More than 100 people, including dentists, dental assistants and dental students, attended the activity.

The Latin American Association of Dentistry for Special Patients of Chile (ALOPE), held at the University of La Serena the International Day of Dentistry for Patients with Special Needs Chile-Northern Zone, an activity aimed at dentists, dental assistants and students, and which included the participation of various specialists.

Some of the topics addressed during the meeting were treatment for patients with Alzheimer's, management of bedridden and transplant patients, and care for patients with special needs.

The presentations were given by foreign and national representatives, where academics from the ULS Dentistry program, Dr. Darwin Pérez and Dr. Isabel González, also participated.

In addition, this opportunity allowed students from the school to present to the community the Module: “Care of patients with special health needs”, which is carried out in the 6th year, as part of the subject “Clinical Care Internship”.

Written by Tomás Rodríguez, DirCom

The activity brought together national and regional experts for two days at the University of La Serena, who addressed various topics related to the effects caused by the acceleration of climate change on water resources, soil and native vegetation in the region.

Generating a space for debate and reflection between public, private, academic and civil society actors was the objective of the seminar “Adaptation to climate change in arid and semi-arid areas”, organized by the Seremi de Agricultura of the Coquimbo Region, the Forestry Institute (INFOR), the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF), the Integrated Monitoring System for Native Forest Ecosystems (SIMEF), the College of Forestry Engineers of Chile AG (CIFAG) and the University of La Serena.

The activity carried out in the Pentagon Room of the ULS, brought together national and regional experts for two days, who addressed various topics related to the effects caused by the acceleration of climate change on water resources, soil and native vegetation in the region. .

“We wanted to make visible to the community the effects of climate change in our region and the country, for which we brought together professionals from the State's public services, universities and local civil society actors, to learn about the actions that various actors are taking. carried out in our region to better mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change,” explained the coordinator of the activity, the Deputy Manager of the Forestry Institute (INFOR) Diaguitas Headquarters, Sandra Gacitúa.

The INFOR professional highlighted that the activity made it possible to address sensitive issues for the Coquimbo Region in the climate change scenario, such as periods of drought, permanent water scarcity or inappropriate use of land.

Among the talks at the seminar, the presentation of the “National Strategy for climate change and vegetation resources”, by CONAF, stood out; “Proposals for changes in the legal and institutional frameworks to address Climate Change in Chile”, by the Center for Climate and Resilience Studies (CR2) of the University of Chile; “Water resource management in arid and semi-arid areas”, by Roberto Pizarro, from the University of Talca and “The interactions between climate change, desertification and agriculture”, among others.

For the Vice Chancellor of Economic and Administrative Affairs of the University of La Serena, Dr. Armando Mansilla, the activity became an instance of reflection and a regional call to achieve change in the region, the country and the planet. "We must be consistent in the correct use of resources and also be supportive enough to think about care strategies for the preservation of new and next generations," said the authority, who highlighted that it is necessary to understand the importance of collaborative work and interdisciplinary that is exercised in this type of seminars, because the different experiences allow for more real and in-depth work, which can anticipate or anticipate difficulties.”

Meanwhile, the Seremi of Agriculture of the Coquimbo Region, Rodrigo Órdenes, pointed out that the changes required by climate change are not the responsibility of a single actor, but of all people and institutions, public and private. “This seminar allowed us to learn about the actions that are being carried out in our region, both by local actors, research institutions and public services, experiences and knowledge that are necessary and important for us as the Ministry of Agriculture, since they generate information that “They help us focus our work and instruments for the adaptation of our users in the region to the effects of climate change,” highlighted the agricultural authority.

COP 25

The seminar was part of the regional activities leading up to COP 25, an event that will be held in our country in the month of December. In this context, the Environment Minister of the Coquimbo Region, Claudia Rivera, highlighted the initiative, since she provided context and information to the community about the role of forest ecosystems in a climate change scenario.

“An active and informed citizenry is the only way to advance adaptation and mitigation measures against climate change. We need to address climate change with citizens and all productive sectors to move towards sustainable development in Chile, low in emissions and climate resilient,” added the authority.

At the end of the meeting, the participants planted three native species on the Andrés Bello Campus, as part of the Reforesta ULS program promoted by the state institution. 

Source: INFOR

The meeting organized by the University of La Serena will take place on November 14 and 15, 2019.

