Officials from the General Directorate of Student Affairs (five) and the Supply Department (one) of the University of La Serena, participated in the "Intensive course for preparing the accreditation test for buyer users of the Chilean public procurement and contracting system", training carried out in the city of Santiago on April 23 and 24.

In this course, taught by the company SERPROF and whose trainer was Mayerly López Molinello, Víctor Bermont Órdenes, Oscar Daza Gallardo, Paulina Pizarro Torres, Carla Rodríguez Marín and Andrés Vega Araya (DGAE), and Patricia Plaza Salinas (Supply) participated.

The program is designed according to the content of the accreditation test, so it includes practical reinforcement exercises to train the cognitive and psychomotor part of each participant, case study workshops, and an essay test similar to the test. Likewise, it is intended that the participant has solid knowledge in the supply management process, substantially improving their professional performance regarding the effective and efficient acquisition of goods and services through the Chilecompra public procurement and contracting system, law 19.886 and its regulatory decree. .

It should be noted that this training course was suggested by the general director of Student Affairs Mg. Miguel Zuleta Cereceda, in order to accredit participation in the Public Purchasing Portal.

Engineers Daniel Garrido Cuadra and Mario Cáceres Cáceres, academics from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of La Serena, carried out a scientific internship at the Apache Point Observatory (APO), in the state of New Mexico, United States, as part of their activities in the QUIMAL project of the ULS, financed by CONICYT.

The QUIMAL project is carried out by the universities of La Serena (project leader), Chile, Católica, Antofagasta and Andrés Bello, and its director is Dr. Alexandre Roman Lopes, from the Department of Physics of the U. of La Serena . The project has the support of the prominent institute for science, Carnegie, Washington, and with the collaboration of different North American universities that are members of the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC).

At the University of La Serena, the QUIMAL project is a multidisciplinary project that brings together mechanical, electronic engineers, physicists and astronomers and the departments of Physics and Mechanical Engineering actively participate in its implementation, through its directors, Doctors Pedro Vega and Ricardo Castillo , respectively. The objective of the QUIMAL project is to promote Chilean participation in the most ambitious astronomical project of recent decades, known as ''Sloan Digital Sky Survey'', which aims to study the local and distant universe in various spectral ranges (from optical to near infrared).

The purpose of the trip was to learn about and delve into infrastructure, equipment, instrumentation and perspectives for improving designs related to the study of galaxies in the Southern Hemisphere, to obtain a better understanding of the numerous sub-systems that will be replicated and adapted to the APOGEE-S project, to be installed on the du Pont telescope, located at the Las Campanas Observatory (LCO), Coquimbo Region, Chile. This initiative will be replicated in the Department of Mechanical Engineering through the creation of an Astro-Engineering Laboratory, to support the construction of instrumentation for astronomical research and training of astronomers in the use of interchangeable optical fiber cartridges for the APOGEE2 spectrograph , to be used in the project.

The University's engineers continue to contribute with the redesign of the fiber optic instrument for the du Pont telescope, introducing carbon fiber technology in their designs, obtaining multiple benefits.

The meeting made it possible to strengthen ties with fifty educational establishments.

The Graduate Monitoring Office of the University of La Serena was invited to participate in the monthly meeting of the Limarí College Network, an activity carried out in the premises of the Limarí Campus of the house of higher education, located in the city of Ovalle. On this occasion, professionals from the Office team had the opportunity to present the employment portaltrabajo.userena.cl to directors, teachers and teams of participating technical-pedagogical units. 

Natalia Carvajal, psychologist and person in charge of the Coaching Program of the Graduate Monitoring Office, states that ''the purpose of said intervention was to publicize the employment portal and thereby allow the representatives of the schools themselves to enter the portal. and make your request for professionals or students in practice at the University of La Serena''. 

On the other hand, adds Carvajal, the work of the Office was disseminated within the almost 50 educational centers belonging to the Network of Schools and Lyceums of Limarí, thereby strengthening the reach of the Liaison Network for Employability of the University of La Serene.

Interdisciplinary Master of Latin American Studies, from the Faculty of Humanities of the University of La Serena, invites the community to the conference by Dr. Álvaro Piña: ''Introduction to Social Network Analysis: The case of the Biotechnology industry'', activity which will take place on Friday, May 9, at 18:30 p.m., in the Auditorium room of the Teaching Support Center, CADH, located on the Isabel Bongard Campus.

Álvaro Piña has a Doctor in Sociology from the Paris-Dauphine University, and a Postdoctorate from the Center for Sociology of Innovation, of the Higher School of Mines in Paris, France.

Currently, Dr. Piña is an associate professor at the Center for Research in Economics and Administration at the University of Rennes I, France, and his research interests focus on social network analysis, collective learning in organizations, and innovation processes.

The students of the Introduction to Tourism course of the first year of the Business Administration Engineering degree at the University of La Serena, taught by Professor Wilson Rojas Catelicán, participated in the project "Paleontological Walks in Río Hurtado" presented by the Sendero de Chile Foundation to the Sports Fund of the Regional Government of Coquimbo in 2013.

During the trek of almost 3 km, developed in the Pichasca Natural Monument in the commune of Río Hurtado, the students received instructions and techniques for walking and enjoying nature through the Leave No Trace principles, from the territorial manager of the Sendero de Chile Foundation, Manuel Rojas Martínez. In addition, they were informed of the great paleontological importance of the monument and the relevance of protecting natural and cultural attractions, such as the remains of petrified trees, fossil dinosaur bones and archaeological remains, in addition to knowing a valley with high tourist potential. .

Another important milestone on the tour was a healthy snack with local products, such as: nuts, pomegranates, fig cakes, oranges, mote con huesillos, among other products made by entrepreneurial women from the Río Hurtado commune, an instance that was He took the opportunity to share with the local community and learn about their vision for the tourist development of the commune.

''It is important to be able to take students to the field and to be able to visualize in reality what is learned in the classrooms, to be in contact not only with nature, which is of great beauty and diversity, promoting care for the environment. environment, but also being in contact with local communities and knowing firsthand their strengths and weaknesses as tourism entrepreneurs, since upon returning to the classrooms the students will be able to have a different vision of how to develop tourism in a more sustainable way.' ', highlighted the teacher in charge of the subject, Wilson Rojas.

This initiative was also supported by the director of the Business Administration Engineering degree, Manuel Álvarez Cortés, who pointed out that ''it is important that our professionals in training can actively participate in the recognition of experiences in the field, in order to be able to apply their knowledge and commit their support to the projection of the tourist activity of our Coquimbo Region.

The activity is part of the accreditation process of the degree program assigned to the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences of the University of La Serena.

Since this Monday, May 5, the Journalism program at the University of La Serena, attached to the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences (FACSE) of the house of higher education, is in the visit stage of the Committee of Peer Evaluators associated with the undergraduate program accreditation process.

The Committee of Peer Evaluators for this undergraduate program belongs to the AcreditAcción Agency and is made up of Cristian Antoine Faúndez (U. of Santiago de Chile), Ximena Póo Figueroa (U. of Chile) and Claudio Elórtegui Gómez (Pontificia U Católica de Valparaíso ).

The members of the Committee, who will carry out their external verification visit until Wednesday, May 7, have already met with university authorities, headed by the Rector of the ULS, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés Pizarro, directors, FACSE authorities, directors of Department and School, Self-Evaluation Committee, academics, students and graduates. Meetings with the Career Council, employers and visits to facilities of the institution and the aforementioned undergraduate program are also contemplated.

The reading of the Exit Report will take place on Wednesday, May 7, at 14:30 p.m., in the Television Studio, located on the Andrés Bello Campus.