In a day of citizen participation, details of this stage of the reconstruction project of the historic campus of the University of La Serena were provided.

Since December 2018, the consulting firm Tándem and the MOP Architecture Department have been working on the design stage of the reconstruction project of the Piñera House of the University of La Serena, which has an execution period of 600 days. This stage considered a first day of citizen participation, which was held in the Ignacio Domeyko Aula Magna and where details of the project were shared, highlighting the idea of ​​returning to the essence of the property, the construction of a multipurpose space and a work approved by the seismic standard.

Present at the activity were the Director of Liaison with the Environment and Extension, Dr. Catalina Cvitanic, and the Director of Services, Marcos Sepúlveda, who reviewed what happened from the night of the fire that consumed the historic building, until the efforts made to complete the reconstruction project.

“The attachment to that space was such that I really felt like my house was burning. The helplessness of not being able to do something to reverse that situation (...). “I felt great regret.” This is how Dr. Cvitanic remembers that night of June 1, 2015, in which a raging fire destroyed the premises where the Extension Center of the University of La Serena operated.

Marcos Sepúlveda also remembers that sad day, “which hours before had been very satisfying, because the first stone of the future Dentistry building had been laid. But at night we had the sadness and helplessness of watching this historical monument burn.”

Despite the impact and commotion that this fire caused in the community, the director points out that a few hours after what happened, the Rector Nibaldo Avilés together with various authorities began the efforts that would allow the reconstruction of this building declared a National Monument in 1981. and which hosted a large part of the academic and cultural outreach activities towards the community.

“After the fire, meetings began with various institutions and organizations, such as the Regional Government, SUBDERE, the Culture Council, National Monuments, the Architecture Directorate of the Ministry of Public Works and the ULS, and an IDI file was established to generate a reconstruction project for Casa Piñera. This formulation task was taken on by the MOP Architecture Directorate, and we are committed to the first stage of cleaning the interior of the premises, the debris produced, reinforcing the walls and protecting them,” details Sepúlveda.

Another important step towards the reconstruction of the facility, the manager points out, was taken in November 2017, when the Regional Government, through the Heritage Value Enhancement Program, approved the resources to finance the design stage of Casa Piñera, which is already under development and considers the design of architecture, engineering and the specialties corresponding to its 2.425,81 m2 of surface, in addition to a diagnosis of the situation current status of the property and the intervention criteria for the restoration.

“I think it is excellent that state organizations join the different efforts to carry out the recovery of this historical monument and even more praiseworthy that they make room for this citizen participation activity to socialize the reconstruction of the Casa Piñera,” said Catalina Cvitanic, who highlighted that the incorporation of a multipurpose space “will allow the University of La Serena to return cultural programming to the community in the heart of the city.”

Marcos Sepúlveda has a similar opinion, who maintains that “the different organizations have had the will to restore the house, because it is a heritage of the University and the community.”

Written by Gonzalo Lozano, Communications Department

The activity aims to publicize the various inclusive educational actions that are developed within the ULS.

“Diversity enriches professional training” is the motto of the Second Meeting “Experience of Inclusion at the University”Organized by the University of La Serena and open to its community.

The activity of ULS1799 Project “Comprehensive support for students of the University of La Serena within the framework of inclusion and universal accessibility”, aims to publicize the various inclusive educational actions that are developed within the institution.

This meeting will take place this Wednesday, March 20, from 14:30 p.m., in the CETECFI Multipurpose Room, located on the Ignacio Domeyko Campus (Benavente N°980, La Serena)

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The University of La Serena hosted the fourth meeting of the Chilean astronomical community around the LSST telescope, the most important astronomical project in recent times, which included international guests.

El telescope LSST (Large Synoptic Survey Telescope) is unique in the world and is undoubtedly one of the largest and most important astronomical observation projects of recent times. Located on Cerro Pachón, about 100 km from the city of La Serena, its construction comes to strengthen our region as a world astronomical pole. The objective of this mega project is to collect astronomical observation data from every part of the sky visible from our region every 3 days for 10 years, which will produce 500 petabytes of images and data that will teach us about potentially dangerous objects in the Solar System. Earth to about the structure and evolution of the universe.

Specific research areas of this project include the study of dark matter and dark energy; the remote solar system and asteroids that may pose a danger to Earth; the transitory optical sky; and the formation and structure of the Milky Way.

"LSST is going to revolutionize the way astronomy is done (...) We are going to find a lot of objects that we have no idea exist (...), because we are covering a large part of the sky with a very high frequency," explained the Dr. in Astronomy, Guillermo Damke, researcher at the University of La Serena and who organized the IV Workshop of the LSST Chile “Towards Science in Chile with the LSST".


The meeting lasted for four days and brought together the most important scientists linked to the project at a national and international level, who, together with the university community, participated in various activities such as general and technical talks, discussion tables, workshops on computational tools for LSST data management and a visit to the LSST facilities in Cerro Pachón. Among the 10 international exhibitors, the presence of the director of the LSST, Dr. Steve Kahn, stood out, who gave a magisterial talk in which he updated on the latest advances in the start-up of the telescope.

