| Southern University of Chile | |
|---|---|
| Universidad Austral de Chile | |
 |
|
| Motto | Libertas Capitur |
| Established | September 7, 1954 |
| Type | Traditional |
| Rector | Víctor Cubillos Godoy (2006-2010) |
| Staff | 776 |
| Students | 11,000 |
| Location | Avenue Independencia #641 39°48′26″S 73°15′04″W / 39.8073°S 73.2511°WCoordinates: 39°48′26″S 73°15′04″W / 39.8073°S 73.2511°W |
| Website | www.uach.cl |
Southern University of Chile (Spanish: Universidad Austral de Chile or UACh) is a coeducational research university in Chile based in Valdivia although it has some institutions and careers in Puerto Montt. Founded by decree on 7 September 1954 it is one of the eight original Chilean Traditional Universities. In early days it was state-run but became later an independent non-profit organization.
History
Foundation and early years (1942-1968)
The history of UACh dates back to 1942 when a society called Sociedad de Amigos del Arte was formed in the city of Valdivia to promote culture. One of the society's main goals was the establishment of a university in the city. The idea of creating a university was presented to the national congress in the 1950s by the senator for Valdivia Carlos Acharán Pérez de Arce who later succeeded in consolidating the project. In a meeting held on 16 February 1954 supporters of installing a university created a directory and proclaimed Eduardo Morales Miranda as president of it. The initial founding depended on donations from private persons including some industrial businessmen. After have been founded by decree on 7 September 1954 the university was inaugurated the 12th of March 1955 by president Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. The inauguration was also attended by the rectors of the University of Chile and the States Technical University as well as the ambassadors of Venezuela and Argentina and representatives of the Netherlands, Germany and the United States.
The first degree courses to be taught at the university were fine arts, agronomy, forestry engineering and veterinary medicine, each of which had also it own faculty.[1]
On June 3 of 1968 UACh was granted autonomy from the University of Chile as law 16.848 was enacted. The autonomy did that UACh became allowed to decide it own plans and study programs and put the university out of the tutelage of the University of Chile.
Development (1969-1999)
In during the military regime's privatization of higher education in the 1980s UACh incorporated the successor regional see of Universidad Técnica del Estado, the Instituto Profesional de Valdivia. By doing this UACh prevented a offshoot university to be created there as it happened around the country with regional sees of mayor universities. With the incorporation of Instituto Profesional de Valdivia, that corresponds to present day 'Campus Miraflores, UACh started started to grant bachelor degrees in engineering and got it's Engineering Faculty.
In 1993 the university held the Valdivia International Film Festival for the first time to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its cinema Cine Club which has since then developed to one of the most important film festivals in Chile.
Recent history (2000-present)
With the arrival of Centro de Estudios Científicos (CECS) to Valdivia in 2000 the city was further outlined as a research center, as CECS brought expertise on biophysics, molecular physiology, theoretical physics, glaciology and climate change to the city. The arrival of CECS was seen as positive by UACh's administration since CECS research do not overlap UACh's main research areas and, as a scientific research corporation, do not compete in student enrollment. However, in 2007 UACh and CECS got involved in a controversy when the Regional Council of Los Lagos Region granted regional funds that had been put into tender to CECS without atending to the meeting where UACh's and University of Los Lagos joint project was presented. Deputy Gabriel Ascencio (DC) accused Claudio Bunster, director of CECS, of using his personal influence among politicians and the Council of Innovation for Competitiveness (of which he is member of) to gain more resources.[2]
On Monday the 3rd December 2007 the Emilio Pugín building of the Faculty of Sciences got on fire. Emilio Pugín, located on the Isla Teja Campus had a considerable amount of chemicals and scientific equipment which could not be saved. Several research projects had to be halted or aborted due to loss of equipment, samples and data. Due to the spreading of toxic smoke the police had to evacuate a total of 10,000 people from Isla Teja. Emilio Pugín hosted the institutes of chemistry, physics, zoology, microbiology and botanics apart from laboratories. A biochemistry student estimated the economic losses as of 5000 millions of Chilean pesos.[3] Firefighting companies from the neighboring cities of Osorno, La Unión and Paillaco had to come to assist to control and extinguish the fire.
