|
Shinji Kaneko, the Executive Vice President for Global Initiatives of Hiroshima University pointed out that Universidad de La Frontera is the first partner from Chile that joins their international network. |
The Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO) achieved a new international success by signing a Cooperation Agreement with Hiroshima University (HU), which is one of the most important universities in Japan. With regard to this partnership, Shinji Kaneko, the Executive Vice President for Global Initiatives of Hiroshima University, explained: “We hope that this partnership will contribute to a good communication and understanding between Chile and Japan, and UFRO and HU. At the same time, we want to increase our presence in South America, where a significant future development is expected, as well as to promote the excellence in research, internationalization and the reputation of both universities.” According to Dr. Lorena Vieli, the director of the International Affairs Office of UFRO, “although our countries have very different cultures, we have several challenges in common in the fields of professional training and scientific research. This agreement is a formalization of the already existing cooperation between both universities at the research level and will allow us to include other fields, too.” PARTNERSHIP The purpose of the recently signed agreement is to establish a cooperation in the fields of teaching, research, knowledge and culture dissemination, and to promote the academic and research exchange through projects of mutual interest. In particular, it will allow the exchange of researchers and teachers and joint research activities, as well as the participation in seminaries and academic meetings. ACTIVE PARTNER Hiroshima University was founded in 1949, in the first city in the world that was hit by an atomic bomb. Its mission is to contribute to the well-being of humanity, through the development of a democratic and peaceful society, based on the search for peace, the creation of new knowledge, the training of holistic human beings, the collaboration with the local, regional and international community, and continuous development. In this context, the Japanese university seeks an active collaboration with UFRO through this agreement that includes, among others, specific matters, advice regarding the development of academic projects, special programs, and innovation and knowledge transfer. BACKGROUNDS The relation between establishments in Chile and Japan started more than a decade ago, through the active cooperation between Dr. Milko Jorquera and Dr. Fumito Maruyama, who are both graduates of Osaka University. They initiated a science project between Chile and Japan in 2017, about monitoring and understanding the dynamics of harmful algal blooms, a common phenomenon at the Chilean coastline that affects the public health and aquaculture production. The Universidad de La Frontera participates as leading institution in a project that seeks to characterize the biological interactions that cause red tides, by studying its holobiome (holo = whole, biome = ecosystem). This is how Dr. Milko Jorquera, an academic of the Department of Chemical Sciences and Natural Resources at UFRO, who works together with the academics Dr. Fumito Maruyama and Dr. So Fujiyoshi, who both work at Hiroshima University (HU), describes it. The important partnership still exists, not only based on scientific collaboration, but also based on the support and coordination of graduate student exchange between UFRO and HU. NEW OPPORTUNITIES “The signing of this agreement allows us to formalize the partnership between both universities, and to keep expanding our cooperation networks to countries and continents that we do not have such an active cooperation with, yet. That helps us to be a university that is connected with the global challenges and that gives its community the possibility to life an enriching and unique international experience,” added María Paz Collío, who is in charge of international agreements and projects at UFRO.
Written and translated by: UFRO Communications Office
|
|
Germany, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Spain, Mexico and Uruguay are the destinations chosen by the students of UFRO for their stays, research activities and internships. These opportunities are a reflection of indicators of institutional growth and strength, as well as of international cooperation. |
The long-awaited moment of departure has finally come for the undergraduate students of the Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO) who are going to spend a semester abroad thanks to different financing options and opportunities offered by the agreements of UFRO with other universities all over the world. Therefore, the university organized a farewell ceremony for the 39 students, with the authorities and teams of the Vice-rectorate for Undergraduate Affairs and the International Affairs Office, which is part of the Vice-rectorate for Academic Affairs. “We would like to congratulate all of you, because we know that this experience requires a lot of effort and perseverance and that it will definitely teach you a lot. As a university, we are always working on new scholarships and opportunities in order to offer this possibility to even more students in the future,” said the Vice-rector Dr. Renato Hunter in his speech for the students. UFRO AMBASSADORS This semester, UFRO has a large group of outgoing students who will spend a semester at universities in North America, Europe, Latin America, as well as at other universities in Chile. It is worth mentioning that apart from external scholarships, UFRO also offers a large number of financing options for all student mobility types. “The large number of outgoing students in this second semester of 2022 makes us very proud. It is the result of an important institutional effort, not only because of the increase in financial resources, but also because of the increase in agreements that allow the students to participate in mobility programs of even more universities and in more fields of studies,” said Dr. Lorena Vieli, the director of UFROs International Affairs Office. “There is no doubt that each student who makes use of our mobility opportunities needs to be prepared and our International Student Mobility Office is always willing to help them with that, to make the process successful. We also hope that even more of our undergraduate students get motivated and make use of these opportunities in the future,” explained Antonia Espinoza, the head of the International Student Mobility Office. FROM THE SOUTH OF CHILE INTO THE WORLD A group of five students of the fields of engineering, sciences and administration, and of the Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Humanities will go to universities in Mexico and Spain, as well as to the University of Regina and the Lakehead University in Canada, with Santander Scholarships. In addition to this group, two students of the Faculty of Law and Business will spend a semester at the German university Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg (DHBW) and two students of the Faculty of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences will spend a semester at the Belgian university KU Leuven, thanks to the fruitful agreements with both universities.
