children's and Young People's Literature at the Andrés Bello and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Universities; Sara Yusta, Librarian at the University of Magallanes; Claudia Bravo, ULS Librarian and Carola Martínez, Writer and Editor.

To watch the broadcast of the event you must enter the DIVEULS YouTube channel or go to the Facebook of the Department of Culture of La Serena.

Written by Daniela Cabrera, DIDOC ULS

The call for this traditional Santander Universities Scholarship will be open until July 12, 2021, which, this year, brings as a novelty the modification of its admissibility bases, potentially benefiting more students. The call for teachers is also open, with stays of up to 3 months.

With the purpose of expanding the number of beneficiaries of the International Mobility Scholarship granted by Santander Universities, in this version, the bases have been modified to allow 2nd year students. year onwards, apply for financial aid that makes their university studies abroad viable. 

The news was communicated by the director of International Relations of the ULS, Mg. José Mora, who invited the ULS undergraduate students to learn the rules and apply for this benefit. "The modifications announced by Santander Universities for this version open the possibility for more students to get an opportunity to live the experience of moving to another country and studying in other university houses, an experience that is undoubtedly not only enriching in their professional and disciplinary training. , but also in their comprehensive formation as people and citizens with global awareness. 

The bases and requirements are available at this web link https://app.becas-santander.com/es/program/becas-santander-estudios-becas-santander-movilidad-internacional-pregrado from where, in addition, you can apply for the benefit. 

This year, the scholarship has 400 places and benefits with a cash contribution of 4 thousand dollars, for studies abroad of up to 6 months. Applications close this July 12 and the results will be announced on the 20th of the same month. 

Teachers 

For academics, meanwhile, this version of the Santander Universities International Mobility Scholarship brings 80 vacancies with which the corporate group hopes to promote the updating of knowledge and the learning of new techniques and methods, among Chilean university professors, with special emphasis on the consolidation of academic links between teaching and research teams, and even for those who are gathering necessary information for the studies or research they are carrying out. 

The application requirements and bases are also available on the Santander Universities website, where in addition to applying, those interested will be able to find out the conditions of the financial aid committed: https://app.becas-santander.com/es/program/becas-santander-estudios-becas-santander-movilidad-internacional-profesores 

The closing date for applications is this July 12 and, like the scholarships for undergraduate students, the selection will be announced starting on the 20th of the same month.  

Written by DirCom 

On the occasion, the speaker in charge was the Superintendent of Insolvency and Re-entrepreneurship (SUPERIR), Hugo Sánchez, who explained what the functions are, who he depends on, how it works and what the institution's powers are.

In order to know the functions, powers and main actions carried out by the Superintendency of Insolvency and Re-entrepreneurship (SUPERIR.), the Department of Legal Sciences and the Law degree, attached to the Faculty of Social, Business and Legal Sciences, They organized the talk “Alternatives to Law 20.720 in the event of insolvency: getting to know the Superintendence of Insolvency and Re-entrepreneurship”.

On the occasion, the speaker in charge was the Superintendent of said service, Hugo Sánchez, who explained what the functions are, who it depends on, how it works and what the institution's powers are.

In this sense, SUPERIOR. It is a public, autonomous service, with its own legal personality and that is related to the President of the Republic through the Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism. Its mission is to contribute to the economic development of the country, ensuring the effectiveness and transparency of insolvency and bankruptcy procedures, through the supervision and facilitation of agreements in protection of its participants, promoting resumption by overcoming the situation of insolvency and over-indebtedness of people and companies.

Regarding the invitation, Superintendent Hugo Sánchez thanked the agency and regarding the work carried out by the service, he noted that “the Superintendency in general is not a well-known body, but thanks to invitations like today's, we can get much closer.” to the teachers, officials and obviously the students, who are the ones we want to reach in some way so that they know us and can also know what possibilities they have in the face of over-indebtedness.”

He also pointed out that “overindebtedness exists when there is poor debt management, when we do not know the fine print of financial products, and we embark on a whirlwind of consumerism, many times we are also caught by unexpected health events, children's universities, studies. , etc. So what we are looking for is SUPERIOR. It is to be a channel of assistance, of help but first of financial education,” said Superintendent Sánchez.

For her part, the Dean of the FACSEJ, Dr. Luperfina Rojas Escobar, pointed out on the subject that “the basis of every entrepreneur is to stand up in case of not achieving the expected success, which is why a modern and efficient society must support these failed projects, so that that person or that family can overcome these difficult instances, which are not only present at the level of small or micro entrepreneurs, but also affect natural persons who, for different reasons, cannot assume their obligations. financial. That is why it is important to be responsible with our consumption and level of indebtedness, adding about the initiative that "this talk opens a new stage of collaboration between both institutions, which I hope can be quickly realized in a framework collaboration agreement, which formalizes the coincident collaboration described above, for the benefit of all.”

If you want to relive the talk, you can visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZffdmyTlbY

Written by Consuelo Peña Gamboa - FACSEJ