Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC): G9 Rectors appreciate the Minister of Science’s recognition of the Network in knowledge generation

At the meeting, the Network of Public Universities grouped in the G9 detailed the valuable contribution they make in generating knowledge, innovation and scientific research.

To deepen the valuable work carried out by the Universities of the G9 Network in the generation of new knowledge, innovation and scientific research, the G9 president, rector Aliro Bórquez of the Catholic University of Temuco (UCT), together with the rectors Cristhian Mellado ( UCSC), Carlos Saavedra (UdeC), Hans Richter (UACh) and the director of Innovation and Technological Development, Bárbara Torres (UCN) met with the Minister of Science, Knowledge and Innovation, Flavio Salazar.

In the instance, which began at 15:00 hrs. and lasted for about an hour, the rectors informed the Secretary of State of the work of the researchers of the G9 Network, their teams and the research projects they lead at the service of regional and community development, as well as as well as in the territories and how they contribute to the people who inhabit those areas.

“The Minister of Science recognizes and values ​​the contribution made by all our universities to the development of science and technology in the country and understands that a higher education system, without the presence of the G9 universities, would not be a great system. that contributes to the development of the country”, affirmed the G9 president, rector Bórquez (UCT), at the end of the meeting, where he expressed “optimism” for the reception of the highest authority.

“The Minister of Science recognizes and values ​​the contribution made by all our universities to the development of science and technology in the country and understands that a higher education system, without the presence of the G9 universities, would not be a great system. that contributes to the development of the country”- president G9, rector Bórquez (UCT).

Likewise, Bórquez explained that “we were talking about the issue of what is public and state and he agrees that we have to find a term -in some way- that involves the contribution made by the universities of the Council of Rectors , such as the universities of the G9 , and identify that work of our study houses”.

For Rector Saavedra (UdeC) “it was a very fruitful meeting, in the sense that the relevance of the G9 universities in the national higher education system and, in particular, in the science and technology system was expressed to us and recognized. , and how to propose a work scheme that allows us to point towards the change in the development model that our country requires to move towards a more knowledge-based model and here, of course, all our willingness to contribute both from our general knowledge in the territories as the contribution to the total system of science and technology and university higher education in our country”.

From UCSC, Chancellor MelladHe stated that there is “plenty of openness to continue working with the G9 universities. The minister has been clear on this line, regardless of the concern or discrepancy that we have had with the Ministry of Education in this definition of what is public and state, I think that the minister (Science) understands the contribution that we make and in that sense is very open to the need, probably, to clarify what refers to us as private universities, which at this time is the Government’s definition and to value the contribution that we make. I believe that the cooperation that we have carried out, he recognizes and sees as necessary to be able to continue developing science in Chile. He has recognized the work of the G9 universities in the territories and that without it,


“We highly value the contribution made by the G9 universities throughout the country, but particularly in the regions, and we are committed to incorporating them into the higher education and science and technology system because they have to play a leading role in creating a new model. of development for Chile”- Minister of Science, Knowledge and Innovation, Flavio Salazar.

For his part, Rector Richter (UACh) highlighted from the meeting the new look around the Ministry of Science, “which modifies the trajectory, changing the instruments, the strategies, something long awaited by the research community.”

“Now they are thinking about projects that are not individual, that are not based merely on competition, but rather, projects that are associative, collaborative, sometimes interregional and that are looking at the needs of the territory. In other words, the development and innovation agenda of the territories would be supported by the ministry in alliance with the regional governments to generate programs that, first, are longer-term, second, that involve several institutions and ideally, more than one region. . This type of vision, which is associative work, a strategic alliance, is what this country has always lacked, this minister has repeated it on countless occasions and reaffirmed it at this meeting, it provides a new vision that allows integrating capacities in instead of continuing in a situation of permanent fragmentation.

Meanwhile, the director of Innovation and Technological Development of the UCN, Bárbara Torres , assured that “we managed to put the points that are relevant for us as regional universities, it is clear how we contribute to the territories from science, technology, knowledge and innovation and we see a good reception from the minister to be able to work around all the challenging issues that come in this new government and with a new Constitution. We hope that all the joint work as G9 universities and the Council of Rectors continue to bear fruit to improve the conditions in which we generate research”.

For Minister Salazar, the meeting was “very pleasant” and he affirmed that “it has not been discussed for that reason, we have talked about short, medium and long-term issues. We started by raising our discrepancies, but we were converging on common visions, which I believe are very important for the country”.

“It was a very fruitful meeting, in the sense that the relevance that the G9 universities have in the national higher education system and, in particular, in the science and technology system, was expressed to us and recognized, and how to propose a work that allows us to point towards the change in the development model that our country requires” – Rector Carlos Saavedra, University of Concepción.

“We highly value the contribution made by the G9 universities throughout the country, but particularly in the regions, and we are committed to incorporating them into the higher education and science and technology system because they have to play a leading role in the creation of a new model. of development for Chile”, highlighted the Secretary of State.