• Dr Paola Arias, together with her research team, will search for signals of new particles in cosmological observations and lab experiments, in the context of a Fondecyt Regular project 2016. Currently, there are independent efforts worldwide oriented to this search; the team’s goal is to propose new and better detection techniques.

The search for new particles has been in the general interest for a long time. The most popular example in this field of study is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest particle collider that allows studying the elements which are part of the matter that forms the Universe. However, the mysteries hidden in the vastness of the Cosmos are countless, like the ones in the “dark sector”, which is formed by particles that cannot be easily observed, because they do not interact with our detectors; we only see their gravitational effects, as in the case of dark matter.

“Our project will look for particles different from the ones than one may expect to find in the LHC, as they would distinctively have a very little mass. Currently, there are independent efforts worldwide oriented to this search, but our goal is to propose new and better detection techniques,” Dr Arias explains. The research team in charge of this Fondecyt Regular project (1161150) “Looking for signatures of a hidden sector” is made up of scientists from Argentina, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.

According to professor Arias, their work is based on observational evidence in this field of study that suggests that the Universe has a higher content of particles if compared to what we see now. She explains that this information has led to the formulation of different theoretical models on the properties of these new particles and predictions about how we could watch them.

“Technological progress has been possible thanks to the knowledge and understanding of the world around us,” she adds. “Particle Physics is a basic science and its purpose is to understand the Universe where we live in. For now, we cannot measure how this will contribute to society. As we still have not learned about the intrinsic nature of these new particles, we do not know how they can be a contribution in the future. Undoubtedly, understanding the Universe is a question that has fascinated mankind since its origins.” 

For Dr Arias, being part of the Department Of Physics at Universidad de Santiago de Chile has been a great experience. "The level of the research work at the university is very high and we expect to continue strengthening it,” she concludes.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The research, led by Dr. Miguel Maldonado, professor at the Metallurgical Engineering Department, intends to optimize this process through new on-line air measurement equipment.

During the last couple of years, we have heard about a decline in copper production, and according to experts this is one of the reasons why the quality of the mineral has been reduced. One way to revert this situation is improving mining procedures, which is a priority for mining industry.

One of these processes is flotation, a method used to separate valuable minerals like copper from others. The process starts once the rock is ground and mixed with water to form a pulp. Some reagents that modify the mineral surface are added to this mixture. In this way, when bubbles of air are forced up through the pulp, they collide with particles and the ones containing copper, for example, go up to the surface making a froth rich in valuable mineral, ready to be removed.

This is the method studied by Dr. Miguel Maldonado, professor at the Metallurgical Engineering Department. “Although today improvements have been made to flotation process- by means of devices that measure the air flow forced into a flotation equipment or the use of cameras that continuously monitor de physical properties of the froth- we still do not have a full knowledge of how air dispersion in the bubbles affects the metallurgical performance of the process,” the researcher said.

This encouraged the academic to do a research project called “Estimating on-line air concentration in flotation systems,” funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Department (Dicyt) of Universidad de Santiago.

“We believe that this variable is important when determining the process performance, as it is related to the surface area available to collect the particles containing valuable mineral and, therefore, to the complete recovery of copper,” the researcher explained.

The researcher said that the project was born while he was doing his postdoctoral research in Canada, at McGill University, considered a pioneer institution in proposing ways of measuring this variable. At that time, while he was studying this technique, he found out a problem with the interpretation of Maxwell’s equation, which would lead to a measurement error.

For this reason, the academic decided to insist on seeking new techniques in order to solve the problem; this time, with a better knowledge of the system.

At the first stage of the research, essential aspects of the error made will be studied. For this purpose, experiments to get a better understanding of the Maxwell’s equation will be performed. McGill University will also take part in this research by sending a flotation column to support the study and by developing papers together about this topic.

At the second stage, new techniques will be explored to find a method that estimates the air concentration in real time, in order to control and optimize the process.

In the academic’s opinion, “the efficient recovery of valuable minerals like copper is very important, and this measurement method could provide significant information for optimizing the process. This will have all kinds of benefits, such as reducing the reagents added or reducing the water used. This fact is also important if we consider that in most mining operations the water resource is scarce.”

