Last week, UFRO carried out its traditional welcome week for the new students, with entertaining activities that helped them to get to know each other, the university and different aspects of university life.

Last week, the university authorities, programme directors and older students of Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO) welcomed more than two thousand new first-year students at its Olympic Stadium, with different entertaining and informative activities to get to know each other, the university and different aspects of university life.

The rector, Dr. Eduardo Hebel Weiss, invited the students to enjoy their university life and to be proud of being part of this regional state university, which is among the “universities of excellence in Chile”, with an accreditation of six years.

“You are now part of a university of accredited excellence and quality, and we are very proud that you have chosen our university for your professional training. You are facing a great challenge in this new stage of your life, in which you are going to find a different world, with endless opportunities, within a unique and unforgettable experience,” said Dr. Hebel.

Dr. Sergio Salgado Salgado, the director of the Student Development Office, pointed out that the university’s approach is to provide experiences beyond the academic aspects. “Our focus is to support our students and to provide a comprehensive professional training. That does not only include academic support but also the development of other disciplinary and personal skills during their university experience and their professional training, for a comprehensive development as a person.”

Juan Méndez Vera, the director of the Office of Comprehensive Professional Training, explained: “This traditional welcome week for the students, who are starting to study in one of our programmes at the six faculties and Pucon Campus, also includes meetings between the students and their programme directors, as well as workshops, artistic events and inductions, for a successful start”.

THE STUDENTS: 

	Yanela Monsalves Ceballos, Biotechnology “The activity was very pleasant and entertaining. I liked the atmosphere and the dance activities, and I am happy that I was able to get to know my future classmates.”
	Hugo Bustamante Gutiérrez, Environmental Engineering “It was a very nice experience. I have not seen this anywhere before and it was very useful for my start at university.”
	Antonia Toledo Vargas, Journalism “This is a great opportunity to get to know each other. UFRO is a very big university and these activities help to get to know everything and to interact with students from other study programmes, too.”
	Javier Salazar Riffo, Science Education “This was a very pleasant experience. I already knew some of my future classmates from a WhatsApp group with the students who entered my study programme this year, but now I was able to share with them in person. That was very fun.”
	Sofía Cifuentes Alarcón, Civil Industrial Engineering “I had a lot of fun. I was able to meet some of my fellow students from the faculty and my study programme. I especially enjoyed the dance activities and competitions. The activity was very well organised.”
	Felipe Sáez Luna, Nursing “It was a great week! I really enjoyed the activities. In one competition, we had to get as many people as possible into a square and that was very fun.”
	Joaquín Henríquez Contreras, Telematics Engineering “I was able to interact with a couple of my classmates and other students of my faculty. It was great to get to know them before the classes start. This welcome week also shows that UFRO is a university that cares for its students, assuring that we have a great start.”
	Pía Nahuelfil Rodríguez, Law “The energy of my fellow faculty members was so great. I did not only share with the students of my study programme, and I enjoyed the activities with everybody of the faculty, who wore the orange shirts. It was a lot of fun because the teams of all faculties were very motivated.”
	Matías Valverde Zuñiga, Law “The welcome week was really great! You can see that UFRO cares a lot for its students, because of the high effort they put into planning these events.”
	Sofía Moya Quiñilén, Medical Technology “I liked this welcome week very much. I was able to get to know a lot of people, such as my future classmates.”

National and international experts participated in this congress for knowledge dissemination, organized by Universidad de La Frontera, Universidad Autonoma de Chile, and the Municipal Theatre of the city of Temuco.

The advances in genomics and sequencing to understand the human impact on remote areas and the research on biopolymer nanomaterials such as nanocellulose and lignins in search for alternatives to fossil resources were only some of the topics of the Congress of the Future Araucanía 2024.

Hundreds of people, local and regional authorities, students, researchers and academics came together at the Municipal Theatre of the city of Temuco to participate in this event for scientific dissemination, which was open to the community and organized by the Chilean Senate’s Future Challenges Commission.

In the La Araucanía Region, the congress was coordinated and carried out by Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO), Universidad Autonoma de Chile, and the Municipal Theatre of the city of Temuco.

The two invited international speakers were Dr. Orlando Rojas, an expert in renewable materials, nanotechnology and biopolymer nanomaterials, and Caroline Slade, the Director of Distribution and Latin American Operations of Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT), a US-based company that develops third-generation sequencing technologies.