On May 13 of 2008 the student federation of UACh decided to go on strike since they considered that a request list sent to the university administration was answered in too loose terms.[4] The strike and occupation of the university by students ended in late June when the rector Victor Cubillos and the directory ceded on several points but was however still heavily criticized both from students and from sectors of the faculty where they considered that he had ceded to much to students.
Campus
UACh main campus, Campus Isla Teja, occupies the whole northwest of Isla Teja in the city of Valdivia. Campus Isla Teja is the home of UACh's administration, botanical garden and most faculties. The botanical garden has a recreational area as well as a place of study with a total of 950 plant species growing there. Most plants in the botanical garden belong to Valdivian temperate rain forest but there are others with exotic origins. The waters of Cau-Cau River that flows through the northern parts of the botanical garden allows a section of wetland plant species included in the garden.
The engineering faculty operates in Campus Miraflores located along Valdivia River south of Valdivia's Plaza de Armas. A third campus exists in Puerto Montt where business administration, speech and language pathology and aquaculture is studied. UACh has apart from the campuses several properties spread through Los Ríos and Los Lagos Region such as Parque Arboretum in northern Isla Teja, the Calfuco field station in the coast near Niebla and the forests of San Pablo de Tregua in the Andean foothills.
Research
UACh is one of the leading universities of Chile in matters of scientific research. It was ranked second only to the University of Chile in scientific research by El Mercurio and was the third university to receive most of government Mecesup research funds in 2008.[5][6] Some of the fields where UACh scientists have made contributions include:
- Archaeology: In archeology university scientists Mario Pino and Tom Dillehay, led the excavations of at Monte Verde, one of the earliest archaeological sites in the Americas. Another site investigated by university scientists is Chan-Chan a site that gives name to the Archaic Chan-Chan Complex.[7]
- Virology: Researchers from the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Science led a series of joint medical, viral and zoological research on the transmittance of Hantavirus between rodents and humans. Hantavirus was first detected in Chile in 1995 but is believed to have been present much time before.[8] According to Dr. Luis Zaror the most important UACh discovery regarding antavirus was made in 2005 when Hanta
antigens were found on the salivary glands of deceased persons. UACh academics working at the Laboratory of Virology had contributed to diminish a the initial mortality of Pulmonar Hantavirus with 60% in Los Ríos Region below the national average of 37%.[9]
- Dendrochronology: Scientists at the Dendrochronology Laboratory of UACh has set up the longest dentrochronology in the Southern Hemisphere going back 5666 years. Researchers have also reconstructed the temperatures of the las 3622 years with tree rings from Fitzroya and have used a dendrochronology network of Lenga Beech, spaning from Talca to Navarino Island, to investigate global warming in the recent decades.[10]
- Mapudungun language: UACh is one of the main sites of Mapudungun language studies and teaching. This is partly due to Professor María Catrileo Chiguailaf who received in 2009 the Provincial Prize for Conservation of National Monuments for her studies.[11] Catrileo's work has focused on the phonology and morpho-syntax of the Mapudungun language and specially the verb forms. María Catrileo is considered to be perhaps the only living Mapuche Indian to master Spanish, English and Mapudungun.[12]
- Palaeontology: Palaeontological studies at Southern Chile have involved several UACh academics among them geoarchaeologist Mario Pino who participated at the excavation of the Quaternary fossil site of Pilauco in Osorno where the rests of a Gomphotherium were discovered. Two other Gomphoteruim fossil sites in Los Ríos Region are planned to be excavated by university scientists in the future.[13]
Scientific journals
The university publishes several scientific journals three of them, Revista BOSQUE, Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria and Estudios Filológicos are part of ISI's bibliographic database. BOSQUE is published by the Faculty of Forest Science. BOSQUE's first number was published in 1975 and was yearly issued until 1985. From 1985 to 2003 it was issued twice a year and from 2003 on thrice a year. The topics covered in BOSQUE are management and production of forestry resources, wood science and technology, silviculture, forestry ecology, natural resources conservation, and rural development associated with forest ecosystems. Contributions are articles, notes and opinions, both in Spanish and English. BOSQUE became part of ISI's bibliographic database in 2009.[14]
In matters of literature, communication science and linguistics the university has published the journal Documentos Lingüísticos y Literarios (DLL) since 1977. Documentos Lingüísticos y Literarios has two sections, one dedicated to articles and comments on literature, linguistics and communication science and another were original literary pieces are published. DLL is one of the few journals containing native Mapudungun literature and linguistic articles.
