The Academic Postgraduate Affairs Office of the Universidad de La Frontera organized a welcome ceremony that allowed the new students to get to know each other and to talk about their experiences.

The new foreign students, who came to the Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO) to join our postgraduate programs in 2019, come from Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, Ecuador, Cuba, Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Russia.

The Academic Postgraduate Affairs Office of the UFRO organized this welcome ceremony that allowed the students to share their experiences and to get to know each other. They also talked about the reasons why they chose this institution for their postgraduate studies.

They all agreed on how fast the UFRO responds to the requests and questions of the foreign applicants compared to other Chilean institutions, and also emphasized the international outlook of the UFRO that stands out in the world’s most important rankings, especially in the field of research.

“I did not know the Universidad de La Frontera, but when I started to search for information to apply to a postgraduate program, I took a look at the Shanghai Ranking, that ranks universities at the international level, and I found out that this university is in the first quartile of the best universities in Chile,” Jhon Avellaneda from Colombia said.

“It is very pleasing to hear that students of different nationalities have such a good perception of our postgraduate programs and that they recognize their excellence. And that is not random, it is the result of our work, especially of the program directors who don’t just focus on academic and scientific aspects, but also on humanizing the application process for international students,” Dr. Monica Rubilar, the academic director of Postgraduate Affairs at the UFRO, said.

The new foreign students came to the UFRO to join the following postgraduate programs: Doctoral Program in Agri-food Sciences and Environment; Doctorate in Natural Resource Sciences; Doctorate in Social Sciences; Doctorate in Engineering Sciences with Specialization in Bioprocesses; Doctorate in Medical Sciences; Master in Social Management; Master in Regional, Local and Human Development; Master in Natural Resource Management; Master in Community Psychology; Master in Engineering Sciences with Specialization in Biotechnology; Master in Total Quality Management Systems; Master in Education; Master in Family Studies and Development.

Dr. Renato Hunter, the Vice-rector for Research and Graduate Studies at the Universidad de La Frontera, presented the indicators of scientific productivity of the university to the new international students and, above all, invited them to enjoy this new stage in their professional training, to disseminate their culture among the university community and to enrich our institution with it.

RESEARCH FIELDS 

	Raúl Mabasso is from Mozambique, where sexual abuse has become a usual practice among the society, what especially effects minors. Raul is a clinical psychologist and entered the Master´s Program in Family Studies and Development at the UFRO, with the aim of studying the processes that have been developed in Chile regarding children’s and women’s rights. He wants to create a protocol that could help the people of his community to report and quickly prosecute abuse. “My country is very corrupt. If you have a lot of money, you can sleep with 10 or 11 year old girls and buy the silence of politics – or even pay the child’s parents. In my final thesis, I will work on the issue of sexual violence against minors, perpetrated by HIV-positive people.”
	Liana Abdulova is from Russia. She has been living in Chile for some years now and in 2019, she entered the Master in Social Management at the UFRO. She is a social worker and wanted to keep specializing. That is why she started to search for information about Chilean universities that have broad experience in this field. “I received timely information about this university and saw that they have been working on a lot of topics related to childhood and family, what I want to work on in the future. I hope to be able to implement some programs in this field, both in Chile and Russia.”
	Joelis Vera is from Venezuela. Back home, she has been working in the oil industry and after that, she went to Brazil in order to do a Master in fuels and corrosive effects of biodiesel. Now, she is joining the Doctorate in Engineering Sciences with Specialization in Bioprocesses, being interested to study the synthesis and characterizations of nanomaterial with different applications. “I am interested in applications in the environmental field and I would like to contribute to it and to generate knowledge.”
	Jhon Avellaneda comes from Colombia and is a student in the Doctoral Program in Agri-food Sciences and Environment of the UFRO. “I realized that there was a research group that was working in my field of interest, which is integrated pest management and the use of semiochemicals. I would like to develop a comprehensive strategy for specific pests, because it is a topic of worldwide interest, since many times, chemical compounds are being used, what leads to health issues for the people and the environment. It is necessary and urgent to find alternatives to these chemical products.”

Written by: Karimme Riadi
UFRO Vice-rectorate for Research and Graduate Studies