It is estimated that the LSST will annually produce a catalog of 37 billion objects and 30 trillion measurements. "What is relevant for the region is that all this data produced here is going to have to be sent abroad so that it can be processed, a very high amount of data, therefore we need new techniques to be able to process that data," said the astronomer. .

This represents a huge challenge for the management and distribution of the data that will be produced. “That high-speed data highway (GATHER) is already built and the interesting thing is that Chilean astronomers will also have access to this data because it is the host country”, he added.

This project, which is estimated to be fully operational for scientific research in 2023, also brings to our region and country many associated projects in the field of scientific communication and education. These include programs for the general public; educators; planetariums and informal science centers; and citizen science. In this area, the educational prototype Painting the Universe stands out, which allows examining astronomical images in different filters, and the Space Warps citizen science project, in which citizens can classify galaxies visually.

Written by Yaritza Mondaca, Digital Campus, and Marcela Gatica, Faculty of Sciences

Industrial Civil Engineering students shared with their classmates details of various initiatives that contribute to both the University and society.

Just days after graduating from their degree, final year students of Industrial Civil Engineering at the University of La Serena shared their experiences in the development of innovative initiatives carried out together with different social organizations, in order to bring their professional knowledge closer to the community.

The Workshop “ULS Students Creating Shared Value” was the space for these students to transmit their experience to their 3rd, 4th and 5th year classmates, where they also carried out educational activities in order to strengthen ties and strengthen skills such as leadership, important for the development of your future professional career.

“Engineers for a Day: Connecting Students with their Graduation Profile”, “Junior Consulting: Enhancing Students' Work Experience”, “Students in Action: Improving Learning by Providing Value to Seniors” and “Leadership in Action: The ULS Student Seal in the Creation of Shared Value in SMEs of Tierras Blancas” were the initiatives presented and that contribute both to the University and to society.

For the students who attended this activity, it was an excellent experience since it helped them reinforce soft skills such as teamwork, in addition to forming bonds between colleagues and understanding what they will have to develop in the coming years as students and future professionals. .

The activity was organized by academic Ricardo Cabana, with the support of the Department of Industrial Civil Engineering, and corresponds to the closing of the subject “Advanced Management Methods”. It was also attended by the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Dr. Mauricio Godoy, academics from the course and representatives of the different social organizations where the projects were developed.

Written by Tomás Rodríguez, Communications Department

At the meeting, joint work was defined in the areas of academic, scientific and cultural exchange, with a view to strengthening the international ties of the house of higher education.

A productive meeting was held by the Rector of the University of La Serena, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, and the Italian Ambassador to Chile, Dr. Mauro Battocchi, visiting the Coquimbo Region.

At the meeting, both authorities decided to formalize a working alliance that will allow addressing the field of student exchange between the ULS and Italian universities, as well as a cultural program defined in the area of ​​links with the environment and extension, to commemorate in La Serena, the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo Da Vinci.

In this regard, the Rector of the University of La Serena, stated: “we will work to value the contribution that the Italian colony has made to the development of our region, addressing through academic and cultural lines, an exchange that allows us to strengthen the relationship between both countries, but mainly, between the city ​​of La Serena and Trento. “We will work to be a link for the promotion of culture and language.”

Meanwhile, the Italian ambassador, Mauro Battocchi, emphasized that “we seek to develop projects that allow an academic and research relationship through joint work that materializes in the signing of a work agreement where agronomy, engineering in Food, among other topics, will be of great interest to us.”

The ambassador's delegation was made up of the head of the school area of ​​the Italian Embassy, ​​Gianfranco Rosso, the Italian consul in La Serena, Franco Dalbosco, and the Rector of the Scuola Italiana Alcide de Gasperi, Carlos Slomp.

Written by Karina Damke, Rectory

The student is participating in the fourth season of the culinary program on Channel 13.

At 23 years old and in the final stretch of her degree in Environmental Civil Engineering, Antonia Figueroa Alvarado aims to win the culinary program “MasterChef”, broadcast on Channel 13 screens on Fridays and Sundays in prime time. And the student from the University of La Serena has stood out in the fourth version of the television space thanks to her talent and personality.

“I want to thank the University because they are activities that have nothing to do with the degree, but with me as a person and they have supported me in everything. My career is very important to me and I am going to finish it no matter what,” the young woman told Diario El Día, since she is making the recordings of the program compatible with her studies.

In addition to her passion for cooking, Antonia is recognized for having been the winner of two national beauty pageants, such as “Miss World” 2016 and “Miss Earth” 2018, which allowed her to represent the country in international competitions.

The virtues of this talented young woman do not end there, as she has been playing the violin since she was 5 years old, being a member of the “La Antena” youth symphony orchestra and the “Musas” violin quartet. In addition, she has been a national taekwondo champion in her category, she practices volleyball, judo and speaks 4 languages: Spanish, English, German and Portuguese.

Read article published by Diario El Día

Written by Ignacio Aguilar, Journalism student