The contest financially supports the execution of scientific and technological research projects, with potential economic and/or social impact, whose results are obtained, evaluated and validated in short periods of time.

With a large attendance of researchers, the dissemination talk of the next FONDEF-CONICYT IDeA Competition was held at the University of La Serena, organized by the Research and Development Directorate, attached to the ULS Vice-Rector's Office for Research and Postgraduate Studies.

During the presentation, led by the FONDEF project executive, Andrea Hinojosa, details of this IDeA (Research and Development in Action) Contest were provided, which financially supports the execution of scientific and technological research projects, with potential economic and/or impact. social, whose results are obtained, evaluated and validated in short periods of time.

The annual competitions and calls are: IDeA R&D, whose final objective is to carry out a proof of concept (PDC) of a product, process or service, that is, validate a prototype (with applications from January to April); and Technological Research, so that from the PDC, the development of the product/process/service is continued and thus achieve a result closer to the definitive application and develop massification and commercialization strategies (with applications between August and September).

The professional emphasized that the contest seeks to support those projects “that have previous antecedents that support a hypothesis of application” of a technology, product or service, and that, with the development of the research, achieve validation through a test of concept at prototype level within two years.  

Another novelty of the contest is that it will have thematic areas: Older Adults, Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and Food Safety and Quality.

The FONDEF project executive indicated that the rules of the 2018 contest are available on the website http://www.conicyt.cl/fondef/.

The activity took place in the Alejandro Covarrubias room of the Central House.

For professionals at the University of La Serena, this experience was fundamental since it constitutes the first step in establishing a formal alliance between both laboratories.

Academics from the Laboratory of Research and Technological Innovation for Science Education (LIITEC-ULS), carried out a two-day research stay at the Chemistry Didactics Laboratory of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso (PUCV). Professors Francisco López, belonging to the Department of Biology, and Carlos Urrutia, from the Department of Education, participated in a technical meeting with the Director of said laboratory, Dr. Cristián Merino, an opportunity in which they exchanged experiences in the area of ​​didactics of natural sciences and implementation of innovative technologies in educational processes.

The activities took place during the first days of January at the Curauma Campus of the PUCV and, within the framework of the meeting, the academics had the opportunity to share with the research team and professors from the Institute of Biology of said institution. For the academics of the University of La Serena, this experience was fundamental since it constitutes the first step in establishing a formal alliance between both laboratories.

In this sense, Professor Francisco López pointed out that “this is a visit focused on exploring areas of collaboration between both institutions, establishing alliances in terms of linking in undergraduate training in science, as well as validation of content and research in educational technological resources. ”.

Professor Carlos Urrutia, LIITEC-ULS research coordinator, valued the possibility of carrying out said stay, as it implied a relevant step in the generation of strategic alliances that enable, in the short term, the formalization of joint research projects. , thus contributing to the actions to strengthen research included in the Strategic Development Plan of the University of La Serena (2016-2020).

In this regard, Dr. Merino indicated that the objective of the visit focused on learning about the laboratory's lines of research, especially those related to instructional design and the use of technology for science learning. On this occasion, theoretical and methodological frameworks were shared for the development and promotion of visualization as an essential capacity so that students can navigate the different models used by scientific disciplines, in order to be able to explain the different phenomena that are related to them. of your interest; all of this mediated by the use of new technologies.

Additionally, ULS academics presented two projects that LIITEC is developing, these are: “3D Cell Division”, which is a mobile application with Augmented Reality visualization, and “Cellfie-ULS”, which is an integrated system for capturing , labeling, managing and publishing photographs taken through an optical microscope using a mobile device.
The head of Biochemistry, Dr. Alexis González, and the director of the Institute of Chemistry, Nelson Osses, while appreciating the project, raised the importance of establishing potential cooperation strategies between both institutions, especially in the generation of histological images. of different fabrics.

The project was also presented to Dr. Verónica Rojas, Head of Teaching at the Institute of Biology, who provided preparations for optical microscopy that will favor the capture of images of said process, with the purpose of contributing to “3D Meiosis”, which is a Mobile app that is being developed by LIITEC-ULS.

Finally, the commitment was established to present projects and publications in line with the topics discussed and to study the possibility of generating internships for undergraduate students, and stays for researchers from both institutions.

Source: DEIP Press   

The initiative aims to motivate institutions to be leaders in occupational health and safety and actively involve their workers in risk management.

In a ceremony held at the Headquarters, the Rector of the University of La Serena, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, signed the declaration of commitment of the ULS to achieve the goal of “Zero Fatal Accidents” in the institution, within the framework of the campaign promoted by the Chilean Chamber of Construction and Mutual Security.

