News
Justice Minister Luis Cordero spoke at Thursday's session and requested the collaboration of the CRUCH universities. Acting President Rosa Devés emphasized the importance of participating in this public policy through contributions from various fields of knowledge.
The session also addressed topics related to R&D funding for universities, the CRUCH's participation in the new Anti-Doping Commission, among others.
With the participation of the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Luis Cordero; the Minister of Sport, Jaime Pizarro; the Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation (CTCI), Aisén Etcheverry; and the Undersecretary of Higher Education, Víctor Orellana, the last plenary session of the year of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) was held this Thursday, November 30, at the University of Talca.
One of the central themes of the session was Minister Cordero's presentation on the "National Search Plan; Truth and Justice," after which he requested support from CRUCH for the implementation of the plan, which was unanimously approved.
In this regard, the acting president of CRUCH and rector of the University of Chile, Rosa Devés, stated that “the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the coup d'état has led us all to propose this public policy, which we recognize as fundamental, and we will contribute our expertise. That is why universities are so important when matters of this magnitude occur in a country. We look to universities and their knowledge.”.
Minister Cordero requested that the CRUCH (Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities) appoint representatives to the Monitoring Committee, which is responsible for ensuring compliance with indicators associated with the plan's goals, and to an Academic Committee. “The National Search Plan requires significant interdisciplinary work, from artificial intelligence data to forensic anthropology, geography and history, psychology, and forensic medicine (…) There are a number of disciplines that are concurrent and highly relevant to addressing the development of the plan, but also for what it leaves in terms of memory, and that implies working with archives in a different way,” commented the minister, who appreciated the CRUCH's positive response.
It is worth remembering that President Gabriel Boric signed the decree that formalizes the National Search Plan, together with Minister Luis Cordero, on August 30th. See here
For his part, the rector of the host university, Carlos Torres, pointed out that “at the CRUCH institutions we can contribute from diverse disciplines. In the case of UTalca, there is the work that can be carried out from the Heritage Documentation Center for digitization processes, also in the reading and processing of information through artificial intelligence, and also from the work developed by the Center for Minority Rights and Diversity Management, which has a focus on Human Rights.”.
The session also addressed topics related to the financing of Research, Development and Technological Innovation (R&D&I) for universities; the CRUCH's participation in the Doping Control Commission; and the presentation of the CRUCH Pedagogy Strengthening Commission's report "Teaching changes lives", which proposes ways to strengthen initial and ongoing teacher training.
PAES and Budget 2024
Meanwhile, the Undersecretary of Higher Education referred to the success of the application of the Higher Education Access Test (PAES), whose regular administration ended on November 29.
Regarding the 2024 Budget Law, he opined that, in a context of fiscal adjustment, there is significant progress.
“There continues to be an increase in the resources available to universities and there continues to be an expansion of the sector, which is so relevant for building critical mass capacities, scientific, cultural and knowledge for development,” Orellana noted.
R&D funding for universities
Another relevant topic of the session was the Structural Financing of R&D&I for universities.
In this regard, the Minister of Science, Technology, Innovation, and Cooperatives (CTCI), Aisén Etcheverry, commented that the Ministry “has been working for several months now to complement the science funding model with more structural initiatives.” She affirmed that “science is the path to development; therefore, it requires funding that supports this process, and while the mechanisms we have have been very successful, they are insufficient for the level of maturity of our system.”.
In this context, he noted that “today we had the opportunity to continue discussing how we can move towards structural funding for science and technology, which will put this sector at the service of the country's development.”.
Specifically, the minister presented two programs: Impulsa CTCI and Misión Frontera. The first aims to foster the contribution of regional universities to territorial development and decentralization processes by funding R&D&I capabilities, including their respective management and institutional governance. The second is geared towards enhancing the contribution of universities with the highest institutional accreditation to national development by supporting the development and strengthening of R&D&I capabilities that can address complex missions.
CRUCH in the Doping Control Commission
Another presentation at this session was that of the Minister of Sport, Jaime Pizarro, who referred to the National Anti-Doping Commission, a new body that seeks to ensure the effective operational independence of the Commission in the implementation and execution of the National Anti-Doping Program.
He explained that the entity's top management will be a Superior Council, which must be made up of five full members, and for its formation, he asked the CRUCH to designate representatives.
This new instance is due to the need to adapt national regulations to the new standard of the World Anti-Doping Code through the modification of Title V of Law No. 19.712.
Photos: Communications CRUCH and University of Talca.
Text: CRUCH Communications.
Spanish 
English