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• In order to meet the goals set by Universidad de Santiago in the context of the “Sustainable Campus” Clean Production Agreement, the University Social Responsibility program developed the first training workshop on this matter, oriented to students, academics and administrative staff.
• The initiative is one of the institutional actions to promote the knowledge on sustainability and to meet the goal of reducing the use of energy by 5% in the campus before March 2015, according to Santiago Peredo, RSU program’s alternate Director.
• The next workshop- on composting and vegetable gardens management- is scheduled for August. Also, the RSU program will hold seminars on the topics stemmed from the Institutional Sustainability Reports: human rights, decent work conditions, universal access to people with different skills, healthy eating and energy efficiency.

“People have become aware of environmental or sustainability matters. What we must manage now is to change some behaviors and develop some habits to be consistent with this already existing awareness,” Santiago Peredo, alternate Director of the University Social Responsibility (RSU, in Spanish) program said at the end of the first training workshop, “Self-diagnosis of energy use in buildings”, that was held by academics of Universidad de Santiago, on Friday 11th.

The workshop is part of the institutional actions to meet the goals set in the “Sustainable Campus” Clean Production Agreement (APL, in Spanish) of 2013, that seek to "promote training in this matter for professionals, students and academics of the University, and, in turn, to meet the goal of reducing the use of energy by 5% in the campus, before March 2015,” the RSU program’s alternate Director explained.

The workshop included two talks about energy efficiency. The first one was given by Professor Juan Araya, of the Bachillerato program, and the second one, by Professor Fernando Corvalán, of the Department of Geographical Engineering.

Professor Araya referred to the concept of sustainability in three interrelated aspects: environment, society and economy. The balance among the three of them becomes the sustainability equation. Professor Corvalán talked about energy efficiency in buildings, stressing the current actions taken in the building sector to save energy and the analysis of important supplementary aspects like heating, refrigeration and supply systems.

Regarding the campus, Dr. Corvalán explained that it was built according to standards that were not concerned for energy saving, such as the former EAO building and the buildings around the Planetarium. However, he emphasized that the new buildings mean an opportunity for energy sustainability.

Students, academics, professionals and administrative staff from the five units that voluntarily signed the University’s APL took part in the workshop: the Department of Geographical Engineering, the Technological Faculty, the Faculty of Administration and Economics, the Bachillerato program and the School of Architecture.

Waste management and vegetable gardens

“We prepared this series of workshops to meet the goals of training in sustainability and reducing the use of energy at the University, among others,” the RSU program’s alternate Director reiterated, as this is one of the actions established in the “Sustainable Campus” Clean Production Agreement.

The next workshop is scheduled for August and it will be about composting and vegetable gardens management, “because another goal is to reduce the solid waste produced at the University and this action could lead to new recycling processes that are not implemented now.”

“There are some initiatives to collect paper and glass in some recycling spots. We still have pending the organic waste treatment, as it is collected by an external service. The idea is that the University takes charge of the organic waste management and one way to do it is composting and the use of vegetable gardens,” Santiago Peredo added.

Pending tasks

Together with the sustainability workshops, the RSU program is planning continuous seminars that will include presentations and debates on five of the topics stemmed from the Institutional Sustainability Reports (2008-2012): human rights, decent work conditions, universal access to people with different skills, healthy eating and energy efficiency.

These five aspects are the ones that the reports have shown as weaknesses or needs. In these seminars open to the community that the RSU program plans to give every first Tuesday of the month (from August to December), the participants will evaluate the aspects that could be addressed in the workshops, according to the interests of the community.

 

Translated by Marcela Contreras

•     Physical Review Letters (PRL) will publish an article about this important development in the control of chemical reactions using quantum optics. In simple terms, Dr Herrera, researcher at Universidad de Santiago, explains that they proved that these reactions or electron transfers can be accelerated or reduced.

At the end of the month, the renowned American journal of Physics, Physical Review Letters (PRL) of the American Physical Society (APS), will publish an important discovery in this field made by Dr Felipe Herrera, professor at the Department of Physics of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, and Dr Francis C. Spano, professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, USA.

The article (“Cavity-controlled chemistry in molecular ensembles”) will highlight the development made by these researchers in the control of chemical reactions by means of quantum physics. In simple terms, Dr Herrera explains that they proved that these reactions or electron transfers can be accelerated or reduced.