This September 30 is the deadline to submit contributions to the First Congress of Teaching in Higher Education (CODES 2019), organized by the University of La Serena, through the Academic Vice-Rector's Office and the Research and Postgraduate Vice-Rector's Office, with the aim of promoting innovation and reflection in the practice of teaching in higher education.

CODES 2019 will make visible research and experiences linked to teaching in higher education in the national and international context through 5 themes that will be addressed in this first edition: Interdisciplinarity in training, Evaluation systems and monitoring of learning processes, Incorporation of ICT in the training process, curricular innovation and inclusion.

Investigative works must be sent to the email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., where you must indicate which line of work you belong to. While acceptance letters will be sent until October 18, 2019.

For more information regarding this event, which will take place on November 14 and 15 in La Serena, go to http://codes.userena.digital/

Inaugural conference

The inaugural conference of CODES 2019 will be given by Dr. Óscar Jerez, associate researcher at the Center for Advanced Research in Education, at the University of Chile; director of the Teaching and Learning Center, of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Chile; and academic director and founder of the Higher Education Training Program (FES) of the University of Chile.

The guest speaker has been a consultant and advisor for several government and higher education entities in Latin America, and an undergraduate and graduate teacher in several programs on Quality Management, Teaching in Higher Education and co-creator of Teaching and Learning Centers or “Teaching.” and Learning Center” in different universities in Latin America, Europe and Africa. In addition, he has been head of Education & Business projects at the Society for Manufacturing Development (SOFOFA) and Innovation coordinator of the Undergraduate Department of the University of Chile.

Dr. Jerez has worked alongside the European Union on projects to support higher education in Africa and Latin America. He is recognized both nationally and internationally, through his various academic actions, consultancies and professional work in higher education for more than 20 years.

Second version of the Academic Writing Course

It should be noted that within the framework of this Congress, the second version of the Academic Writing Course will be held from September 25 to October 3: “The path to academic publication on teaching in higher education”, which seeks to promote the participation of ULS academics.

The course had a successful first version and is aimed at academics who are beginning to prepare publications, with a topic focused on teaching in higher education.

Written by Gonzalo Lozano, DirCom

The initiative arose in the context of the work lines of the Applied R&D and Industry Linkage axes of the FIULS 2030 Project.

With the objective of defining the lines of work between the International Center for Numerical Methods (CIMNE) of Spain and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of La Serena, a coordination meeting was held to develop collaborative work in teaching, research and transfer of knowledge in numerical methods and engineering.

The center is a research organization created in 1987 at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), as a partnership between the Government of Catalonia and the UPC, in cooperation with UNESCO.

In the instance, the Dean of the ULS Faculty of Engineering, Dr. Ing. Mauricio Godoy, noted that “we are very excited to have this strategic alliance, it is a great opportunity to deepen our academic ties with world-class scientists, with participation of students and to also delve even further into research in numerical methods, according to the needs of our region.”

For her part, the director of the Applied R&D and Industry Linkage Axis of the FIULS 2030 Project, Mg. Ing. Paulina González, indicated that “we were in meetings with regional companies and there is a lot of interest in this project. "We will collect the needs of the industry and we will deliver solutions through the software and equipment that we will have in the CIMNE Classroom."

The researcher at Aula CIMNE in Spain, Francisco Zárate, stressed that “the idea of ​​the association is not only to develop scientific work, but also a joint project that allows the exchange of academics and students. It is a door that opens in which students can be sent to do research and in any classroom in the world, this is a quite powerful network.”

Regarding the alliance between FIULS and AULA CIMNE, the director of the Aula FIULS CIMNE, Dr. Ing. Jaime Campbell, stated that “this project is very interesting, with many areas of work together, there are many possibilities with other institutions that can be see in other CIMNES classrooms. Opportunities open up for our academics and students to develop applied research.”

FIULS 2030

The joint work initiative with Aula CIMNE emerged in the context of the work lines of the Applied R&D and Linkage with Industry and International Relations and Mobility axes of the FIULS 2030 Project.

Written by María José Barraza, FIULS 2030 Project

The actions will be carried out through the “Geo - Inquiry” Project, promoted nearly four years ago by the National Geographic Society in the United States and Canada, which will be carried out for the first time in a Latin American country.

Four communes in the Coquimbo Region were selected to carry out the “Geo Inquiry - Chile” project, an initiative that aims to install investigative skills and enhance geographic education in schoolchildren from educational establishments and teachers in training. The premise lies mainly in investigating a local problem and thus achieving an improvement in its environmental environment using the National Geographic Society (NGS) model.

