The forty-first edition of the International French Travel Market (IFTM) Top Resa fair is a fair for tourism entrepreneurs in France that brings together the most important tourism agents, and was the ideal platform to showcase the Univrso virtual reality application created in the University of La Serena.

On October 4, one of the most important tourism fairs worldwide was held. This is the IFTM Top Resa Fair 2019, an event that had the participation of more than 34 thousand tourism professionals and included nearly 50 countries, all with the mission of showing the benefits of tourism in their respective locations.

On the part of our country, the tourist offer has had a boom in recent years and for this reason a commission of 14 representatives from all regions of the country attended this important event. In the case of La Serena, Felipe Rojas, strategic program manager of Corfo IFI Astroturismo Coquimbo Region, was in charge of showing everything regarding the different products and services that exist within the grill offered to tourists.

Within the exhibition, the Univrso application was exhibited, an application made by the Digital Campus of the University of La Serena, which was very well received by the attendees, who showed a lot of interest in this type of technology that improves the astrotourism experience, in addition to be a tool that observatory operators in the region can use.

Regarding this, Felipe commented that “it is of utmost importance to have adequate promotion technology at these international fairs, to be able to seduce with the destination. That is why the virtual reality equipment and app provided by the Univrso Project of the Digital Campus of the University of La Serena were of great help, since it allows education regarding the skies of our territory and, at the same time, energizes these meetings. of business".

The Univrso app is available for free download at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=univrso.userena.com

Written by Campus Digital team

Twelve teams from Higher Education Institutions in the country took part in this activity.

The Support and Effective Access to Higher Education Program (PACE ULS), within the line of the Higher Education Support Component (AES), held the Seminar “Good Practices for Comprehensive Support in Higher Education: Meetings between HEIs, at the regional and interregional”, aimed at professionals who work in support programs at the national level.

The AES PACE ULS coordinator, Claudia Toledo, stated that “this is an instance that our team has been preparing for a long time and is framed in one of the milestones of the operational plan of our program, which is framed in actions of articulation, monitoring and referral made with support networks, IES PACE, inside and outside the educational institution; which we also see as an opportunity to share experiences with other teams that experience the same successes and difficulties every day, and what better than being able to share it in guided instances, such as the two days we experienced."

The objective of this seminar was to articulate networks and systematize good accompaniment practices implemented in various Higher Education institutions that work with accompaniment programs.

The strategies for participation in the seminar in the academic and psychoeducational area were: the presentation-only modality and poster presentation, which were applied on both days. In total, there were twelve PACE teams belonging to the different HEIs in the country, which participated in the activity.

Reviews

The participants of both days delivered their appreciation of the meeting held by the PACE Program of the University of La Serena.

The AES coordinator of PACE Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV), Andrea Sepúlveda, said: “I think it is an opportunity to be able to reflect together on the challenges that the PACE Higher Education component has and to be able to share with the HEIs at the national level about the progress, situations that continue to be opportunities and to be able to project ourselves into the future regarding the implementation of the program, in each of our contexts and also defining and combining criteria for what are common elements for the implementation of this component in our respective institutions.

The AES executive psychologist of the Federico Santa María Technical University (USM), Macarena Rodríguez, meanwhile, expressed “that this seminar was enriching, since it forced us to see our practices and then, once we met the other teams, there was lots of feedback; We leave overflowing with ideas, with a great desire to replicate in our institution many of the learnings that we obtained from the two days and also highlighting things that we do, since in the daily newspaper we do not have time to reflect and in this seminar we did it, we We are happy with what we have learned and are sharing it with the rest of the PACE USM team.”

For the PEM coordinator of the University of Tarapacá, José Imaña, “as a program it is important to be able to share our experiences when implementing the program and know what is happening with the other university campuses that implement it. As you will understand, we are in Arica, a little far from other institutions, and being able to count on these instances is very valuable for us as a team, in addition to having contributed with some of what we do. Now we get many different perspectives and I hope that this network is maintained and that instances like this continue to be replicated, only positive words for this seminar.”

Written by Daniel Aguayo, PACE ULS Program

The award ceremony took place in the Hall of the Lost Steps of the Palace of the National Congress of the Argentine Republic (Buenos Aires), and was attended by personalities from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Mexico.

In an emotional ceremony held at the Congress of the Argentine Republic, the University of La Serena received important international recognition for its contribution to Latin American integration.

This distinction was awarded to the work carried out through the International Relations Office, and in particular to the work and career of the Director of RRII ULS, Mg. José Mora Poblete, who was awarded the distinction "Governor Enrique Tomás Cresto", instituted by the National Senate; the Argentine Federation of Municipalities; the Latin American Federation of Cities, Municipalities and Local Government Associations; the South America Area Municipal Integration System and the Shalom Club.

The ceremony took place in the Hall of the Lost Steps of the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Congress, before the important participation of political personalities, mayors, and national and international NGOs.

The distinction "Leaders for Development: Governor Enrique Tomás Cresto" is conferred on political leaders, legislators, government officials, representatives of intermediate institutions, academics, social and popular field workers, teachers, researchers and businessmen from different Latin American countries who stand out for their work to benefit their communities and the well-being of society.

“I am deeply grateful and honored by this distinction. The support I have received to develop this work that we have been building as the University of La Serena has been fundamental. An institution that is concerned about becoming an agent of change, through the generation of knowledge that improves people's lives, must also open up to the world to strengthen networks that allow joint work to be carried out”, highlighted the Director of International Relations ULS.

This recognition was granted for the contribution to regional integration in Latin America, "as 'Leader for Development', highlighting his career and the innovative approach of his actions as contributions to the well-being of our communities."