Graphically, the model consists of an optical cavity surrounded by two mirrors that do not allow light to go through, “so the amount of energy is the minimum possible in an electromagnetic field. That is to say, there is cero or one unit of light energy, which is also called photon,” Dr Herrera explains.

Dr Herrera remembers that, at a first stage, they asked themselves about “the effects that the optical cavity could have on chemical reactions or electron transfers: if the cavity would accelerate them, suppress them or if nothing would happen at all.”

In this context, the researcher says that they finally “found a mechanism through which this quantum optical cavity can dramatically accelerate the reaction and electron transfer in molecules.”

The basics

With regards to this theoretical discovery, Dr Herrera explains the process: “First, there are two players: the electron that is going to be transferred and the vibration of the molecules that, in a way, affect how this electron is going to be transferred from one place to another. If there is too much vibration, the electron will be disturbed and the transfer will be inefficient.”

“When you add another factor, like the optical cavity, there is a third player: the photon, which will now interact with the electron inside the cavity,” he says.  

“We discovered that quantized light plays a game in which the electron becomes a photon and the photon turns again into an electron and vice versa. The game only occurs inside the cavity and it makes the electron to stop interacting with the vibration, eliminating or blocking vibrations,” he explains. 

With regard to what material inside the cavity accelerates or reduces the electron transfer, Dr Herrera says that they have tested organic materials or organic molecules, like the ones that form the human body. “This organic material could also be a protein, according to the experiments conducted by other researchers that have based their studies on our discovery,” he adds.

Physical Review Letters

The article about this development was first published in the online edition of Physical Review Letters and, at the end of June, it will be published in the print edition. Dr Herrera says this is a great honor for them, as this journal is the most prestigious one in the field of Physics.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr Paola Arias, together with her research team, will search for signals of new particles in cosmological observations and lab experiments, in the context of a Fondecyt Regular project 2016. Currently, there are independent efforts worldwide oriented to this search; the team’s goal is to propose new and better detection techniques.

The search for new particles has been in the general interest for a long time. The most popular example in this field of study is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest particle collider that allows studying the elements which are part of the matter that forms the Universe. However, the mysteries hidden in the vastness of the Cosmos are countless, like the ones in the “dark sector”, which is formed by particles that cannot be easily observed, because they do not interact with our detectors; we only see their gravitational effects, as in the case of dark matter.

“Our project will look for particles different from the ones than one may expect to find in the LHC, as they would distinctively have a very little mass. Currently, there are independent efforts worldwide oriented to this search, but our goal is to propose new and better detection techniques,” Dr Arias explains. The research team in charge of this Fondecyt Regular project (1161150) “Looking for signatures of a hidden sector” is made up of scientists from Argentina, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.

According to professor Arias, their work is based on observational evidence in this field of study that suggests that the Universe has a higher content of particles if compared to what we see now. She explains that this information has led to the formulation of different theoretical models on the properties of these new particles and predictions about how we could watch them.

“Technological progress has been possible thanks to the knowledge and understanding of the world around us,” she adds. “Particle Physics is a basic science and its purpose is to understand the Universe where we live in. For now, we cannot measure how this will contribute to society. As we still have not learned about the intrinsic nature of these new particles, we do not know how they can be a contribution in the future. Undoubtedly, understanding the Universe is a question that has fascinated mankind since its origins.” 

For Dr Arias, being part of the Department Of Physics at Universidad de Santiago de Chile has been a great experience. "The level of the research work at the university is very high and we expect to continue strengthening it,” she concludes.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Among the different speakers that took part in the Colloquium “Water: a renewable resource?”, one of them, Alfredo Zolezzi, founder of the Advanced Innovation Center, considers that the contrast between technology progress and the poverty and shortage of sanitary resources affecting millions of people is “dramatic”. He says that the solution to this problem is to make sure that innovation reaches people who need it.

The recent celebration of the World Water Day brought again to the national and international agenda the importance of promoting sustainable practices for the good use of water resources in the planet. The Colloquium “Water: a renewable resource?” was held in this context and it was led by the Association of Researchers for Development and Interdisciplinarity (INDI, its Spanish acronym), that groups researchers from the different faculties of Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

The activity brought together three speakers that approached the implications and significance of this strategic resource from very different points of view.

Leyla Noriega, journalist of Red Mi Voz*, who has experience in working with indigenous communities in the north of Chile, gave the presentation “Between the Andean world view and the community’s political core”. She explains that “our philosophy understands water like a living being. The resource is distributed according to its ancestral use by common law; that is to say, based on customs or natural rights.”

