Both programs will have accreditation valid until June 2023.

The Doctorate in Astronomy and the Doctorate in Food and Bioprocess Engineering from the University of La Serena received accreditation for 3 years by the National Accreditation Commission, CNA.

This would be the second accreditation achieved by the Doctorate in Astronomy and the third by the Doctorate in Food and Bioprocess Engineering, and whose certification in both programs will be valid until June 2023.

For the Vice Chancellor of Research and Postgraduate Studies of the University of La Serena, Dr. Eduardo Notte Cuello, the accreditation of these Doctorate programs positions the ULS, in the region and the country, in the areas related to the focused research that the institution decided to push years ago. “The Doctorate programs are part of the ecosystem, to develop at the highest level the topics proposed in Astronomy, Food Engineering, Renewable Energy and Biology of Arid Zones. The accreditation of the university's doctoral programs comes to strengthen and endorse the tremendous effort made by our researchers to achieve the excellent level of development in the different areas of knowledge in which we train specialists,” he commented.

In this regard, the Director of Postgraduate and Postgraduate Studies, Dr. Cristian Ibáñez Gutiérrez, points out that the accreditation of the Doctorate in Astronomy reaffirms the tremendous potential that our region has for the training of future astronomers. “We have academics of a very high level, students who are committed and active in their training and self-learning, who show a high social commitment. Without a doubt, the accreditation of the program closes a process carried out with professionalism and great rigor by all the academics, researchers and students of the program,” he indicated.

The Doctorate in Astronomy, which obtained the maximum number of years possible for programs without graduates, seeks to train scientists trained to analyze and interpret astronomical data from different observatories and/or databases, in order to carry out fundamental research, being Stellar Astronomy and Extragalactic Astronomy its main lines of research.

This Doctorate has a faculty made up of 12 academics belonging to the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and the Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Science and Technology, as well as several collaborating researchers from the Gemini Sur, Las Campanas and Cerro Tololo observatories.

Regarding the Doctorate in Food and Bioprocess Engineering, the Director of Postgraduate and Postgraduate Studies explained that “there is no doubt that the program has significantly improved its quality indicators, demonstrating the commitment and dedication of its academics and students in order to strengthen and consolidate this important Doctorate program, which is now also recognized by CNA.”

This Doctorate program is the only one of its kind in the northern macro-zone of the country, and seeks to train human resources that contribute to developing basic and applied research with a multidisciplinary and innovative perspective, oriented to the development and generation of products and productive processes, as well as goods and services in areas and disciplines associated with Food Engineering and Bioprocesses.

Its main lines of research promoted by this program include Food Processes and Technologies; Bioprocesses; and Mathematical Modeling and Computational Simulation for Food and Bioprocesses.

The University has five doctoral programs, as established in the Strategic Development Plan, PED 2016-2020, of which currently 2 are accredited before the CNA, to which are now added the 2 recently announced programs by the Commission. The fifth Doctorate program is waiting to receive the proposal for peer evaluators from the CNA.

ULS Scholarship Program

An important pillar in the strengthening of these Doctorates has been the institutional scholarship program for accredited doctorates of the University, created by the Rector's Office in 2013, and whose fundamental purpose is to provide financial support to the enrolled students. To date, around 60 students, from the different Doctorates taught by the institution, have benefited from these scholarships.

To learn more about the two recently accredited Doctorate programs, you can access the following links:

http://www.userena.cl/doctorados/item/doctorado-en-astronomía.html

http://www.userena.cl/doctorados/item/doctorado-en-ingenieria-de-alimentos-y-bioprocesos.html

Written by Sergio Muñoz, Office of Dissemination and Dissemination of Science and Technology