ULS is awarded five Regular Fondecyt projects and two Postdoctoral projects in 2018 competitions

fondecyt

The initiatives correspond to the areas of Astronomy, Psychology, Biology and Mining Engineering.

Last week Conicyt and the Higher Councils of Science and Technological Development of FONDECYT reported the proposal for the selection of the projects that applied to the FONDECYT Regular 2018 National Project Competition, which still must be ratified by the National Council of Scientific and Technological Development and, subsequently, the decision by the Comptroller General of the Republic, to finally create the Resolution awarding the tender. This is how there are five projects corresponding to the University of La Serena included in the selected proposal, of which two belong to the area of ​​Astronomy, one to Psychology, one to Biology and one to Mining Engineering; In addition, the Biology area awarded two Postdoctoral projects.

Two of the initiatives belong to researchers associated with the Multidisciplinary Institute of Sciences and Technology. The research proposed in both projects for the period of three years is from the area of ​​Astronomy and is in charge of Dr. Antonela Monachesi, whose proposal is “The stellar halos of nearby galaxies: A unique window into the accretion and merger history of galaxies ”, and Dr. Facundo Gómez, whose project is titled “The formation and evolution of Milky Way-like galaxies”. It should be noted that both researchers were hired during 2016 and are part of the faculty of the ULS Doctoral Program in Astronomy.

One of the winning proposals belongs to Dr. Pablo Castro, from the Department of Psychology, whose project is entitled "Subjective theories of teachers about school time: its variation according to years of experience and work contexts." The study basically focuses on the research question: What are the subjective theories about the time of teachers from three regions of Chile with different years of teaching experience and work contexts like?

Another of the winning projects is the initiative of Dr. Ricardo Oyarzun Lucero, belonging to the Department of Mining Engineering, with the project entitled "Environmental monitoring and assessment of heavy metal transport and fate in mining-affected mountain streams of NorthCentral Chile: a comprehensive approach integrating hydraulic, hydrologic, geochemical, and modeling issues”, whose general objective is “to better restrict the hydraulic, hydrological, geochemical and physicochemical processes that determine the transport and fate of heavy metal in fluvial systems of north-central Chile, taking as a case study the situation of the upper basin of the Elqui river”.

Finally, Dr. Ernesto Gianoli's project entitled “Eco evolutionary approaches to community assembly patterns”, has the main objective of “providing evidence of the links between ecoevolutionary processes and community assembly patterns, which are often assumed but rarely tested". It should be noted that Dr. Gianoli is the Director of the Doctoral Program in Biological Sciences with a Mention in Arid Zones, recently accredited by the CNA.

In addition, the two Postdoctoral proposals awarded by the ULS are led by Dr. Gianoli. These are the postdoctoral projects “Determinants of the ecological and evolutionary responses to increased aridity of plants in the isolated Lomas communities of northern Chile”, whose principal investigator is Dr. Gisela Stotz, and “Causes of the invasion by Ulex europaeus L. in the Chilean scrub: testing hypotheses with a biogeographical approach”, whose principal investigator is Dr. Silvia Medina.

Regular Fondecyt Contest

The National Contest of Regular Fondecyt Projects has the objective of financing research initiatives that lead to the creation of new knowledge or applications. It finances projects lasting two to four years. The projects are selected taking into account their intrinsic quality and the merit of the applicants, without distinction of areas, institutional origin or gender.

The ULS submitted 22 projects to the Regular Fondecyt Competition, of which five were selected for award. While for the 2018 Postdoctoral competition there were four projects nominated by the University, awarding the two previously mentioned.