Just a few meters from the chaotic flow of students coming and going at the Universidad de Santiago metro station, there is a corner of the campus that seems to move at a different pace.
Driven by its rich biological and genetic diversity, Chile is positioned to become a standout global producer of distinct, high-quality whiskies. To advance this emerging industry, the University of Santiago de Chile (Usach) is driving sustainable, biodiversity-led innovation through the R&D project “Development of Hybrid Yeasts of National Origin for Whisky Production.”
As 5G networks expand and the number of connected IoT devices surges, the telecommunications industry faces unprecedented challenges in keeping up with rapid market demands.
The National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) announced the results of the Fondef IDeA R&D 2026 competition, which received a total of 871 applications and awarded funding to 102 projects, representing 11.71% of the initiatives submitted.
Since Chile's 1990 return to democracy, the relationship between big business and politics has been a defining factor in shaping state policy. Chilean business groups expanded their financial power and political influence through campaign financing, business associations, and the revolving door between public and private sectors.
A critical global public health problem is the rise of multidrug-resistant pathogens. In Chile, this crisis increases patient mortality rates by 42% due to a critical shortage of effective medical treatments.
This crisis, which incurs a significant public health system cost, is being tackled by the Biomaterials Chemistry Laboratory at the Usach Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, where researchers have spent four years designing a clinical dressing to treat chronic infected wounds.
The presentation of the scope and expected results marked the launch event for the Fondef project “Scaling Up the Dynamic Vibration Absorber System Applied to the Mitigation of Noise Induced by Railroad Tracks,” which is being developed by the University of Santiago de Chile (Usach).
Traditionally limited to recreational use or audiovisual recording, drones have now seen widespread adoption across diverse industrial sectors. According to the UAV Drones Market Size 2025 report, this integration is driven by a 49% increase in agricultural applications and a 41% rise in demand for industrial inspections. These unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are now critical assets, providing access to hazardous environments, reducing personnel risk, and executing high-speed monitoring and exploration tasks.
For over a century, physics studies have sought to decode the fundamental laws governing the universe, from subatomic particles to the vast structures of space-time. Central to this effort is quantum mechanics, which reveals that matter follows non-intuitive rules determining physical phenomena.
With the project “Enhancing biohydrogen production from winery wastewater through dark fermentation using iron-based residues,” Dr. Yeney Lauzurique, from the USACH Department of Chemical Engineering and Bioprocesses, was awarded a prestigious Fondecyt Iniciación 2026 grant. This achievement reinforces the Faculty of Engineering’s leadership in sustainable research and innovative chemical engineering solutions.