The purpose of the meeting was to sensitize the community to generate an inclusive environment from a gender perspective.

The Teaching Directorate of the University of La Serena organized the Seminar "Equity & Gender: challenges for the ULS university community", which included different conferences and a workshop, in order to raise awareness about the topic to be discussed.

The activity was attended by the Rector-elect of the ULS, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, the institutional representative in the CRUCH Gender Table, Dr. Desirée López, as well as academics from the University and the general public.

On the occasion, Dr. Avilés emphasized how important it is for the University to carry out this type of action in search of improving the culture of gender equality. “The University of La Serena is constantly working on issues to improve human relations, and one of them is to establish a culture of gender equality. That is why the University has joined different instances in search of establishing this culture of equity in the community”.

During the seminar, different conferences were given, the inaugural one being “Equity and gender: an ethical challenge for university coexistence”, given by the academic Mg. Alejandra Jana; followed by the conference: "Sexuality and Gender", carried out by the guest and academic, Mg. Natalia Guerrero.

The activity also considered the panel "Challenges in Equity and Gender", in which the academics, Mg. Silvia Fernández, Dr. Vilbett Briones and Dr. María Lourdes Campos, in addition to the legal adviser of the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality, Lic. Paula Spencer; and the appreciative inquiry workshop: "Towards an institutional culture with greater equity", by the academic, Mg. Pedro Bolgeri.

“Corporate Risk Management, Challenges for Administration and the Profession” was the title of the master class given by the certified auditor from the University of La Serena, Ricardo Toro.

On Thursday, December 13, the closing ceremony of the 30th anniversary of the Audit degree was held, which in commemoration of this important event carried out different activities aimed at students.

The closing activity was the master class: “Corporate Risk Management, Challenges for Administration and the Profession”, taught by the manager of Finance and Management Control at the Central Securities Depository and former student of the study house, Ricardo Toro , who took the opportunity to thank the opportunity provided by the degree to bring his experience to Auditing students.

This activity was attended by the Dean of the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences. Dr. Luperfina Rojas, the Director of the School of Auditing, Mg. Patricia Cortés, academics, graduates and students of the Auditing career.

On the occasion, the Director of the School highlighted the importance of celebrating these 30 years of life within the University, rescuing all the work that has been done in search of improving the training work that it provides. "After 30 years of effort and constant work in the training of auditors, the program has a consolidated project, where the formation of its own identity marks the seal that distinguishes us from the other programs of other study houses, giving us a brand special, making us unique and allowing us to distinguish ourselves from others.”

In addition, the vice president of the Student Center of the degree, Felipe Zambrano, highlighted the seal that the University gives to the development of the Audit degree. “If there is something that distinguishes the Audit career at the University of La Serena, it is the humanistic sense that it has, exalting the student as its main focus of action, seeking not only the transmission of knowledge, but also the training of people. comprehensive, marked by a solid sense of justice and equity, which is expressed in the different activities carried out within the degree."

For his part, Ricardo Toro appreciated being able to participate in this activity, in addition to praising the work that the University has done for the development of the degree. “It is a rewarding experience to be able to contribute in one way or another to the training of students, and the work that has been done by the Career Directorate is important, giving a fairly positive tone to the undergraduate program,” he emphasized. .

At the end of the activity, the College of Accountants, through its regional president, Avelino Barraza, gave a special recognition to the best student graduated this year, Rocío Santibáñez.

The traditional year-end activity brought together a significant number of attendees, who gathered in the rooms of the ULS Headquarters.

University authorities, directors, academics, officials and students of the University of La Serena participated in the traditional Christmas Mass, organized by the University Pastoral.

This liturgical act, which commemorates the end of the year, was presided over by Father Fernando Castro, Vicar for Higher Education and Parish Priest of the town of Algarrobito.

The activity began at 11:00 in the morning in the Hall of the Central House and had the support of academic and non-academic officials, who enthusiastically sang the Christmas carols prepared by the choir that accompanied the celebration.

During the ceremony, the proceeds from the collection were handed over to the “PerrULS” group, an entity that, under the auspices of the Federation of Students of the University of La Serena, and thanks to the support of authorities, has managed to carry out important work associated with the care for the dogs that have taken the different university campuses as their home.

During the ceremony, students and teachers from the different establishments in the Coquimbo Region that participated in this edition of the Olympics were decorated, in addition to highlighting the students who represented us in the national competition.

In the Television Studio of the School of Journalism of the University of La Serena, the closing and award ceremony was held for the 70 students of 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade from schools in Coquimbo, La Serena, Salamanca and Ovalle who They participated in the 2018 Chemistry Olympics.

The activity was attended by the Rector of the university, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, and the regional president of the Olympics, Abraham Ledezma, academics from the Department of Chemistry, students, teachers and parents of the participating schools.

On the occasion, the regional president of the Olympics, Abraham Ledezma, gave a greeting, highlighting the character of this activity. “The Olympics not only evaluate students' knowledge of chemistry, but also transmit camaraderie, the friendship that is created between the participating students and the knowledge of other means of education in the country. It should be noted that the largest delegation to compete at the UMCE Santiago was from this region: nine selected students, who obtained bronze and gold medals. They fill us with satisfaction for the professional teaching work of their professors, all trained at this University.”

The closing conference of these Olympics was called: “Teaching of Chemistry. Life and work of Ignacio Domeyko ”by the academic of the Department of Chemistry, Jaime Pozo, where he highlighted the contribution and importance of Domeyko to the history of chemistry and the important contribution that his work meant for the University of La Serena.

At the ceremony, a distinction was presented to all the students and teachers who participated this year in the Olympics, with a special presentation by the Rector of the ULS to the students who stood out nationally and obtained medals in this contest.