The recognition that bears the name of the former governor of Entre Ríos was instituted 18 years ago and is part of the Support Program for Local Government Initiatives, which seeks to put the definition of a development strategy that promotes development at the forefront of the international agenda. recognition of the Latin American continent, worrying about the destiny of our regions and countries.

The institution opened the doors of the Andrés Bello Campus to receive a large number of children, young people and adults, who were able to tour its scientific laboratories and get to know the solar car and the mobile planetarium up close. 

With great enthusiasm and desire to learn, children, young people and adults visited the University of La Serena this Sunday to participate in the National Day of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation. The initiative of the State Universities (Research Network) was carried out for the second consecutive year, becoming an opportunity for the university to open its doors and show the community the importance of science, its study and contribution to society. .

The day began with a talk on climate change and water resources, given by Dr. Pablo Álvarez, academic at the ULS and Director of the Laboratory for Prospecting, Monitoring and Modeling of Agricultural and Environmental Resources, PROMMRA, and the institutional greeting by the Vice Chancellor of Research and Postgraduate Studies, Dr. Eduardo Notte, who stressed the need to strengthen science at the regional level and research that seeks the development of the entire community.

Those who visited the ULS were able to tour the Botany, Physiozoology and Microscopy laboratories (Department of Biology), where they learned more about plant and animal biological diversity, as well as the use of technology to promote learning in biology.

The families present also enjoyed various chemical experiments and separation, distillation, extraction and chromatography techniques in the Department's laboratories. of Chemistry, and learned in detail about “The route of superfoods” presented in the Food Engineering offices.

Also attracting attention was “The Van de Graaff generator” (Department of Physics and Astronomy), which uses a moving belt to accumulate large amounts of electrical charge inside a spherical metal shell.

Also part of this day were the teaching materials for learning mathematics (Department of Mathematics); the astrotourism virtual reality app and the online courses of the “Univrso Project” of Campus Digital; the Intikallpa solar car of the Department. of Mechanical Engineering, a prototype whose manufacturing uses the best sustainable technology available worldwide; and the functions of the ULS - CONICYT Mobile Planetarium, which combines astronomical knowledge with dissemination, bringing the mysteries of the universe and its most surprising aspects to the community.

The visitors were very happy to be able to get to know the University of La Serena and learn what the different academics, professionals and students do around science.

“This experience has been very entertaining, I really liked it. I came with my granddaughter and daughter, and I found that opening these instances to the community gives the option of knowing how everything works. One learns something new every day and today we have done it in a didactic way”, assured Patricia Gálvez, a visitor who made the tour on Science Day.

Another of the people who came to the ULS to participate in the activity was the postgraduate student Maibys Jaime, who noted: “I brought my daughter with the intention that she become familiar with what the world of science is, learn and encourage the motivation in this topic. I thought it was super appropriate that the University carried out this activity, above all that it has been a very educational day and generates great bonding”.

The celebration of National Science Day was organized by the State Universities of Chile (Research Network) and the ULS, through the Vice-Rector's Office for Research and Postgraduate Studies, and the Science and Technology Dissemination and Dissemination Team, with the support of various macro-units and units, who hope to continue promoting the importance of science in the area and the country.

Written by Patricia Castro, DirCom

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The activity sought to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the death of the Argentine philosopher, through a conversation led by the professor of the National University of Quilmes, Dr. Mónica Fernández.

In order to recognize the work and contribution to Latin American philosophy of the Argentine author Rodolfo Kusch, the Department of Education of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of La Serena held a conversation in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the death of the philosopher and anthropologist trans-Andean, an activity that featured a presentation by the teacher and researcher from the National University of Quilmes, Dr. Mónica Fernández.

Regarding the realization of this commemorative activity, the speaker indicated that "this type of instances are a way of disseminating Kusch's work, as academics we should bring the work of different Latin American philosophers to the classrooms and it seems to me that giving it visibility transversalizes his work".

Along with Dr. Fernández's presentation, a discussion was held among the students about the legacy that Kusch left through his postulates.

The activity took place at the Support Center for Humanities Teaching on the Isabel Bongard Campus and had a large participation of students from different degrees at the faculty.

Written by Tomás Rodríguez, DirCom

The Women and the Economy Forum (WEF) was held in La Serena, which included the Women and Astronomy Conversation, in which astronomers Amelia Ramírez and Rodolfo Barbá participated.

In the Coquimbo Region, the WEF/Ministerial (Women in the Economic Forum) agenda was developed as part of the APEC 2019 activities, which took place from Monday, September 30 to Friday, October 4 at the Hotel La Serena Club. For the first time, the issue related to Women and the Economy was incorporated as a priority of a host economy, since it is considered one of the key factors to reduce poverty and ensure that the population shares the benefits of growth.

One of the APEC activities in the area was the Women and Astronomy Conversation, which aimed to discuss the participation of women in astronomy, what their role has been in the history, present and future of astronomy, as well as issues related to its visibility, gaps and main challenges.

The University of La Serena and the Faculty of Sciences were represented in this activity by the Dean of the macrounit, academic and astronomer, Dr. Amelia Ramírez, and the Director of the Master's Program in Astronomy, academic and astronomer Dr. Rodolfo Barbá.

The activity was attended by world-renowned astronomers such as the National Prize for Exact Sciences, María Teresa Ruiz, and Mónica Rubio. The latter highlighted in her presentation the fundamental role that Dean Amelia Ramírez has had in the growth of the University of La Serena as an academic pole for Astronomy in Chile.

Dr. Rodolfo Barbá opened the day with a presentation about the long path that Chilean and international astronomers have had to travel to stand out in the area and the great gender gap that still exists.

Dean Amelia Ramírez was the moderator of the conversation panel, which was the central axis of this meeting.

Source: Faculty of Sciences and APEC Chile 2019