Foreign and national researchers in translational medicine came together in a Humboldt Colloquium at the UFRO and activated networks of joint work

On March 23rd and 24th, researchers, doctoral and postdoctoral students of this Institution came together at the Pucon Campus of the Universidad de La Frontera, together with members of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Since 2010, six similar events took place in Chile, but at other universities (Catholic University of Chile, Diego Portales University and University of Chile). This is the first time the UFRO has been selected, under the impetus of Dr. Raul Sanchez.

TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE

Translational medicine associated with parasitology, cancer, immunology and reproduction were some of the topics at the Colloquium which offered a wide range of topics to the participants from Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay and Chile, together with the speakers from Germany who talked about the importance of validating science and how to show that your work is made of quality.

The director of the division for Central and South America of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Dr. Anne Sperschneider, was the main ambassador of the German entity in Temuco. “This is an historical fact, because Raul Sanchez, one of our former scholarship holders, decided to ask for funds to support this event and we are happy that it was possible and that young Chilean researchers apply for our scholarships the same way as people from other countries do.”

The cooperation between Germany and Chile has a long history in our Region. This is why the honorary consul of the European country in our Region, Carlos Fingerhut, expressed his satisfaction with the visit of the Foundation. “I am very happy that this seminar took place here. We have a very strong relationship in the field of university education, in the exchange of teachers and between the universities. The Humboldt Foundation finances scholarships for postgraduate students and researchers in order to get specialized training in Germany, and they act all over the world, since they give importance to these alliances with other countries and in research.”

HUMBOLDTANIANS

The main organizer of the event, Dr. Raul Sanchez, evaluated the event. “The students were able to interact with the invited professors in an atmosphere of trust and they were able to ask what they wanted to. Work networks were created between the senior and post-doc researchers with representatives from Latin America and Europe, as well as the necessary instances for coming back to Chile. It was a good experience and it met the main expectation which was to create networks.”

They were able to plan other visits of the European researchers in Temuco, soon, but the most important point was “to strengthen the relationships, since they estimated the level of UFRO research. It also opened the possibility for our students to apply for scholarships for an advanced international symposium in reproduction that will take place in Uruguay.”

The dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Patricio Valdés, also analyzed the activity. “It is important to have an event like that with guests from Germany with a high scientific production in the fields of reproductive health, molecular biology and stem cells. This implies the strengthening of the center of translational medicine in basic science and medical science. It has been a great opportunity to create networks and alliances between researchers.”
The German researchers Florian Wagenlehmer and Ursula Dietrich, together with Anne Sperschneider brought the Humboldt Foundation to our Region and were present in the event. “We have different tools to support our former scholarship holders during their life as an active scientist, such as Dr. Sanchez who asked for these funds and our internal and external assessors decided to support him with his project. This is why we hope that this will have an impact on young researchers and that it will be a motive for others to apply for our scholarships”, the German representatives said.

“We expect a high participation of our young researchers and that they decide to apply and that the network of humboldtanians in Chile and the UFRO will be renewed and rejuvenated, because we do not want that Raul is the only one. The researchers can apply from all scientific fields, since there are no limits – from social sciences to medicine, physics, engineering, all areas,” they commented.