UC Academic Contributes to FIUC Scientific Council Meeting
The International Center for Research and Decision Support (CIRAD) organized the annual meeting of the Council for Scientific Research (CSR) . CIRAD is one of the main services of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (FIUC) , whose mission is to promote interuniversity and multidisciplinary research within the framework of international cooperation by proposing tools that allow supporting the research work carried out by universities. member of the Federation. Professor Fernando Soler from the Faculty of Theology attended in his role as secretary general of the Conference of Catholic Institutions of Latin America and the Caribbean COCTI .
The Council is made up of the presidents (sometimes delegates) of the International Research Groups (GII) of the FIUC.
At the event, Council members exchanged information about the activities of their own groups and had the opportunity to discuss joint initiatives to make their voices heard within the IFUC and beyond. In this sense, it was decided to plan an event around the theme of culture taking into account Pope Francis’ invitation to build a culture of encounter inside and outside our institutions. At the same time, Council members agreed to publish a series of research policy reports of interest to IFUC member universities, and set the challenge of strengthening links between key Church groups and organizations during 2025.
It was decided to plan an event around the theme of culture taking into account Pope Francis’ invitation to build a culture of encounter inside and outside our institutions.
Currently, there are groups around the following disciplines or topics of study: theology, psychology, social sciences, educational sciences, memory and identity, Islamic studies, peace studies, artificial intelligence, political sciences . After the international meeting, a new group was created to address the issue of the environment/comprehensive ecology and another will be created on common goods .
Professor Fernando Soler recounted his experience at the meeting: “It was a very rich moment in which we were able to share various appreciations regarding scientific work. Each of the groups of this Council was able to explain what they were doing, what their projects were. We present our future Assembly of Deans of Faculties of Theology that we will have in Rome, in May 2024. Furthermore, in the Group, various ideas emerged, one of which has to do with carrying out a summary of policies, around how universities Catholics can be pioneers in a critique of the system of measuring the productivity of scientific disciplines, of quartile publications, among others. How to propose a different model for evaluating science and its success . Another idea that emerged is to organize a seminar, a congress in Rome in 2025, around the topic of the culture of encounter and how Catholic universities can collaborate to make culture a space of encounter, all of this at the same time. light of the 5 years of the Encyclical Fratelli Tutti that will be fulfilled next year,” concluded Fernando Soler, after his participation in this annual meeting.
Prof. Soler’s participation in this meeting underlines the commitment of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and Catholic universities, in general, to scientific research and interdisciplinary dialogue for the benefit of society and culture.
On this occasion, Prof. Rita Bichi and Prof. Veronica Riniolo (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano, Italy), Prof. Mario Bara and Prof. Jasna Nimac (Catholic University of Croatia, Croatia) participated, Prof. Vania Sousa Lima (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal), Prof. Ricardo Machón (Loyola Marymount University, United States), and Prof. Javier De Cendra (Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Spain). Also present were Montserrat Alom, director of CIRAD, and François Mabille, secretary general of the FIUC.