The digital route was designed as an infrastructure for the big data that the LSST Large Telescope will generate from 2021, and will be available for open access to astronomers, scientists, academics, and students between Santiago and La Serena. The section will be illuminated with multiple channels of 100 Gigabits per second and in the remainder of the year, the Santiago-Concepción-Temuco section will be added with the same technology.

In a virtual co-working milestone between a team of scientists, professionals from the world of technology and academics from La Serena and Santiago, the simultaneous connection between both cities was made, inaugurating the first section of the high-speed Fiber Optic Backbone Network. speed, which will meet the transmission needs of the enormous volume of data that the LSST Large Telescope will record when observing the universe from the year 2021, and which is part of the Strategic Development Plan of the REUNA Corporation (National University Network).

The high-speed Fiber Optic Backbone Network for Research and Education is a project led by REUNA, and which involves the AURA Observatory as responsible for the LSST Large Telescope project and the Telefónica company as technological partner. This year, the Santiago-Concepción-Temuco section will also be implemented during the second semester; later in 2019-2020, the La Serena-Arica sections will follow, and then Temuco-Puerto Montt, to finally finish between 2020 and 2021, with the potential integration of the REUNA and Southern Fiber Optic Networks, of the Government of Chile, to unite the scientific and educational community of the extreme south of the country.

The inauguration held at the University of La Serena, connected public, academic and scientific authorities, and experts from the world of astronomy and the industrial area, located in Santiago and La Serena, who analyzed the impact of having enabling infrastructures such as the high-speed networks and access to the huge repository of freely available astronomical data, laying the foundations for the various industries that increasingly produce and analyze more and more data. The event included a telepanel between both locations, with the participation of: Christian Nicolai, Executive Director of Conicyt; Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, Rector of the University of La Serena; Dr. Chris Smith, Director of the AURA Observatory in Chile; Roberto Muñoz, General Manager of Telefónica in Chile; Dr. Fernando Liello, Director for Europe of the BELLA project -Building Europe Link to Latin America; and Dr. José Palacios, President of the Board of REUNA.

“This first milestone is the materialization of a dream that we coined in the 90s, working on the construction of networks to interconnect research centers and universities. This time we are taking a leap in speed and technology, deploying a cutting-edge network with world-class standards that has been catalyzed by astronomy projects, but which in its anteroom is expanded and shared with the network's research centers and universities. ”, commented Paola Arellano, executive director of REUNA. The mega digital infrastructure, which spans 800 kilometers of fiber optics, becomes a great digital highway, with transversal access and capable of moving huge volumes of data at high speed.

Chile is thus located at the forefront in Latin America in digital development and high-quality connectivity for research and education. According to the REUNA spokeswoman, there are few regional networks for these purposes that have long-distance infrastructures like the one we are inaugurating today, and today, thanks to this step, we share leadership with Ecuador and Colombia, which inaugurated their networks last year. .

For Roberto Muñoz, general manager of Telefónica Chile, this launch reflects the great technological growth that the country has experienced in recent years. “Chile has a privileged role on the planet: we inhabit one of the countries with the best skies for astronomical observation and we are also the country that grew the most in terms of internet penetration and digital inclusion in the region. A combination that has allowed the development of astronomy and that, thanks to this new high-speed digital route, will be able to transmit more than one billion gigabytes per year. All with the aim of making the most modern fiber optic network and the latest advances in digital transformation available to education, science and research, ”he said.

Northern Macrozona leads the digital transformation

Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, Rector of the University of La Serena (ULS) and host of the premiere of this first section, assured that this milestone "will have an important role for research, education and innovation in Chile, so for our house of studies it is a privilege to be able to be part of this initiative that directly benefits university campuses, research centers and observatories in the country. In addition, participating in this project reflects the consolidation of our leadership in the northern macrozone in terms of digital transformation, which shows that the ULS has the recognition, capabilities, infrastructure and equipment, which allow us to face and undertake new challenges for the future. for the Coquimbo Region and the country”.

In this sense, Mayor Lucía Pinto, along with I value the contribution of the state university of the Coquimbo Region, affirmed that "science is the mother of knowledge and we must work to put all the means and all the tools so that from our quality research is carried out in the region to the world. Through this very powerful optical fiber we are not only going to open a huge window to discover the mysteries of the universe, but also to discover our own world".

For his part, Christian Nicolai, executive director of CONICYT, commented that "the possibility of transmitting and processing large volumes of data at high speed opens new dimensions to research and the creation of knowledge, by pushing the frontiers of science beyond than we could imagine, but also generating an impact on daily life. Having these high-speed highways not only represents an almost instantaneous connection between the Coquimbo Region and the Metropolitan Region, they are also elements that can tip the balance when deciding to install new observatories.”

From the point of view of Chris Smith, Director of the AURA Observatory, if 20 years ago Chile experienced the boom in the installation of observatories and astronomical infrastructure, today it is the scene of a new era of not only larger facilities, but also an enormous capacity for generation of data resulting from the sweep of the skies, which challenge not only astronomers, but scientists from all areas, to take advantage of the knowledge and studies that are developed from these data. “This first tranche will be a playground for students and academics to access scientific big data and learn exponentially, and for the IT industry to develop new tools to keep up with this tsunami of data,” Smith said.