Museum network
Universidad Austral de Chile runs through its museology department several museums in Valdivia and southern Chile, including; Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Museo de la Exploración Rudolph Amandus Philippi, Museo Histórico y Antropológico Maurice van de Maele.
Rankings
In El Mercurio's last university ranking, made in 2006, UACh was the leading university of Chile in teacher quality. The same ranking showed also UACh second only to Universidad de Chile in research quality and in third place in the overall comparison between Chilean universities, just behind U. de Chile and Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, being thus the highest ranking university in Chile outside Santiago.[5]
As of 2005 UACh was ranked by Universia 5th among Chilean universities in terms of peer-reviewd publications registered in the Science Citation Index since 1990.[15]
In 2006 UAChs medicine students got the second highest marks in Chile in the National Medicine Exam after PUC.[16] In 2007 UACh medicine students descended to the fifth place and in 2008 to the sixth place.[17]
Faculties and institutes
UACh have a total of 9 faculties all of which grants bachelor's degrees. The institutes of the university may also grant academic degrees but only on levels above bachelor's degrees.
Faculty of Agrarian Sciences
| Established | 1954 |
|---|---|
| University | Southern University of Chile |
| President | |
| Location | Isla Teja, Valdivia, Chile |
| Official website | www.agrarias.uach.cl |
Faculty of Agrarian Sciences was born in 1954 together with the founding of the university. Agronomy was one of the initial degrees granted when the university admitted its first students in 1955. Since then agrarian sciences at UACh has diversified into the fields of aquiculture and food science.[18] The first dean of the faculty was the agronom Germán Saelzer. By 1960 the faculty had already a staff of 12 full-time teachers, 23 teachers from other faculties and 64 students.
Faculty of Forest Science
| Established | 1954 |
|---|---|
| University | Southern University of Chile |
| President | Antonio Lara |
| Location | Isla Teja Campus, Valdivia, Chile |
| Official website | www.forestal.uach.cl |
The Faculty of Forestry dates back to 1955 when classes in Technical Forestry Engineering begun in UACh. The faculty has since then rose to prominence as one of the main sites of forestry and forest science study in the Southern Hemisphere. The faculty administrates the Institute of Forest Management, the Institute of Forestal Product Technology the Institute of Silviculture, the Laboratory of Dendrochronology, the universities Parque Arboretum as weel as several properties spread through Los Ríos Region. The faculty currently undergraduate academic degrees in three areas; Forestry, Environmental engineering and Wood engineering.
Faculty of Law and Social Sciences
| Established | 1989 |
|---|---|
| University | Southern University of Chile |
| President | Juan Andrés Varas Braun |
| Location | Isla Teja Campus, Valdivia, Chile |
| Official website | www.derecho.uach.cl |
The Faculty of Law and Social Sciences was founded in 1989 when rector Jorge Ebert gave a group of Valdivian lawyers the mission of establishing a Faculty. In the first year of enrollment 834 students were accepted into the lawyer program, they all had between 750 and 681 points in the national university exam, which placed the program in fourth place among the most demanding law school in Chile.[19] Currently the faculty host the Institutes of Public Law and of Private Law.
