UC receives boost for research from undergraduate
Showing students that the path of research exists, from the first year of their degree, is the objective of this contest promoted by the Research Directorate and which has already celebrated its tenth anniversary, with a total of 4,200 participants. Interest has been on the rise, and for the winter 2023 version, there was a record number of applications, being awarded to 300 students in different areas, including field work at scientific stations such as Atacama UC. Here, some of the protagonists tell their experiences.
Students conduct an experiment in a laboratory.
photo_cameraJoining work groups from other disciplines and developing valuable skills for both professional and personal training are some of the objectives of this initiative that seeks to bring research closer from the first year of the degree. (Photo credit: César Cortés)
It was the summer of 2022 and Cristóbal Martínez -who is currently in his third year of Biochemistry- decided to apply for the Undergraduate Research Contest (IPRE) , which the Research Directorate opens twice a year. “I always wanted to work with bacteriophages – viruses that infect bacteria. I saw the line of research in the IPRE contest, with Professor Diana Álvarez , who is a postdoc, and I applied, ”he recalls.
To get to the laboratory of the School of Veterinary Medicine, he had to walk to the end of the San Joaquín Campus, a territory until then rather unknown to him, but which ended up being familiar. There he settled among pipettes and solutions, working with Professor Álvarez and also with Andrea Moreno , principal investigator of the laboratory, dedicated to food safety, who is the current director of the School of Veterinary Medicine .
His enthusiasm was such that there were days when he would arrive at 8:30 in the morning, before his classmates and teachers, to analyze the results of the previous day’s research or sow bacteria for the day’s tests.
The experience opened other doors for him. In November of last year, he participated as part of a team in the University’s Science 2030 program and became excited about a topic new to him: innovation.
In January of this year, he reapplied for the contest and at the end of the period, he continued to attend the laboratory as a volunteer . Thanks to a Science 2030 scholarship, he will undertake a trip to Boston, United States, and he decided to take advantage of the trip to visit the laboratory of Dr. Martin Wiedmann -a reference in food pathogens- from Cornell University, in New York, who He was Andrea Moreno’s thesis professor.
“The program has been very successful connecting students with groups from other units” , affirms the researcher. According to figures from that School, between the summers of 2022 and 2023, 18 students from different careers visited the laboratories as part of the IPRE contest, who worked with different professors in various areas of study. “They are very good students, who write well and become independent very quickly. I highlight the scientific curiosity that they bring” , says the director of Veterinary Medicine.
Cristóbal always knew that he wanted to dedicate himself to research. However, going through the IPRE gave him another “click”: it helped him realize that he wanted to follow the path of science applied to industry. “I would like to continue in the academy, but in an area more of technological development”, he affirms.
Andrea Moreno explains that, on a day-to-day basis, the contact they have between Veterinary Medicine -a school with four years of life- and the students of Biochemistry, Biology or other careers, is minimal. “Cristóbal would never have arrived at the laboratory if he had not been through IPRE.” The director also highlights that this initiative promotes the interdisciplinary and makes visible the lines of work of the teachers.
“The fact of being able to be in the field, sharing and researching with professors and students, in unique places, enriches the experience for those who win the IPRE contest in a center of the RCER network” – María Elena Boisier, UC Research Director.
The Undergraduate Research Contest has a 10-year history and a total of 4,200 UC students have participated . In November of last year, the contest was recognized as a co-curricular activity by the Office of Student Affairs . For its winter version, the IPRE had a record number of applications and 300 students from different areas were awarded.
The vice-rector for Research, Pedro Bouchon , explains that the contest allows students to approach the development of research in different areas of knowledge, from the first year of their degree. “Also, getting closer to other areas by sharing with students from other disciplines, and many times, joining large research groups that include postgraduate students, at different levels of training, broadening their development perspectives. As a result of this activity, they frequently continue to participate in the contests of the following years or continue to collaborate with the groups that are formed, which in turn opens other doors for them. In short, it is about bringing them closer to the world of research and creation from early ”.
For a year, the contest opened the possibility of carrying out the research experience in the Network of Regional Centers and Stations – RCER , which the UC has deployed throughout Chile.
The research director, María Elena Boisier, says that the initiative to show these natural laboratories has the objective of “providing the opportunity to leave the ‘four walls’ of the classroom. The fact of being able to be in the field, sharing and researching with professors and students, in unique places, enriches the experience for those who win the IPRE contest in a center of the RCER network” . The final motivation, adds the director, is to “plant a seed”: “That is, an impulse, to open the world to them and show them the possibility of research” , she affirms.
