The research belongs to Drs. Paulina Meza, Adriana Mera and Karina Stucken.

The University of La Serena was awarded three projects in the 2017 Fondecyt Research Initiation Contest. The three-year initiatives belong to researchers associated with the Department of Arts and Letters, the Department of Food Engineering and the Research Institute. Multidisciplinary in Science and Technology at the ULS.

These are the projects “Discursive characterization of genres produced by Law and Medicine students: their relationship with the perception of self-efficacy in writing, the general quality of the text and disciplinary evaluation”, an initiative corresponding to the Linguistics, Literature study group and Philology from Conicyt and whose authorship is by Dr. Paulina Meza Guzmán, attached to the Dept. of Arts and Letters; “Natural zeolite compounds of bismuth oxide (BiOI) cultivated by a solvothermal process with potential application for the photocatalytic treatment of aquaculture waters”, from the Engineering 1 study group of Conicyt and belonging to Dr. Adriana Mera Benavides, attached to the Institute of Multidisciplinary Research in Science and Technology of the ULS, and finally “Cyanobacteria as soil regenerative agents: Characterization of cyanobacteria from the biological crust of the dry lands of Coquimbo for bioprospecting and rehabilitation of degraded soils”, corresponding to the Biology 3 study group of Conicyt and whose authorship is Dr. Karina Stucken Marín, from the Department of Food Engineering.

The main objective of Dr. Paulina Meza's project is to describe the discursive characteristics of the genres produced by Law and Medicine students in the light of three variables that allow us to account for writing as a complex activity: the perception that these students They depend on their effectiveness in writing (PAE), the general quality of the text (CGT) and the evaluation carried out by a disciplinary expert (ED).

Dr. Adriana Mera's initiative, meanwhile, seeks the manufacture and study of properties of natural Zeolite-BiOI composites, advanced materials with potential applications to be used on a large scale for the treatment of wastewater generated in aquaculture.

And Dr. Stucken's project aims to identify and characterize the diversity of cyanobacteria present in the biological crust of the dry lands of Coquimbo, with emphasis on soil rehabilitation.

It should be noted that the ULS applied for seven projects to the Fondecyt Initiation Contest, of which it awarded the three projects mentioned above, which implies an effectiveness of 42,9%; and the total amount assigned (among the three projects) for the year 2017 amounts to Th$92.901. On the other hand, in the 2017 Fondecyt Regular Competition, the institution awarded five projects for an amount of Th$688.375.

Fondecyt Initiation Contest

The objective of the 2017 Fondecyt Research Initiation Contest is to promote and strengthen the development of scientific and technological research of excellence through the promotion of young researchers, by financing research projects of 2 to 3 years duration. .

Fondecyt exclusively finances scientific or technological research projects, that is, those that lead to new knowledge or applications foreseen through working hypotheses explained in the project.

The projects are selected taking into account their intrinsic quality and the merit of the applicants, without distinction of areas, institutional origin or gender.