- Law and Social Sciences faculty, include:
- Instituto de Derecho Público
- Law (Derecho), Isla Teja Campus
Faculty of Engineering Sciences
- Engineering Sciences faculty, includes:
- Architecture, Isla Teja Campus
- Computer science (Ingeniería Civil Informática), Miraflores Campus
- Acoustics engineering (Ingeniería Civil Acústica), Miraflores Campus
- Electronics engineering (Ingeniería Civil Electrónica), Miraflores Campus
- Civil engineering (Ingeniería Civil en Obras Civiles), Miraflores Campus
- Construction engineering (Construcción Civil), Miraflores Campus
- Mechanical engineering (Ingeniería Civil Mecánica), Miraflores Campus
- Ship construction engineering (Ingeniería Naval), Miraflores Campus
- Instituto de Geociencias (Isla Teja Campus)
Faculty of Humanities and Philosophy
- Humanities and Philosophy faculty, includes:
- Anthropology, Isla Teja Campus
- Communication in English Pedagogy, Isla Teja Campus
- History and Social Sciences Pedagogy, Isla Teja Campus
- Journalism, Isla Teja Campus
- Language and Communication Pedagogy, Isla Teja Campus
- Physical Education, Sports and Recreation Pedagogy
Medicine faculty
- Medicine faculty, includes
- Instituto de anatomía humana
- Kinesiology
- Medical technology
- Medicine
- Nursing
- Occupational therapy
- Odontology
- Speech and language pathology (Fonoaudiología), Puerto Montt Campus
Science faculty
- Science faculty, includes:
- Biochemistry, Isla Teja Campus
- Biology (Ciencias biologicas), Isla Teja Campus
- Marine biology, Isla Teja Campus
- Medicinal chemistry (Química y Farmacía), Isla Teja Campus
Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences
- Economic and Administrative Sciences faculty, includes:
- Business administration (Ingeniería Comercial), Isla Teja and Puerto Montt Campus
- Tourism Enterprise Administration, Isla Teja Campus
Faculty of Veterinarian Sciences
- Veterinary faculty
- Instituto de anatomía veterinaria
- Veterinary medicine
Agreements with other universities
UACh has signed several agreements with universites from the Americas, Europe, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Some of these universities are:[20]
Argentina:
Brazil:
Canada:
Chile:
Colombia:
Costa Rica:
Cuba:
Denmark:
Ecuador:
France:
Germany:
Guatemala:
Italy:
New Zealand:
Norway:
Peru:
South Korea:
Spain:
United Kingdom:
United States:
Uruguay:
References
- ^ Historia de la Universidad Austral de Chile Southern University of Chile
- ^ (Spanish) "http://www.lannacion.cl" La Nación
- ^ Incendio en Universidad Austral de Chile, El Naveghable
- ^ ¡A la calle!: a los estudiantes de la UACh se les acabó la paciencia, El Naveghable
- ^ a b El Mercurio Ranking of Universities
- ^ Universidad Austral de Chile se adjudica 1.582 millones en el Concurso Mecesup 2008 Universia
- ^ (Spanish) Pino, Mario and Navarro, Rayen. Geoarqueología del sitio arcaico Chan-Chan 18. Revista Geológica de Chile, 2005.
- ^ Síndrome pulmonar por Hantavirus Revista médica de Chile
- ^ Universidad Austral de Chile: Una década de vanguardia académica e investigación Universia
- ^ ¿Quiénes somos? Laboratorio de Dendrocronología
- ^ Académica de la Universidad Austral de Chile Recibió Premio Provincial de Conservación de Monumentos Nacionales Noticias UACh
- ^ María Catrileo's Works on the Tagmemics of Mapuche
- ^ Presentaron Libro sobre Sitio Paleontológico Pilauco Bajo Noticias UACh
- ^ Celebran indexación de publicación de la Universidad Austral de Chile en ISI Universia
- ^ RANKING DE INSTITUCIONES DE INVESTIGACIÓN DE CHILE, last view 22 November, 2009.
- ^ Medicine exam in Universia.cl
- ^ Resultados por escuela 2003-2008 Examen Medico Nacional
- ^ Nuestros Comienzos Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias UACh
- ^ Reseña Histórica Faculty of Law and Social Sciences
- ^ Convenios Universidad Austral de Chile
External links
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- Official English site (In Spanish, English and German)
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