However, this expert in communications says that this approach is little respected, as a consequence of a series of processes that have affected the native peoples of the north of the country, like “Chileanization and the disassembly of ancestral authorities.”

Then, Alfredo Zolezzi, founder of the Advanced Innovation Center spoke about “Meaningful innovation”, considering it like a concept that has always been present in the history of humankind. “We have never had as much technology available as we do now, but it is dramatic to see this progress without recognizing that there are millions of people living in poverty, without basic sanitary services,” he says.

Effective solutions

In light of this situation that accounts for a complex reality, specific answers are required. According to Zolezzi, the solution lies in changing the way of doing things and he suggests “doing activism with proposals that make sure that innovation will reach people who need it.”
 
In his case, innovation became socially meaningful through the creation of the Plasma Water Sanitation System (PWSS), a water purification system that allows transforming polluted water particles into plasma, making it potable.

This system was implemented in 2011, in Fundo San José, a shanty town in Cerrillos, Santiago, thanks to a partnership with Un Techo Para Mi País**. It is worth to mention that this shanty town’s residents were resettled in June, 2013.

The last presentation was given by Dr. Silvio Montalvo, professor at the Department of Chemistry Engineering of our University, who spoke about his research regarding water resources.

At present, he is working on the treatment of sludge generated at sewage water treatment plants, in order to develop technologies to optimize the anaerobic digestion process that allows breaking down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen.

“If we are able to preserve the water that we already have and keep it less polluted, we will be contributing to this matter,” the researcher says.

Translator’s notes: *Red Mi Voz is a digital network that promotes the practice of citizen journalism. **Un Techo Para Mi País is a nonprofit organization that mobilizes youth volunteers to fight extreme poverty in Latin America, by constructing transitional housing and implementing social inclusion programs.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr. Renato Chávez and biochemists Luis Figueroa and Javiera Norambuena were honored at the 5^th Congress of European Microbiologists, in Leipzig (Germany) for their research on bioactive compounds from Antarctic marine sponges, which present a high microbial, antitumor and antioxidant activity.

The study’s innovation and impact and the results shown were the reasons for giving the Best Poster Presentation Award to the study conducted by a team of researchers from Universidad de Santiago and Universidad de Chile in one of the most important events worldwide in the field of Microbiology: the Federation of European Microbiological Societies Congress, FEMS 2013.

The research team is composed of Dr. Renato Chávez, researcher from the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, Universidad de Santiago, and the biochemists Luis Figueroa and Javiera Norambuena, also from Universidad de Santiago, together with other specialists from Universidad de Chile. They conducted the study for three years.

The study is based on the analysis of new bioactive compounds, present in filamentous fungi of Antarctic marine sponges. These compounds show a high microbial, antitumor and antioxidant activity.

Discovering these new species and their properties, supported by the required laboratory research, could lead to potential applications in Biotechnology, especially in the field of Pharmacology.

Regarding the study’s development, biochemist Javiera Norambuena says that, in order to find these bioactive compounds, it was necessary to search poorly explored places, as in those places there are more possibilities of finding non-cultured organisms. “That is the reason why we isolated fungi from Antarctic marine sponges, which usually have chemical compounds containing secondary metabolites; that is to say, they are not required for the organism’s survival, but they give it advantages over other members of the population”, she adds.

Regarding the study’s results, biochemist Luis Figueroa notes, “a high percentage of the isolated fungi could not be identified, which suggested the existence of new genera in the microbial community from Antarctic marine sponges; therefore, we can conclude that the fungi community in the Antarctic marine sponges studied is completely different from the one in common marine sponges.”

“We are on the right track”

Dr. Renato Chávez, researcher and professor of Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, says, “The honor awarded confirms that our work with fungi from Antarctic sponges is of international interest.”

“The award confirms that regarding the study of Antarctic marine eukaryotes (fungi and yeasts), we are on the right track, what encourages us to continue in this line. We are aware that we are dealing with new species that have not been described yet, so describing them is among our next goals. Also, we know that these species produce chemicals with very interesting properties that could be used in the Biotechnology field. As for the students participating, this award is most certainly an incentive for them as young researchers,” Dr. Chávez adds.