Thus, a recognition was presented to Pablo Santiago, a 3rd grade student at the Seminario Conciliar school for obtaining a gold medal, in addition to the students Isidora Arqueros from the 2nd grade at Francis School, Benjamín Munizaga from the 2nd grade at the Italian Scuola, Martin Toledo from the 3rd year of the Gerónimo Rendic School and Miguel Castillo from the 4th year of the Gerónimo Rendic School, for obtaining the bronze medal in the national competition.

The organization of this activity highlighted the participation and commitment of the students who join this event year after year, in addition to extending the invitation to participate next year.

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The discovery includes arachnids, crustaceans and another group of arthropods, mostly endemic to the Antofagasta and Atacama regions.

The Chilean territory is home to a large amount of fauna and various species. Among them, those groups that present levels of endemism stand out, that is, they are exclusive to the country, which according to the Livestock Agricultural Service (SAG), implies a high value for the country from a genetic and biodiversity point of view. This is why, in order to provide information that serves to safeguard the ecosystem services provided by the fauna present in the national territory, the “National Biodiversity Inventory” has been developed for a year, a project of which the Mg. Jaime Pizarro-Araya, academic and researcher at the Department of Biology of the University of La Serena, who works in the Ecological Entomology laboratory, a place specialized in the study of insects and arachnids from arid and semi-arid ecosystems in Chile.

It is after a long work and the use of different methodologies that it was possible to discover about 50 new species of arthropods, which include insects, arachnids and crustaceans and other minor groups of arthropods, but mainly they are coleopteran and orthopteran insects, which They are lobsters and beetles and some groups of arachnids, which have been found especially in the high mountains and in some coastal places in the regions of Antofagasta and Atacama specifically. These species have great relevance, as confirmed by Jaime Pizarro: “the ecosystem services provided by insects are very varied, they can come from a fundamental issue such as pollination; If you remove the pollinating agents, which are generally insects, the ecosystems collapse and therefore you cannot have agriculture.”

This initiative arises as part of the Integrated Monitoring System of Native Forest Ecosystems of Chile (SIMEF), work that is carried out in collaboration with different entities. “There is a multidisciplinary group that helps us carry out the sampling, there is also CONAF, Carabineros, the FACH, several institutions that are related to the planning of the work,” explained the ULS researcher, who added that this work has been carried out in almost 7 regions, which has great meaning for the country, since “it is part of the heritage, it is information that we do not have and as the phrase goes, we must “know to conserve””. In this way, in March 2019, researchers will make an online platform available to the community so that everyone can learn about the biodiversity that exists in the country and thus protect the habitat of these species.

Through these findings we seek to generate greater awareness about the insect species that exist in our ecosystem. This is what the researcher emphasizes: “outside in our patios there is a different fauna and it is the local fauna that has its own thing, it has an ancient story to tell, they are here long before the rise of the Andes. There are very interesting things we have here, there is low diversity, but in terms of endemism it is almost absolute.” In addition, he highlighted the importance of disseminating the information obtained with this research to the community, noting that he hopes to "move forward to be able to continue informing people, that is the objective, to make a change of switch, especially in children." ”.
It should be noted that these findings were widely covered by the regional press in Antofagasta, including El Mercurio and TVN. In addition, a capsule of the TVN program “Chile Conectado” is being prepared and will air next year.

Source: VIPULS

The state campus participated in one of the most important postgraduate fairs in Latin America, the Postgraduate Expo, which was held in Medellín, Colombia.

The University of La Serena has become an important center for research and training of highly qualified professionals in the north of Chile. Aligned with its Strategic Development Plan that contemplates the strengthening of the postgraduate degree, and in accordance with the new challenges that the country faces in terms of the formation of advanced human capital, the University has invested in strengthening diploma, master's and doctoral programs to achieve greater levels of improvement in order to provide the region and the country with specialists who can better insert themselves and stand out in the competitive world of work, with the goal of addressing and seeking solutions to regional and global problems associated with their respective disciplines.

This is how today the ULS offers 5 Doctorate programs, 8 Master's programs and 12 Diplomas that address key aspects of the territory in which the University is immersed, highlighting postgraduate training in Astronomy, Ecology, Renewable Energy & Sustainability, Engineering in Food, among others.

Recently, one of the most important postgraduate fairs in Latin America, the Postgraduate Expo, was held in Medellín, Colombia, where Chile was the guest of honor in 2018 and where more than a thousand potential students participated. The ULS represented the Coquimbo Region and was part of a list of 10 Chilean universities from different parts of the country that attended, coordinated through Learn Chile. This organization brings together different Chilean higher education institutions that work together with the State of Chile, represented by Pro Chile, to promote the country as a destination of excellence for international students.

This was the first time that the ULS participated in an international fair of this type, an event that allowed fruitful networking and direct interaction with more than 11 Colombian universities and more than 150 young people interested in coming to study at this institution. According to the Vice-Rector for Research and Postgraduate Studies, Dr. Eduardo Notte, the Master's and Doctorate programs in the areas of renewable energy and the environment were the ones that aroused the greatest interest among students, as well as there were many inquiries for postgraduate programs in the field. educational.

Something that also caught the attention of the students was the accessible value of the programs taught by the ULS. “The programs did not seem expensive to them, since we explained to them that the objective of being a State university is for the student to be able to train at a reasonable cost,” said the Director of Postgraduate and Postgraduate Studies, Dr. Cristian Ibáñez, who also attended the International Fair.

“It is important to highlight that Colombians see the Chilean university system as a very good system and they want to adopt our model at the institutional level (…). They see Chile as a destination to study, at the fair there were several universities from Europe and perhaps they did not have as much attendance as we had the Spanish-speaking universities and the Chilean ones in particular (...). We had a great turnout,” added Dr. Notte.

Source: VIPULS

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