The “Geo - Inquiry” model has been executed to date in countries mainly in North America, obtaining important results from the participating students. The research process lies mainly in the scientific method of posing a problem, collecting information, visualizing it, creating a solution and executing it, from the approach of citizen and geographical education.

“The main purpose of 'Geo - Inquiry' is for students to learn the perspective and skills of an explorer and apply them to a local problem. As a result of this work, we hope that the next generation will have the inspiration, confidence and skills to make real, positive changes at the local, national and global levels,” explains Northem Iowa University geographer Dr. Alex Oberle, director of the project from the NGS in the United States.

The team in Chile is led by the ULS academic, Dr. Fabián Araya, who together with Dr. Sandra Álvarez, professionals from the study house and professors representing the communes of La Serena, Monte Patria, Río Hurtado and Paihuano, will work on five investigations that will address different topics focused on citizen education and the sustainability of the regional territory.

“The Geo-Inquiry project is a very appropriate initiative for the Coquimbo Region, as it links geographical research with the local territory and allows the identification of real problems for which students must propose relevant and feasible solutions. This methodology is at the base of the process of renewal of the pedagogical careers of the University of La Serena, as it allows the development of interest in research into local and regional problems,” said Dr. Araya, who currently directs the Unit. of Integrated Management of ULS Pedagogies.

The research topics will be related to the use of water in a local context, wetlands and their connection with the community, geographic literacy from citizen education, the heritage rescue of the railway culture, and the cultural and natural heritage of Rio Hurtado.

In this way, there will be 124 primary and secondary school students, and 30 fourth-year Ped students. in History and Geography ULS, who will be in charge of investigating and proposing possible solutions to the problems established in their respective communes.

In this context, during the month of September, Dr. Oberle, together with the team from the University of La Serena, made several visits to the participating communities with the purpose of detailing the project and highlighting the importance it will have for the local community.

“In Chile, the US and all countries in the world, people would like to improve and advance their communities at a local level, and precisely the heart of Geo - Inquiry is based on citizen education, and that every person has the ability to make positive changes in your community or neighborhood. Apart from citizen training, Geo - Inquiry imparts geographic and integration skills. This project represents a way to establish links between the NGS explorers and the teachers/students of Chile, and I am confident that the participants will achieve great results, which will allow the dissemination of the 'Geo-Inquiry' research model to other localities in Chile and other Latin American countries,” emphasized the NGS geographer.

Written by Daniela Ledezma, UGIP

In the activity, Dr. Mónica Fernández will present “Critical Validity of Geocultural Methodology.” Additionally, during her visit to the ULS, she will speak at the Conversation Table “Epistemologies of the South and Insurgent Pedagogy.”

The outstanding academic, Dr. Mónica Fernández, teacher-researcher of the Department of Social Sciences of the National University of Quilmes, Argentina, will participate in various activities next Monday, September 30 at the University of La Serena, organized by the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Latin American Studies (CIEL) in conjunction with the Center for Human Rights Studies and the Philosophy Area of ​​the Department of Education of the ULS.

The first of them is the tribute to the Latin American philosopher Rodolfo Kusch 40 years after his death, which will take place at 11:30 a.m. in the Marta Vitar Hall of the CADH (Isabel Bongard Campus). On the occasion, the Argentine academic will give the talk: “Critical Validity of Geocultural Methodology.”

Later, starting at 16:30 p.m. In the Multipurpose Room of the same Campus, the Conversation Table “Epistemologies of the South and Insurgent Pedagogy” will be held, where the guest speaker will address “Education, Citizenship and Human Rights.”

Our History

Mónica Fernández has a PhD in Philosophy (UNLA), a Master in Human Rights (UNLP) and a degree in Education (UNQ). The professional, who has published popular articles and book chapters, is director of the CReCER Project (Creating Citizen, Educational and Responsible Networks) and a member of the "Rights of All" Program. Triple framework: access, knowledge management and recognition", from the Secretariat of University Extension (UNQ).

In addition, she serves as director of the Inter-American Network for the Exchange of Educational Experiences to Promote Education in Human Rights (RIIEEPEDH) and teacher of the Research Program: Speeches, Practices and Educational Institutions directed by prof. Ricardo Baquero, which is made up of several projects, all of them dealing with topics related to teaching and research at different educational levels.

Written by Gonzalo Lozano, DirCom