The full research team that took part in the poster presentation is made up by undergraduate and graduate students from Faculty of Sciences, Universidad de Chile: Marlene Henríquez, Ivanna Araya, Andrea Beiza and Karen Vergara, while the work presented at the Congress is supported by Fondecyt Project 11090192, conducted by Dr. Inmaculada Vaca, from Universidad de Chile.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

•     Physical Review Letters (PRL) will publish an article about this important development in the control of chemical reactions using quantum optics. In simple terms, Dr Herrera, researcher at Universidad de Santiago, explains that they proved that these reactions or electron transfers can be accelerated or reduced.

At the end of the month, the renowned American journal of Physics, Physical Review Letters (PRL) of the American Physical Society (APS), will publish an important discovery in this field made by Dr Felipe Herrera, professor at the Department of Physics of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, and Dr Francis C. Spano, professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, USA.

The article (“Cavity-controlled chemistry in molecular ensembles”) will highlight the development made by these researchers in the control of chemical reactions by means of quantum physics. In simple terms, Dr Herrera explains that they proved that these reactions or electron transfers can be accelerated or reduced.

Graphically, the model consists of an optical cavity surrounded by two mirrors that do not allow light to go through, “so the amount of energy is the minimum possible in an electromagnetic field. That is to say, there is cero or one unit of light energy, which is also called photon,” Dr Herrera explains.

Dr Herrera remembers that, at a first stage, they asked themselves about “the effects that the optical cavity could have on chemical reactions or electron transfers: if the cavity would accelerate them, suppress them or if nothing would happen at all.”

In this context, the researcher says that they finally “found a mechanism through which this quantum optical cavity can dramatically accelerate the reaction and electron transfer in molecules.”

The basics

With regards to this theoretical discovery, Dr Herrera explains the process: “First, there are two players: the electron that is going to be transferred and the vibration of the molecules that, in a way, affect how this electron is going to be transferred from one place to another. If there is too much vibration, the electron will be disturbed and the transfer will be inefficient.”

“When you add another factor, like the optical cavity, there is a third player: the photon, which will now interact with the electron inside the cavity,” he says.  

“We discovered that quantized light plays a game in which the electron becomes a photon and the photon turns again into an electron and vice versa. The game only occurs inside the cavity and it makes the electron to stop interacting with the vibration, eliminating or blocking vibrations,” he explains. 

With regard to what material inside the cavity accelerates or reduces the electron transfer, Dr Herrera says that they have tested organic materials or organic molecules, like the ones that form the human body. “This organic material could also be a protein, according to the experiments conducted by other researchers that have based their studies on our discovery,” he adds.

Physical Review Letters

The article about this development was first published in the online edition of Physical Review Letters and, at the end of June, it will be published in the print edition. Dr Herrera says this is a great honor for them, as this journal is the most prestigious one in the field of Physics.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Universidad de Santiago’s interdisciplinary research team, led by Dr. Silvia Matiacevich from the Technological Faculty, is focused on developing an edible film that could increase the shelf life of fresh foods by 30%.

Improving the way of preserving foods has been a permanent concern in food industry. This is the reason why packaging is essential for the quality and shelf life of the product. But this packaging should be in harmony with the environment.

In light of this situation, a sustainable alternative for food packaging has been developed: food covering edible films, which are being widely used and have become a world trend nowadays. At Universidad de Santiago, an interdisciplinary research team is trying to replicate this development, giving value added to different national byproducts.

This initiative will be viable thanks to the Associative Dicyt Project called “Bioactive Coatings for Foods”, which gathers together experts from different faculties of the University.

“We will use food industry byproducts which are considered as dispensable or waste material. We are going to give them a value added by adding antioxidant and antimicrobial components to them in order to increase the shelf life of fresh food products,” Dr. Daniel López says.

Academics from three different faculties gathered for this purpose: Dr. Rubén Bustos, from the Faculty of Engineering (Department of Chemical Engineering); Dr. Diego Venegas and Dr. Marlén Gutiérrez, from the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology (Department of Materials Chemistry); and Dr. Daniel López and Dr. Silvia Matiacevich, from the Technological Faculty (Department of Food Science and Technology), being Dr. Matiacevich the leader of the project.

During the two years scheduled for the project, the researchers plan to study the synergistic effect of this combination of products and they expect to increase food shelf life by over 30%.