Four students of the Faculty of Medicine will spend a semester for their studies and internships in Spain, Mexico and Uruguay, thanks to the UFRO Sin Fronteras (‘UFRO without borders’) scholarship. This scholarship also allows 15 other students to spend a semester at universities in Germany and Austria. In addition, the Student Mobility Scholarship program offered 11 open spots for educational establishments in Canada, France and Spain. Students of the Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Humanities, the Faculty of Law and Business, and the Faculty of Engineering and Science filled these spots. Apart from that, several students made use of the mobility options for national universities, some of them self-financed.
Written and translated by: UFRO Communications Office de Comunicaciones
|
|
What seemed to be a future innovation became a reality: the replacement of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a plastic material used in the manufacturing of bottles, with a polymer extracted from sugar beets. |
Dr. Sebastián Rocha Mella is the fifth graduate of the Doctoral Program in Engineering Sciences with specialization in Bioprocesses of the Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO). In his doctoral thesis, he worked on finding a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution to the use of plastics. In this regard, Dr. Rocha points out that beet molasses, an industrial by-product, has a high sugar content. On this basis, a process was developed and assessed that is capable of transforming the saccharides contained in beet molasses into a 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) compound through the use of microwaves, a technology that allows the dehydration of these sugars, a procedure that leads to obtaining HMF. HMF is a compound in great demand these days, although in reality, it is an intermediate product. Thus, Dr. Rocha comments: “The work for my thesis shows that after the extraction of HMF and the biochemical oxidation by microorganisms, it is possible to obtain products of even greater value, obtaining 2.5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). Its main characteristic is that it is a raw material in the production of plastics, called Polyethylene Furanoate (PEF), a plastic made from biomass, which is very different compared to the current plastics, mainly derived from petroleum.” This becomes even more relevant since the annual plastic consumption in Chile reaches 990,000 tons, of which only 83,700 tons are recycled. That is an equivalent of only 8% of the total, according to a study carried out in 2019 by the Chilean Plastics Industry Association (ASIPLA). Considering the percentage of recycled material, it is also clear that within the total amount of plastic material of household origin, PET bottles represent 52.2 % of the total. Regarding the impact of his research, Dr. Rocha points out: “We need to develop technologies that are efficient and environmentally friendly, being aware that we cannot always depend on fossil resources. I am sure that this study will directly contribute to this issue and to the development of new technologies to produce biomass fuels and materials that are more sustainable and accessible for countries like Chile, since we do not have direct access to petroleum, which is the primary basis for the production of PET.” A NEW DOCTOR IN BIOPROCESSES AT UFRO “I strongly believe that technological development is what will help our country to move forward,” says Dr. Sebastián Rocha Mella, the fifth graduate of the Doctoral Program in Engineering Sciences with specialization in Bioprocesses of the Universidad de La Frontera. One of the obstacles he had to overcome to reach his goal of developing research with a social and environmental impact and obtaining his doctor’s degree was the pandemic and the restrictions that came with it. Nevertheless, although he had to carry out his experiments in the capital city, Santiago de Chile, in the middle of this complicated situation and although he lost the opportunity to go to the University of Groningen (Netherlands) due to the pandemic, his research went much better than he thought it would under these circumstances. With regard to his presentation, he indicates: “Considering all presentations I had to give in my life, I had never been as nervous as in this one. However, I was also confident that the result would be good and I knew that I would be much calmer after finishing this final exam. Now I am planning to open a new line of research, because although my work is similar to what was done at the Waste and Energy Management Center, there was nothing specific yet regarding what I do. I think that this is a great opportunity to open a new research line and to diversify the possibilities of creating high-impact studies beyond the publications, because I strongly believe that technological development is what will help our country to move forward.” The evaluation committee consisted of Dr. Edgar Uquiche, the director of the doctoral program; Dr. María Cristina Area of the Argentinian university Universidad Nacional de Misiones; Dr. Danilo Pérez of the university Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana in Santiago de Chile; and Dr. María Eugenia González and Dr. Gustavo Ciudad of UFRO. They graded Sebastián Rocha's degree exam with the best grade (7.0), becoming the fifth graduate of the Doctoral Program in Engineering Sciences with specialization in Bioprocesses of UFRO, under the guidance of his doctoral supervisor, the outstanding academic Dr. Mara Cea Lemus. Written by: Doctoral Program in Engineering Sciences with specialization in Bioprocesses, UFRO |
|
Carolina Muñoz Higuera, a student of the civil engineering program at Universidad de La Frontera, spent three weeks at the Center for Ecohydraulics Research (CER) of the University of Idaho in the USA. |
