Dr. Ernesto Gianoli was awarded for an article that focuses on the impact that climate change has generated today.

The academic and researcher of the Department of Biology of the University of La Serena, Dr. Ernesto Gianoli Molla, was awarded the Atenea award, given by the magazine of the same name, for the best scientific work in the research article category.

The article “Ecological and evolutionary impacts of changing climatic variability” is a collaborative work with academics Diego Vázquez (Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Argentina), William Morris (Duke University) and Francisco Bozinovic (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) and focuses on the impact that climate change has generated today.

For Dr. Gianoli it is very important that this work has been recognized for its relevance with the delivery of this award. “Receiving the Atenea Prize is an honor because it is a very prestigious award that has rewarded, for many years, both literary creation and scientific research, integrating traditions and perspectives that represent different but complementary facets of human curiosity and the search for excellence,” he expressed.

The director of the magazine Atenea, Dr. Cecilia Rubio, indicated in her congratulatory letter that “in a unanimous judgment, the jury determined that the article constitutes a monograph of high excellence, which highlights and broadly synthesizes current studies on the complex. climate change".

In the publication, the authors asked what ecological and evolutionary effects this increase in climate variability could have on organisms, species, and the interactions between them.

The Atenea Prize has been awarded by the U. de Concepción since 1929 to Chilean and foreign academics who have published the results of their research in the journal and who represent a significant contribution to their area of ​​research.

Written by Tomás Rodríguez, DirCom

The researcher emphasized the need to educate in these aspects, which are of vital importance in the educational classroom and that must be addressed from the initial training of future teachers.

Analyzing the concept of Autism Spectrum Disorder and sharing information about the diversification of pedagogical strategies to guarantee educational quality for students who have this condition, was the main objective of the presentation that the academic from the Department of Psychology of the University of La Frontera, Dr. Arlett Krause, offered at the Andrés Bello Campus and Limarí Campus of the University of La Serena.

The conference “How to Care for a Student with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the Classroom”, which was part of the MINEDUC-ULS 1799 Project “Comprehensive Support Plan for Students of the University of La Serena, in a framework of Inclusion and Universal Accessibility”, had the participation of academics, students with a graduation profile and officials from the University of La Serena and practicing teachers, as well as schoolchildren with disabilities, who had the opportunity to learn in depth about ASD, understood as a disorder of neurodevelopment in which genetic and environmental factors interact and which is characterized by disability in social cognition.

The academic emphasized inclusive education where a positive assessment of diversity is made, and the elimination of barriers is promoted through the implementation of strategies that favor the curricular and social inclusion of students with ASD by the educational community.

The activity ended with a workshop to analyze cases, where participants had the opportunity to propose strategies and activities for the care of an ASD student in the classroom, such as the development of social skills and working together with the family.  

Written by Patricia Castro, DirCom

For the second time, with a participatory and critical spirit, the Teaching Subcommittee meets.

Led by the general coordinator of the institutional self-evaluation process and coordinator of the Teaching Subcommittee, Academic Vice-Rector, Dr. Alejandra Torrejón Vergara, the members of this Subcommittee met for the second time on May 31 in room UMD 2. There they reviewed the requirements and documents to complete the task for the preparation of the report to be presented soon.

Nearly 20 managers, academics and officials shared the progress of the assigned tasks during the first session that was held on May 24, which consisted of the review of the Self-Evaluation Guide and the policies and mechanisms that will ensure the training of undergraduate.

To address all the required aspects that cover: timely qualification, design of enrollment and provision of careers, students, research and teaching, the participants were divided into 5 work teams that were responsible for working on the requested topics and thus reviewing the strengths and institutional weaknesses related to the field in a critical and participatory way. Reflecting the committed spirit, attendees baptized each working group as “Sub-Sub” giving as their last name the name of the assigned area to be reviewed.

The review of consultation methodologies and instruments to be applied, key informants were also addressed in order to prepare the first report to be presented on June 19, 2019.

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Written by Paz Montecinos, DirCom

In the video and conference room of the Faculty of Engineering, last Thursday, May 23 and Thursday, May 30, around 28 participants met to begin the first two sessions of the work of the Subcommittee on Linkage with the Environment, in the framework of the institutional self-assessment process: Your Look is Our Best Sensor.

In the activity, the leader of the subcommittee, Mg. Carlos Varas, Director of Linkage with the Environment and Extension, presented the institutional model of linkage with the environment, which allowed the participants to review and understand the definitions, objectives and strategic axes in this matter, rescuing the bidirectional relationship that must exist in the areas of the task of linking with the ULS environment: training area, scientific-technological disciplinary area, economic-social productive area and artistic-cultural area.

On the occasion, the emphasis was also placed on the ULS purpose of linking with the environment that seeks to contribute to the regional and sustainable development of the territory and the permanent improvement of institutional quality.

With this defined conceptual framework, the work of institutional self-assessment allows us to review our weaknesses and strengths as an institution, in a participatory and collaborative manner in each of the areas. “I see this process in a very positive way, the number of people who attend is very good, 15 of us started and in the first official meeting we were 26 and today there are 28 people, all enthusiastic, it is seen that there is teamwork and that is fundamental for this type of processes where the internal critical view allows us to improve in terms of quality,” said Varas.