Interdisciplinarity

Most of the academics related to this project are part of a larger group created by the end of 2013 called Indi, Asociación de Investigadores por el Desarrollo e Interdisciplinariedad of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, a group of researchers that promotes development and interdisciplinarity at the university.

“All of us have participated in some of these initiatives at some point, seeking for this interdisciplinarity. This is how we have met other people and created contacts. What is good is that more than just admiring the work of others, we have the real possibility of conducting studies together. For this reason, we value this type of projects, as they promote the integration and interdisciplinarity that define a university,” Dr. Matiacevich says.

Translated by Marcela Contreras
 

• The candidacy of the renowned electrochemist for the highest scientific award of the country is supported by our University and different associations and representatives of the national and international scientific world.

With the support of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, through its highest authority, President Juan Manuel Zolezzi, the candidacy application of the University’s renowned researcher was submitted last week. He has been recognized by his peers and has been honored by international scientific societies that validate the experience and contributions made by this researcher of the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology.

The National Award is the maximum prize given by the State to acknowledge the work made by Chileans who stand out by their excellence, creativity and significant contribution to culture and the development of different areas of knowledge and the arts.

In the University’s scientific community nobody has been awarded this prize yet; for this reason, Maritza Páez and Jorge Pavez, both academics at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, did not hesitate to promote Doctor José Zagal’s nomination to the National Award of Natural Sciences 2014, who has been honored both in Chile and abroad.

Contribution to education

Jorge Pavez, a researcher, and Maritza Páez, the Director of the Department of Chemistry of Materials of Universidad de Santiago, were both among Dr. Zagal’s students and they highlight his enormous contribution to teaching, as well as his scientific career. At an academic level, they stress the work he has done directing Master’s degree and doctoral dissertations.

“Dr. Zagal’s contribution is notable, because it has positioned Universidad de Santiago and the country in the electrochemistry research world scene,” Dr. Pavez said. He added that Dr. Zagal’s nomination is based on his career throughout these years contributing to this field, both at a scientific and at an educational level, at training new generations.”

Also, professor Pavez said: “His contribution to electrochemistry has gone beyond the country’s borders and the region. Proofs of this are the two international prizes that were awarded to him this year by the world most renowned scientific societies in this field: the Electrochemical Society (ECS), in the United States, and the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE), in Europe, that record the highest-impact publications on electrochemistry.”

In April and June, both societies, ECS and ISE, sent Dr. Zagal letters of recognition appointing him “Fellow”, “for his exceptional contribution to electrochemistry” and “scientific achievements.” The ISE has scheduled its awarding ceremony for September, during its annual meeting in Switzerland, while the ECS has scheduled its ceremony for October, during its bi-annual meeting that will be held in Mexico.

Valuable work

According to the candidate for the National Award of Natural Sciences, this year 2014 has been especially meaningful due to the recognition of his work. On the one hand, he received the recognition of the societies mentioned above, and on the other, he received the support from the University and his peers.

“Curiously, this year I have been honored by two international associations and I think this is important, because they are external organizations that recognize that, at Universidad de Santiago, our work is valuable,” Dr. Zagal said.

In addition, renowned scientists of other universities support him too and so do the editors of noted international publications in which he is part of the editorial board, like the Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry, Electrochemistry Communications, International Journal of Electrochemistry, Electrocatalysis, International Journal of Biotechnology & Biochemistry, ISRN Electrochemistry, Electrochemistry Communications, Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society and Electrochemical Energy Technology.

At present, Dr. Zagal is working in two lines of research at Universidad de Santiago: The development of electrodes for energy conversion systems and the development of sensors for detecting substances in fluids.

“There are prominent scientists at our University, but none of them has been honored with a National Award and I believe that sometime one of them should be awarded a prize like this; this would be very important for the prestige of our University, because it is one of the universities that conducts more research in Chile,” Dr. Zagal said.

The jury that will decide on the National Award 2014 (according to Law 19.169) is made up by the Minister of Education, Nicolás Eyzaguirre; the President of Universidad de Chile, Ennio Vivaldi; the President of the Chilean Academy of Science of Instituto Chile, Juan Alfonso Asenjo; the President of Universidad de Antofagasta (on behalf of the CRUCH), Alberto Loyola Morales; and the previous award winner (2012), Bernabé Santelices González

Translated by Marcela Contreras