In the Coquimbo Region, the inauguration of the first section Santiago-La Serena concluded with a field trip for authorities, academics, and the local press, bound for Cerro Pachón, for a tour of the Gemini Telescope, followed by a tour of the construction of the LSST (Large Synoptic Survey Telescope).

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The presentation was in charge of its Regional Coordinator, David Covarrubias.

With the purpose of publicizing its operation and the regulatory role it exercises in Chilean television, the National Television Council (CNTV) - Coquimbo held a talk addressed to first-year students who are studying the Audiovisual Narrative course, corresponding to the new curricular mesh of the ULS Journalism career and dictated by the academic, Mg. Carolina Rodriguez.

"The idea is that they can understand and know the role of this body in relation to the proper functioning of television that is managed through audiovisual languages, the press, etc.", Rodríguez indicated about the objective of this meeting. In addition, he added that "it is quite satisfying to continue to be linked to CNTV, because this alliance also represents a benefit for students in their professional development."

During the talk, given by its Regional Coordinator, David Covarrubias, the different roles it plays on the television stage were addressed, such as the delivery of funds to programs that have turned out to be audience successes, the complaints from viewers against national and international broadcasts through cable services, the analog blackout, the creation of content for community channels from different parts of the country and the amount of cultural content that exists on television today.

"I was very surprised that they asked questions, gave their opinions and ultimately that is what the School is looking for, to make them form an opinion in a reflective way and to be involved with the issues at the national level," Covarrubias assessed about the way in which the talk was carried out. with the students. Regarding the collaboration between Periodismo ULS and the Council, he indicated that "the idea is now to formalize all this joint work and this means giving it continuity in the future to already have a collaboration agreement between the CNTV and the School of Journalism."
     
In this way, the link and continuous collaboration that the School of Journalism has had with the National Television Council in recent years continues to be strengthened, where workshops for monitors, seminars and talks have been held at television chairs, which has been of great contribution to the training of students in this career.

Source: School of Journalism

The Directors of Communications worked on the development of a series of communication products with the purpose of disseminating and making visible within State institutions the operation and progress of the Network.

With the aim of highlighting the work that is being carried out in the Network of State Universities in different strategic lines, in addition to continuing to develop a series of communication products, the Santiago Headquarters of the University of Los Lagos met with the Network of Communication Directors (Direcom), of which the University of La Serena is a part.

The Direcom Network, which brings together press officers, directors, directors and coordinators of the communications area of ​​the 18 study houses of the Consortium of State Universities (CUECh), worked on April 12 and 13 developing a communication policy, with the purpose of disseminating and making visible within State institutions the operation and progress of the Network.

Claudia Millán Rute, Director of Strategic Communication at the University of Los Lagos, and representative of the macro-south zone, pointed out that the networking of Communication Directors is beginning to bear fruit, mainly in regional universities.

"This is an extremely enriching job because the constant support among the state universities is something that has borne fruit in the regional universities and has favored us, since we are smaller for years of permanence as state universities," he said.

Therefore, Millán stressed: "we value the work that is carried out, and we value this sense of cooperation between the State universities, which becomes a real strength for the projection of our university work."

Internal communication of the Network

Likewise, the Direcom Network worked on the development of a series of communication products, including a triptych, a power point and a video, which will be support tools for the coordinators of the different networks in disseminating the work of the networks. inside their study houses.

Within the Plan to strengthen the Network there is also the objective of sharing information and content on good communication practices in order to aspire to a common standard in relation to the press, for which reason this point was also discussed during the day.  

For her part, Paola Valenzuela Fuentes, Director of Communications and Public Affairs of the Metropolitan Technological University, UTEM, and representative of the macro-center area, stressed that the Direcom Network is dedicated to internal dissemination, since within the universities themselves must emphasize and promote collaborative work on the Internet.

“For us it is very important that all the state universities know about the work that the different networks are developing, and for this reason, the idea is that throughout this year each of the universities carry out a series of actions to publicize this. within the different communities”, he specified.

The working sessions closed with a presentation by the heads of Communications at the U. de Santiago, Gabriela Martínez; from the U. of Los Lagos, Claudia Millán, and the person in charge of the U. of O'Higgins, Jorge Zapata.

Source: ULagos Communications

The work was carried out in the offices of the regional house of studies on April 11 and 12.

With the purpose of formalizing the institutional relationship between the U. de La Serena and the U. Católica Silva Henríquez (UCSH), two work days were held in which the Interuniversity Training and Development Nucleus was officially established, which is defined as a learning community that guides and encourages scientific reflection around different lines of educational research, generating production and dissemination of new knowledge.

The initiative was directed by the academics Dr. Rodrigo Ruay (Multidisciplinary Institute of Science and Technology - PMI FIP ULS1501), Mg. Emilio Rodríguez (Director of the Differential Education School of the UCSH), Mg. Rubén Vida (UCSH) and the guest academic Mg. José Miguel Taiba, who were in charge of organizing these conferences with the intention of preparing a 2018 work plan, focusing on inter-university collaborative work.