The main topic of this year’s version of the Congress of the Future was Artificial Intelligence (AI), a technology that certainly presents the greatest impact and challenges for humanity. Under the motto “What do we do now?” the congress aimed to explore the ethical and governance issues, opportunities and challenges of AI for our society.

“AI permeates all fields of knowledge, and therefore, we have to know how to use it as another tool to improve the development of knowledge. The participation of both universities in this event is very important because it allows us to disseminate science, which is very important for our region”, explained Dr. Rodrigo Navia Diez, the vice-rector for Research and Graduate Studies of Universidad de La Frontera.

“Both universities put all their capabilities to the service of society, united in the organization of this event, the Congress of the Future, which is a celebration of science. This is a unique opportunity to bring outstanding international experts to our region, to show us the advances in Artificial Intelligence. AI has an impact on every section of our society and that is why we need information about its impact and risks”, said Dr. Iván Suazo, the vice-rector for Research and Doctoral Programs of Universidad Autonoma de Chile.

SPEAKERS

The Congress of the Future 2024 consisted of two panel discussions, with two international speakers and several expert panelists from Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO) and Universidad Autonoma de Chile (UA).

“We need a common effort of different universities, countries and society to solve the issues of the future: climate change, resource shortage and the improvement of people’s quality of life. What we are trying to do at my university and through my fields of research is to create a sustainable, pleasant world, where life can flourish”, explained the bioengineer, professor, and director of the Bioproducts Institute of the University of British Columbia, Dr. Orlando Rojas, who led the first panel discussion of the congress.

The academic Juan Pablo Cárdenas of Universidad Autonoma de Chile moderated this first panel discussion with the panelists Daniela Quintana (UA) and Eduardo Cisternas (UFRO).

The second panel discussion, with the national panelists Bárbara Mora (UA) and Michel Abanto (UFRO), was moderated by Carlos Isaacs (UFRO) and led by the international speaker Caroline Slade, who is the Director of Distribution and Latin American Operations of Oxford Nanopore Technologies.

“Sequencing technologies have many practical applications. One of them is microbiology and infectious diseases: to be able to categorize a disease at an early stage to know which drug to use. For example, to differentiate if a person has Covid-19 or another respiratory disease. It is a very pleasant experience to be in the La Araucania Region. The level of science carried out here is very high”, commented the international expert Caroline Slade.

During their stay, the young students actively participated in different activities, from traditional ceremonies to intercultural seminars, strengthening the connection between the university and the community.

The director of the Angol Campus of Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO), Sergio Bravo Pino, described the visit of the 12 Māori students from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, as a significant and successful milestone.

The purpose of the visit was to exchange experiences between the young Māori students and the local Mapuche communities and to discuss their history, culture and aspirations.

Ariana Sheehan (in charge of Student and Weaver Promotion) and Dr. Mike Ross, the director of the School of Māori Studies, accompanied the group, which was received at UFRO Angol Campus by the director Sergio Bravo Pino, where they participated as guests in activities developed by the Office of Libraries and Information Resources and UFRO Angol Campus. “This meeting shows the importance of sharing and learning from our ancestral cultures, promoting diversity and mutual understanding, which are important outreach aspects,” Sergio Bravo explained.

The visit was organised by Guillermo Williamson, the director of the Department of Education of the Faculty of Education, Social Science and Humanities. He explained that the delegation received a scholarship from New Zealand’s Prime Minister to come to our region and build a partnership between both countries, Chile and New Zealand, to establish future collaborations with universities, academics, students and indigenous peoples.

CULTURAL, HISTORICAL AND HERITAGE EXCHANGE

After the activities on the campus, the delegation visited the Dillman S. Bullock Historical Museum, located on the premises of the agricultural high school El Vergel, where they were able to discover ethnographic and archaeological pieces from pre-Columbian Chile and the Mapuche culture, as well as embalmed species of Chile’s endemic fauna.

The delegation also visited the Juana Nahuelpi viuda de Huaiquín Community, located in the Los Sauces Commune, where the local community welcomed the students with typical ancestral games, such as the “Palín”, and other typical cultural activities.