“An internship abroad is an important opportunity to boost your professional career. Not only because of the new knowledge you acquire in the field you work in, but also because of the personal development that comes with it. It allows you to enhance your language skills, to get to know a new culture, to get more self-confidence and to learn how to interact in an unknown environment.” – These are the words that Carolina Muñoz Higuera of the civil engineering program of the Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO) used to describe the importance of an internship abroad. With these benefits in mind, the student, who is currently working on her thesis, did not hesitate to accept the invitation of her teacher Dr. Ángel Monsalve Sepúlveda, for an internship at the Center for Ecohydraulics Research (CER) of the University of Idaho in the USA. According to Carolina, who carried out her internship in May and June of this year, “Dr. Ángel Monsalve is currently working as a teacher at the research center, so his invitation was a great opportunity for my professional career and my personal development”. “We conducted experiments in an artificial channel that simulates a mountain river, with the objective of analyzing the sediment entrainment rate under different flow conditions. The activities included the initial conditions, such as sediment granulometry and the formation of the characteristic topography of the riverbed, as well as the execution of the experimental model and data collection,” the future civil engineer specified. She also explained that she will analyze the obtained results for the report of her degree project ‘Characteristics of the flow properties under incipient transport conditions in a mountain river’. At the same time, the work at the laboratory will contribute to the study ‘Collaborative Research: The role of streambed morphological changes induced by macro-roughness elements on hyporheic nitrous oxide generation’, carried out by Dr. Monsalve, William Reeder and Danielle Tonina, with the aim of studying the influence of the topography of a river on its greenhouse gas emissions. Back at the Universidad de La Frontera, Carolina keeps working on her degree project in order to graduate and become a civil engineer. “I enrolled in the civil engineering program because of my interest in mathematics, but as time went by, I realized how versatile this profession is,” she concluded.
Written by: Daphne Bormann Parada |
|
The TissueFAXS i PLUS is a high-end inverted fluorescence and brightfield system for the scanning and analysis of slides, cytospins, smears and tissue microarrays. It is the first device of this kind in Chile and the third in South America. |
The acquisition of this modern equipment by the Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO) was possible thanks to an approved equipment funding (‘Fondequip’) for a project presented within the ninth Competition for Medium Scientific and Technological Equipment. The author of this project is Dr. Nicolás Ottone, an academic of the Faculty of Dentistry and the Center of Excellence in Morphological and Surgical Studies (CEMyQ). His co-investigators in the Fondequip EQM200228 project called ‘Acquisition of a TissueFAXS i PLUS to potentiate interdisciplinary biomedical research at the Universidad de La Frontera and in the La Araucanía region’ are Dr. Mariano del Sol and Dr. Bélgica Vásquez of CEMyQ and Dr. Raúl Sánchez and Dr. Fabiola Zambrano of the Center of Excellence in Translational Medicine (CEMT). The use of the TissueFAXS i PLUS will allow to develop interdisciplinary research that will be available for professionals of the Universidad de La Frontera, as well as external researchers that require to use it. In addition, the researcher pointed out that “this equipment is capable of adapting a culture chamber and visualizing histomorphological changes in real time, based on the development of immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence analyses in the tissues we are studying. Thus, the potential of this tissue cytometer to perform multiple analyses on the samples analyzed offers the researcher significant benefits with direct impact on the possible findings, which we then can communicate to society.” INAUGURATION The inauguration of the TissueFAXS i PLUS took place at the Center of Excellence in Morphological and Surgical Studies, where the equipment is installed, with participation of the rector Dr. Eduardo Hebel and other university authorities, as well as researchers, graduate students and other international guests. “The acquisition of this equipment, of which we only have three in Latin America – two in Sao Paulo in Brazil and the other one at the Universidad de La Frontera in Chile – will certainly lead to great advances in biomedical research. But also in other fields, since it has an interdisciplinary use, especially in cancer research – cancer is one of the most common causes of death in our country,” Dr. Hebel pointed out. The Vice-rector for Research and Graduate Studies, Dr. Rodrigo Navia, emphasized: “This equipment will allow us to make progress in all areas of the field of bioscience, from projects in basic sciences to projects in even more specialized areas, such as dentistry and medicine. That is also why it is so important. I think it will be extremely useful for our university and it will give us the opportunity to publish in the leading journals, since we will be using this state-of-the-art equipment for our research.” WORKSHOP The TissueFAXS i PLUS was used for the first time at the ‘International Workshop on Tissue Cytometry’, organized by the responsible team of the project and carried out by the Austrian scientists Dr. Felicitas Mungenast and Mike Etrich of the company TissueGnostics, who installed the equipment and taught the researchers how to use it. Professor Henning Ulrich and the researcher Talita Glaser of the Institute of Chemistry of the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, where another equipment of this type is located, were also part of the activities. Another purpose of the visit was to strengthen the joint research. In addition, future courses and sessions of training in the use of the TissueFAXS i PLUS are planned within the project Fondequip EQM200228, both online and in person. Written by: Soledad Millapan Sandoval |