In this sense, within the defined plan, it was proposed to work on four dimensions related to collaboration in projects that are in the development process, in the generation of new projects, in collaboration in publications that are in process and in the generation of joint publications. Likewise, there were three agreed lines of research for subsequent actions, including "Diversity and Inclusion at different educational levels", "Innovation in Teaching in Undergraduate Programs" and "Accompaniment systems and impact on the learning of students".

In this way, the lines of research will contribute to the institutional strategic development plans of both universities and, in turn, will dialogue with the improvement plans corresponding to the accreditation processes at both the institutional and program levels.

“I am convinced that collaborative networks today are essential and we obey a time when everyone contributes and everyone is welcome, since it is very difficult to work in a unitary way as the only house of studies. The initial idea is to have a collaboration network and decentralize the research topic from Santiago to regions, and have different perspectives. We hope over time to be able to add other institutions, in such a way that we can have a panorama that groups the central-north, central and central-south areas”, explained Mg. Emilio Rodriguez.

Finally, the academics of both institutions committed their actions by signing an act, in which they establish the schedule of the collaborative development actions to be followed, the active link to the lines of work of the Ibero-American Network of Pedagogies, and the realization of a forthcoming meeting to evaluate the progress status of the tasks and projections defined in the conferences.

Source: PMI FIP ULS1501

Through the Coordination of the career, the new 2018 admission students participated in a complete workshop of visual organizers, from its theoretical foundation to its construction with the support of technology for the achievement of deep learning.

The “Visual Organizers” Workshop is a first action to support the students of the 2018 intake, and is generated as an action between the Coordination of the Pedagogy in Biology and Natural Sciences career in conjunction with the Teaching Improvement Unit of the ULS . The activity covered everything from the fundamentals of the development and selection of visual organizers to their construction using technological tools.

The meeting, which was divided into two parts, first addressed the fundamentals of creating concept maps, understanding their use to allow ideas to be organized and understood in a meaningful way and used as a learning tool based on the graphic representation of a certain topic; The second part, which is related to mental maps, emphasizes their usefulness as an effective method to extract and represent a high amount of information in a broader and more expansive way.

During the workshop, given by UMD professionals, the psychologist Ingrid González and the ICT expert, Ernesto Arce, interacted with the students and guided them in the design of organizers, all with the support of new technologies, in this case , applications for mobile devices and free software for computers; both resources are commonly used in career use laboratories.

For the Coordinator of the Pedagogy in Biology and Natural Sciences career, academic Francisco López, "this is a workshop for graphic organizers, which this time is aimed at first-year students of the Pedagogy in Biology and Sciences career Natural Income 2018, and its purpose is to diversify the strategies that students use in their learning processes, particularly in science. Visual organizers are recognized as powerful teaching and learning tools since they allow concepts to be made explicit, information to be organized, content to recognize the concepts that structure it, to finally achieve a visual representation.

This is the first activity to be carried out; however, in the course of the semester an extensive invitation to participate in the workshop will be made to students in higher courses of the career and to academics who participate in it.

For UMD professional, Ingrid González, this is a unique opportunity for students, since it gives them a concrete idea of ​​what conceptual and mental maps are, which they will use in all areas of their lives.

All mind maps have common elements, they have a radial organic structure from a nucleus in which lines, symbols, words, colors and images are used to illustrate simple and logical concepts. They allow you to turn long and boring lists of data into colorful, easy to memorize and perfectly organized diagrams that work completely naturally, just like the human brain.

It is for this reason that the students recently admitted to the house of studies thanked the workshop and maintained that it is a great tool that was shown to them, since it facilitates the way of studying and facing new university challenges.

Source: DEIP Press

The activity brought together students, teachers and officials, who shared with foreign students who are studying academic periods at the ULS.

Exchange students from Germany, Spain, Mexico and the Czech Republic had the opportunity to share part of their culture with the university community at the 9th International Student Fair of the University of La Serena.

The activity, organized by the International Relations Office, took place in the Hall of the Ignacio Domeyko Campus and brought together a large number of people, who learned about the customs and culture of foreign students who are studying academic periods at the ULS.

The ninth version of this fair was marked by the tasting of typical foods and the interaction between exchange students and students from the state campus, becoming an instance to motivate young university students to apply for scholarships to study abroad. .

German student Barbara Woog, from RWTH Aachen University, valued the opportunity to “be here presenting a little of our culture” and explained that she began to become interested in the Spanish language after sharing with young people from Chile and other countries during an internship. in France. For the same reason, she urged ULS students to “get to know other cultures and other countries, to learn languages ​​and to be in contact with people from all over the world.”

During the fair, relevant information was also delivered about the scholarships from the Pacific Alliance and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and students were registered for the Tutoring Program, which allows each foreign student to have a tutor who will help them. supports in the first stage at the University.
 
This activity was attended by university authorities, directors, teachers, officials and students from various careers.

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