The tasks for each of the participants are delivered at the end of the sessions to be developed according to the work calendar.

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Written by Natalia Ávila, DirCom

Dr. Jaume Peris, from the University of Valencia, carried out various activities at the state university.

A visit to the University of La Serena was recently made by the academic from the University of Valencia (Spain), Dr. Jaume Peris, who during his stay in the area met with the Academic Vice-Rector, Dr. Alejandra Torrejón, representing the Rector, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, in addition to holding various meetings and giving conferences related to Human Rights and memory policies.

During the meeting with the university authority, the Professor of Literature and researcher of memory policies, both in Spain and Latin America, was accompanied by the Director and academic of the Department of Education, Dr. Jaime Montes, who highlighted the presence of the Dr. Peris and the possibility of linking to the Spanish university around projects from the Center for Human Rights Studies and the Interdisciplinary Center for Latin American Studies of the state campus.

In this sense, Dr. Alejandra Torrejón thanked the visit of the author of the book “History of Chilean testimony: from denunciation strategies to memory policies”, considering the relevance that addressing the issue of Rights has for the University of La Serena. Humans and promote initiatives that favor their teaching.

Written by Gonzalo Lozano, DirCom

On July 2, 2019, a total solar eclipse will sweep across the South Pacific Ocean before blocking the Sun along a narrow strip of Chile and Argentina. This eclipse will pass directly over the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile. During the brief two-minute period of totality when the Moon completely covers the Sun, a team of astronomers from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory and students from the University of La Serena will try to detect the tiny deviation of starlight caused by gravity of the Sun and recreate an experiment originally done 100 years ago that made Albert Einstein a household name.

Albert Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity in 1915. One of his predictions was that very heavy objects with a lot of mass can bend space. Therefore, the Sun's gravity would bend the light from the stars behind it. Astronomer Arthur Eddington realized that this prediction could be tested during a total solar eclipse, when it is possible to see stars close to the Sun. If Einstein was right, stars that appear near an eclipsed Sun in the sky will appear deviated from their positions. normal.

The solar eclipse of May 29, 1919 gave Eddington the opportunity to verify this prediction. To improve the chances of success, he assembled two teams to observe the eclipse, one in Africa and one in South America. The combined data from these two locations confirmed the bending of starlight and affirmed Einstein's theory.

Juan Seguel (CTIO), Rob Sparks (NOAO) and four students from the University of La Serena, Gabriela Bustos, Sebastián Suárez, Javier Segura and Ana León, will plan and execute the observations from the summit of Cerro Tololo. Using a Celestron Nexstar 11" Telescope with a Hyperstar and a high-speed ZWO camera, the team will photograph the Sun and nearby stars during the solar eclipse on July 2. The team will take calibration images before and after the eclipse, as well as many Images during the event to try to measure the very small predicted deviation of the starlight.

Later, the students, their teacher - astronomer Dr. Guillermo Damke - and a larger group of students from the Observational Astronomy class will analyze the images.

The University of La Serena, as a state and regional university, is committed to the work of sharing knowledge to improve people's lives. For this reason, it encourages its academic and non-academic members and undergraduate and graduate students to get involved in initiatives that link them with the community in 4 areas of action: training; scientific-technological discipline; productive economic-social; and artistic-cultural.

In the case of the work of the ULS students in the Ellington experiment, the connection is of a formative and disciplinary nature, with a high impact for the students, science, and the social appreciation of scientific contributions to the improvement of life.

As Ana says, “it will be a great challenge to reconcile our studies at the University with the necessary preparation and planning for the beautiful day.” And Sebastián hopes to take advantage of this opportunity to “apply everything we are learning as Astronomy students and gain experience for the future.”

"We are working very quickly to be able to obtain the necessary images with our team on July 2 and to measure the effect of gravity predicted by Einstein," explained Seguel.

The group is currently busy obtaining and testing the equipment needed to replicate the Eddington Experiment and is writing scripts to control the telescope and camera during the brief time of totality.

“One of the challenges facing this eclipse is that it occurs when the Sun is low in the sky; "Increased atmospheric distortion and low-elevation turbulence will make measurements substantially more difficult and may overwhelm the subtle bending of starlight," notes Sparks. Seguel adds: "We are aware that conditions are not ideal, but we believe that we should make the measurements commemorating the centenary of the experiment, and also prepare the group of Astronomy students with the technical details involved in this type of experience."

Even if the measurement is not successful this time, the team will have another chance on December 14, 2020, when another total solar eclipse will be seen from southern Chile. This eclipse will be much higher in the sky, giving a better opportunity to make the challenging observations necessary to repeat this historic experiment.

Being able to reproduce the experiment that confirmed Einstein's Theory of Relativity, a theory that changed the way science has been done ever since, and doing so at a major astronomical research institution like CTIO, is very motivating. Recognizing that the opportunity to get involved in something like this is rare, Gabriela is looking forward to July 2, when she and her fellow students “will find themselves in a place where science will develop and they will not just appreciate the eclipse as tourists.”

Whatever the outcome of the experiment, Javier's comment echoes that of everyone involved: "The 2019 eclipse will be a unique opportunity that cannot be missed!"