Pablo Osses , a professor at the Institute of Geography and director of the UC Atacama Station , in the Tarapacá region of northern Chile, has witnessed this process. Last January, he received three students – two from Geography and one from Biological Sciences – for the IPRE contest. “Historically, the contest allowed the student to work with the professor in the office or in the laboratory. But in this case we added additional support -with the support of the Research Vice-Rectory-, for those professors whose laboratory is a station and so students could participate in field work, research. It was a hit, ”he says.
In the two versions that the IPRE carries in the RCER stations, a total of six students have come to work with Pablo Osses. “ The fact of leaving the four walls of the room with a professor and living a research experience where their hands acquired the data, where there was a different climatic and cultural context, a broader way of relating to other disciplines and professors, more real … it seemed to me that I was giving them new tools, beyond discipline. I saw them developing elements of personal growth”, says the professor.
Ignacio Quiroz , a Biology student , is one of the students who has had the experience of doing research at the Atacama UC Station thanks to the contest. “ They were the best eight days of my life, because they allowed me to realize that I love what I do , solving some vocational problems. Thanks to this experience, I was able to open my mind to interdisciplinary work, and it gave me the opportunity to create a real change for the conservation of such an important and at the same time unknown territory . If they ask me: ‘would you like to work in an interdisciplinary team again?’, my answer is a resounding yes. In addition, I would have no doubt that the result will be better than expected by being able to mix different points of view, ”he says.
Of course, the experience had its challenges, typical of the different approaches that each discipline has. “In geography, a large piece of land is used to evaluate the environment, while in biology it is customary to evaluate small sectors. This problem and many more were analyzed, discussed and resolved through the combination of interdisciplinary work, an experience that I have not been able to have with any other branch that I have taken at the university”, assures the Biology student.
The field investigation consisted of taking a sample of vegetation species in the oasis of fog where the Atacama Station is located . “What we did was bio-geography. For geographers it is more common to go to the field, but for biologists it is less frequent. In this case, Ignacio was interested in the ecological part. It was very good for him to live this experience and then link up with teachers from his own school, who are associated with field work. And take that knowledge to your area”, says Pablo Osses.
Catalina Contreras is in her fifth year of Geography and was part of the team that participated in this project, called “Bases for the Atacama UC Station management plan.” She highlights the fact of sharing “24/7” with people , which “allows a greater transfer of experiences and generates soft skills, both for coexistence and for field work , something that is fundamental in professional training for geography”.
Catalina believes that the experience also meant growth for her on a personal level: “It allowed me to work and reinforce the importance of independence, responsibility and teamwork, since the daily tasks during the field expedition were of individual responsibility, but of In the same way, they affected the rest of the team in things as basic as cleaning, order and food preparation,” he says.
Fernanda Tapia , also a Geography student , highlights the activities and projects of different disciplines that are carried out at the Atacama Station. There she was able to be present in conversations with anthropologists, authorities from the Faculty of Mathematics, biologists and an architect, and “those instances were loaded with varied knowledge that I will always remember. This also helps me to understand the different points of view that can be generated from the same territory, seeing it from different disciplines, and to better understand that teamwork and complementary work, in many cases, is beneficial.. In addition, I learned and received interesting information from a place that I did not know much about, such as the wonderful and mysterious desert, learning that motivates me to want to know more”, she says.
The three students continued to be linked to the work at the Station, directly or indirectly. For Professor Pablo Osses, the experience was also significant. “I work with biologists, but what was most relevant was how the biologist provided his methodological approach in terms of sampling and sampling rigor, and the geographer focused hers on the place where that sampling occurs and what characterized it. So, when the two came together, what came out was a very good quality biological-georeferenced sampling. And that can only be done when you combine two disciplines” , explains the academic, who anticipates that in the summer of 2024 he will repeat the experience.
This goes beyond showing students a line of research early on, warns the director of the Atacama Station. “I think that university education is more complete and complex than going to class and learning a book. Having the experience of discovering or investigating adds new skills for the student. Basically, it makes your training more complete. The IPRE is a tremendous initiativethat you have to take care of a lot. Furthermore, this IPRE that allows students to know their country and the varied cultures that Chile has according to the seasons where they participate; They know a reality and have a different relationship with their teachers, which is more like professional experience or the exchange of knowledge, which is research. When you sit down to discuss a result in the afternoon, at a table, after having spent the whole day on earth… there are elements of the highest formative value there”, concludes Pablo Osses with conviction.