Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC): The Graduate School welcomes new UC doctoral students for the 2022 period
This traditional ceremony, in addition to being an opportunity to welcome new students, is of great importance for foreign students, promoting the creation of networks and giving them guidance on visa processing, the Chilean health system, insertion at the UC and arrival at Chile.
As is tradition, the university received its new doctoral students with a day of presentations and orientation talks, which were held both in person and via streaming . The keynote speech was given by the doctor in Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology from Kyoto University and CoFounder & CEO of Domolif SpA, Pamela Chávez .
The welcome was led by the rector Ignacio Sánchez, the vice-rector for Research, Pedro Bouchon, and the director of the Graduate School, Diego Cosmelli. Along with this, the students were able to attend more than 15 talks in order to provide them with information and guide them in this new stage.
The welcome and orientation session was held for doctoral students 2022 and students who entered 2021 who could not have a face-to-face welcome last year, and who study in one of the 39 programs offered by the university. This is an instance that aims to integrate new students into the UC Doctorate community, providing relevant information on the operation and services offered by the university.
In addition to being an opportunity to welcome new students, this instance is of particular importance for foreigners, promoting the creation of networks and giving them guidance on visa processing , the Chilean health system, insertion at the UC and arrival in Chile.
For his part, the UC Vice-Rector for Research, Pedro Bouchon, highlighted the importance that the study of the different disciplines as a whole has on the ability to tackle real problems.
“The social outbreak of 2019 and the pandemic that has affected us for more than two years has shown that in order to move towards sustainable and equitable development that has a real impact on people’s quality of life, it is necessary to be very attentive to the signs, being able to anticipate and really being able to have a complete understanding of the challenges that we have as a society. These challenges have to be addressed together, with a very interdisciplinary perspective (…) in order to effectively address these problems” , explained the Vice Chancellor.
On this occasion, the keynote talk was given by the doctor in Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology from Kyoto University, Pamela Chávez, who reflected on her aspirations regarding the role of women in the coming years.
“Our country needs women, even more than men, today to have the conviction that through knowledge they make a contribution that no one else can make. We need more women in science, more women in engineering, and the effort is being made today; the numbers are far from what is needed” , Chavez emphasized during his presentation.
For his part, the director of the Graduate School, Diego Cosmelli, gave a detailed presentation on what UC consists of and the role of the Graduate School in it. One of his many pieces of advice was to take advantage of the opportunity that the university gives them to carry out their research in Regional Centers and Stations.
“There is a great diversity of research possibilities and I invite you to seriously consider it, because probably in the first instance (…) you have rather thought of your own laboratories, but it is interesting that you see the possibilities that exist within of these centers to develop research of excellence, closely connected with the region, with the land” , said the director.
This year, the Graduate School had three days of orientation sessions carried out with the support of the various units that will be fundamental during the doctoral training process , in addition to having a specific day where international students, along with their families, were able to meet and share.