The initiative aims to motivate CChC members to be leaders in occupational health and safety and to actively involve their workers in risk management.

In this way, the house of higher education committed to continue building a “Safety Culture”, keeping Risk Prevention integrated into the usual operations carried out by the institution, in all its work centers, and also to materialize a series of activities.

The Rector of the ULS, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, valued the commitment assumed by the institution and expressed that “for us it is a great pride to be a University that gives clear signals that it wants to be at the forefront in terms of safety and security regulations. prevention".

For his part, the regional president of the CChC La Serena, Sergio Quilodrán, highlighted the fact that the University of La Serena signs this commitment “with one of the essential values ​​of society: life. With the ULS, there are 137 member companies of the Chilean Chamber of Construction La Serena that have signed up to this sustainability initiative, and with which we hope to continue along the path of commitment to our collaborators.”

While the Director of Human Resources of the university institution, Dr. Héctor Bugueño, pointed out that the signing of this commitment points to the quality of life of people. “This activity is a clear example of institutional commitment in the sense that people are the center,” he said.

The ing. in Risk Prevention, Verónica Antiñirre, from the Dept. of Risk Prevention of the ULS, commented that in the history of the University there is no fatal accident to regret and that with the signing of this document the institution "commits to its workers, its officials, to improve its safety standards. security, thus being at the level of the great institutions of the region and the country.”

“Report your incidents” campaign and training

The professional explained that within the framework of the signed commitment, a campaign called “Report your incidents” will be implemented, which will be carried out with the support of the Joint Committee and the Mutual Security Agency, and which aims to ensure that officials report risk situations in a timely manner. that may cause accidents (they can be reported in boxes located in various units). Training is also considered for officials of the Central Casino, Department of Works and Maintenance, Information Technology and Computing Center, and Central Library.

The process is carried out in order, with appropriate facilities and a very good disposition of the officials and monitors who care for the young people who enter the institution.

A large influx of young people marked the beginning of the registration process for new students at the University of La Serena, which takes place in the Ignacio Domeyko Campus (Benavente 980), from 09:00 a.m. to 17:00 p.m. ., and whose first stage will last until Sunday, January 21.

The Head of Admission and Enrollment of the state campus, Eduardo Rojo, expressed his satisfaction with the result of the applications, since 1.889 students were selected for the 1.660 available vacancies. “Our races have improved their scores, we have fewer races with a waiting list (…). In general, it has been a normal process, the students have been attended to without difficulty, there are people who help them at different points and we have provided all kinds of support so that they can resolve their doubts,” he stated.

The high attendance of students was valued by the Academic Vice-Rector, Dr. Jorge Catalán, who stated that it is a “clear demonstration of the interest of students from the region and other regions to apply to our University and enroll in it. There is also evidence in the increase in scores compared to the previous year for the different races. The process is developing very normally, with a lot of enthusiasm and order, and with very good quality attention for the students who enter.”

Carlos Olivares, one of the new students of the school, was happy to enroll in the ULS and in the Commercial Engineering career, motivated to “use it as a life tool, since it has multiple strategies in the economic area, the issue of creating a business and, mainly, your own label.”

While the new student, Juliana Barraza, pointed out that she chose the University of La Serena “because of the tradition and prestige it has, in addition to being located in my city.”

Next stages of the process

The second registration period (Waiting List) will take place on Monday, January 22 and Tuesday, January 23, at the same time and university campus. The third period or Re-appointment Process (if carried out), is scheduled for Thursday, January 25. The University will call the applicants from the first waiting list through the website www.userena.cl on Sunday, January 21, starting at 20:00 p.m. If there are still vacancies, they will be called in strict order of priority, through the information recorded in the DEMRE database. Vacancies for the third period of enrollment or Re-application (if carried out) will be published on the institution's website and internally in the Admission and Enrollment Secretariat on Wednesday, January 24, starting at 20:00 p.m.

For more information on this process, go to the Admission and Registration Secretariat, located at Benavente 980, first floor, call 2204081 and 2204082 or write to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The purpose of this initiative is to achieve an understanding of the function of the link with the environment as an essential and integrative element with the dissemination and extension processes in institutions.

With the aim of generating the skills to diagnose, design, implement and evaluate Environmental Linkage actions that meet the standards to contribute to the processes of academics linked to teaching and research, professionals and academics from the universities of the State participated in a certified course on Linking with the Environment at the University of Los Lagos, in Osorno.

The training lasted 4 days (January 11 and 12, 15 and 16) and is part of the activities of the Network of State Universities in the field of Linkage with the Environment, with the collaboration of the University of Playa Ancha.