Afterwards, the students stayed at the Inarrumen Event Centre and Tourist Route, managed by the Mapuche Women’s Cooperative Nahuelbuta – Traiguén, in the Contreras Indigenous Community, located in the Nagche Territory in the commune of Traiguén.

They also had a Nütram (conversation) with José Contreras, the Werkén of the community, about the Mapuche society and culture, and the ancestral and historical development, and talked to the women of the cooperative about their sustainable tourism venture.

In addition, the delegation visited other places of cultural importance, such as the Renvi (cave), which served as a refuge for the Mapuche people during the occupation of the Araucania – activities that the young students of the Māori delegation highly valued and appreciated.

“Our university is proud to be a space of intercultural exchange and we want to thank our Māori visitors for their active participation in this enriching exchange that goes beyond the academia, deeply immersing themselves in the local reality,” said the director of UFROs Angol Campus.

“During their stay, the students actively participated in different activities, from traditional ceremonies to intercultural seminars, strengthening the connection between the university, the community and the surrounding nature. In addition to sharing traditions, one of the emphases was the importance of facing and overcoming common problems that have affected both cultures,” concluded Sergio Bravo Pino.

The outgoing mobility students came together at the traditional farewell ceremony. They are going to Europe, Asia, and North America, thanks to the international agreements established between UFRO and numerous universities around the world.

Within the framework of the student mobility program of Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO), the International Affairs Office carried out an emotional farewell ceremony for the 21 undergraduate students who will spend the first semester of 2024 at universities in Germany, Austria, Belgium, South Korea, Spain and Mexico.

The ceremony was led by the vice-rector for Research and Graduate Studies, Dr. Rodrigo Navia Diez, who pointed out that these experiences have a positive impact on people’s lives, not only regarding their professional training but also regarding their personal development.

“International mobility is a fundamental pillar of our university – an important task that includes resources and a huge institutional effort at all levels. We hope that these 21 outgoing mobility students will be able to fully enjoy this opportunity and that they motivate their peers to also go see the world upon their return. It is important for us to have students who know what is going on in other parts of the world. That way, they can share their experiences and implement some of the practices here in Chile. It allows us to develop a better quality of life for the people,” the vice-rector Navia pointed out.

According to the director of the International Affairs Office, Dr. Lorena Vieli, this is another major achievement. “This is a very valuable experience and I hope that our students are aware of the privilege they have by getting access to such an opportunity, which implies a lot of previous work of our Student Mobility team. We have made great efforts to manage these processes, in order to be able to include more and more students in these programs. We want to support our UFRO students and provide the tools that allow them to receive the required funding, not only from our university but also from other institutions that offer these scholarships and grants that allow the students to make use of these opportunities,” she explained.

The student mobility opportunities are a crucial part of the Internationalisation Strategy of UFRO and directly contribute to the internationalisation of the undergraduate curriculum. In addition, they are also part of at least two pillars of UFROs Educational Model: Global Citizenship and People’s Comprehensive Development.

In this context, the university sends the students to countries such as Germany, Austria, Belgium, South Korea, Spain and Mexico, where UFRO maintains strong international relations through mutual collaboration agreements, which allow the students from the different faculties to study at least one semester at prestigious universities abroad.

	Cristóbal Villanueva Navarrete; Spanish and Communication Pedagogy; Universidad de Castilla - La Mancha (Spain) “I have two clear goals: on the one hand, I want to expand my knowledge in the academic field of literature. Actually, most of the subjects I registered for deal with literature, art and culture. I am very interested in an academic career and this opportunity will allow me to learn more for when I return to Chile. On the other hand, I want to get to know Spain and Europe in general and to enjoy a new experience. I am really looking forward to that.”
	Claudia Muñoz Pérez; Business Engineering; Sungshin Women’s University (South Korea) “Academically, I want to expand my knowledge, especially in terms of business innovation, and to learn about a totally different, forward-looking and innovative culture. I also want to learn about the Korean culture. I really like their music and entertainment in general, so I hope to learn from that and to generate networks that will help me in the future as a professional.”
	Ignacio Vilar Bertolotto; Physical Therapy; University of Lleida (Spain) “I am going to do my internship there. I want to get another view of my future profession and to learn about how they work there. The idea is to enjoy a comprehensive experience, to get to know and work at many health centres and to learn a lot about my profession.”