This inter-university technical advice and support was specifically carried out with the presence of the General Director of Engagement with the Environment, Margarita Pastene (UPLA), who developed - within the framework of this course - an activity on methodological and instrumental approaches to design initiatives, projects and programs with the greatest impact in this area.

Qualification

“One of the big issues is the empowerment of competencies, working with teachers regarding what the link with the environment is, what is the scope it has, how to work with the actors of the territory, how indicators are generated, etc. Added to this are the consultancies for undergraduate careers that we are already doing. He also highlighted that this is possible thanks to the Network Framework Agreement,” said Osvaldo Bernales, member of the board of directors of the Environmental Linkage Network and representative of the University of Los Lagos.

This initiative had the support of the Academic Vice-Rector of the University of Los Lagos and its objective is to achieve an understanding of the function of the link with the environment as an essential and integrative element with the dissemination and extension processes in the institutions. .

The general methodology included carrying out an induction workshop, 4 work modules and a final integration workshop, in addition to the presentation of a work to be certified.

“It is the beginning of a series of workshops and will be a contribution to everything we have to advance, it is the first step for a group of teachers to meet here and be able to understand key concepts such as bidirectionality, extension, connection with the environment, among others. aspects that we have to know how to clearly identify. Professors are also interested in being able to learn and work in this area,” said Óscar Díaz, an academic at the University of Los Lagos.

The Environmental Linkage Management course emphasized how to implement actions in this area in an incremental process of complexity (action design-project design-program design). It had a modular character that addressed the major issues in the function of the link with the environment, according to frames of reference that allowed the process to be comprehensively understood.

For the academic from the U. de los Lagos, Lucía de la Fuente, this qualification that the teachers received was of great relevance, since “through this course it was possible to adjust criteria and reference parameters on how to evaluate, measure and qualify the connection with the environment. As I am on the qualification commission, it is also very important to combine criteria, I believe that we all have a connection with the environment, but it is unsystematic and there are no indicators, so the evaluation becomes unfair for some, because we would all like to contribute a little more ”.

Source: Los Lagos University Press

It aims to be the most important academic-business industrial engineering event in the northern part of Chile.

Within the framework of its monthly session No. 591 of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities, CRUCH, held in Arica on Thursday the 11th of this month, the rectors of the Universities of the Northern Macro Zone of Chile signed an agreement to promote the Third International Congress of the Industrial Engineering Network of Northern Chile, INDUNOR 2018, which aims to be the most important academic-business event of industrial engineering in the northern part of Chile.

This is an initiative that aims to create a meeting point to share experiences, pool knowledge and link the work of this discipline that is developed in these universities with other parts of Chile and the world.

This Congress has a collaborative approach and brings together the efforts made by the departments or areas of Industrial Engineering of the University of Tarapacá, Arturo Prat University, University of Antofagasta, Universidad Católica del Norte, University of Atacama and University of La Serena.

“The representatives of the universities that make up INDUNOR met with the rectors of said universities, in order to formalize the signing of the Specific Agreement that establishes for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020, the holding of the INDUNOR International Congress, which will be organized by the University of Antofagasta (2018), University of La Serena (2019) and Universidad Católica del Norte (2020),” explained the Director of the Department of Industrial Engineering of the ULS, Oscar Contreras, who highlighted that the organization of the 4th Congress, to be carried out in La Serena, will correspond to the Department of Industrial Engineering of this institution.

He also emphasized that the INDUNOR Congress has established an agreement with the Ingeniare Magazine of the University of Tarapacá, an indexed publication of the SciELO type, to issue a special edition with the articles presented at the aforementioned event, after each realization, based on the quality of the works that have been presented and evaluated by the different committees.

Organization

The III INDUNOR Congress will be held in Antofagasta on August 22, 23 and 24 of this year. The sponsoring university, in charge of the organization and execution, will be the University of Antofagasta, through the Industrial Civil Engineering career, belonging to the Faculty of Engineering. Likewise, the Congress will have the work of the Article Review Committee, which will be made up of experts in the different Areas of Interest, both national and foreign.

Among the objectives is to encourage and disseminate research in Engineering Sciences and Industrial Engineering in the universities of northern Chile; establish academic exchange between professors of the Departments and Areas of Industrial Engineering of the country's universities, foreign universities and companies; and generate an instance of linkage with the regional community environment that is relevant to disseminate the knowledge obtained in the participating universities and companies.

The agreement was signed by the rectors attending the CRUCH session, Arturo Flores Franulic, from the University of Tarapacá; Gustavo Soto Bringas, from the Arturo Prat University; and Celso Arias Mora, from the University of Atacama.

Source: University of Tarapacá