Facultad de Química y Biología

Since mid-April, Danilo Átila, a master’s student in Food Science and Technology at the Federal University of Goiás (Brazil), has been doing a research internship at the Polymer Laboratory of the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, under the guidance of Dr. Paula Zapata, thanks to full funding from his university.

As a guest student until September, his time at Usach is part of his master’s program in Chemistry. He chose Usach due to the prestige and proven track record of both the university and the academic overseeing his work in Chile.

A group of students and academics from Arturo Prat University conducted a research stay as part of the FOVI 240220 project, “Applications of Advanced Materials in Sustainable Renewable Energy and Innovations in Water Treatment: a collaboration between Arturo Prat University (UNAP), the University of Santiago de Chile (Usach), and the University of Saskatchewan (Canada).

To advance scientific collaboration between Brazil and Chile, Dr. Robinson Cruz, Research Manager at Brazil’s Hercílio Randon Institute (IHR), visited the Electroceramic Materials Laboratory at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, led by Dr. Domingo Ruiz.

For over a century, optical microscopy was bound by a seemingly unbreakable law: Ernst Abbe’s diffraction limit. Formulated in 1873, this principle dictated that no microscope could resolve details smaller than half the wavelength of light—roughly 200 nanometers. This "physical barrier" effectively veiled the finest inner workings of the cell from human sight.

The Second International AlQui (Alginate-Chitosan) Workshop, held at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology during the last week of May, brought together the public sector and scientific researchers currently working in the field.

In Chile, various bodies of water, such as the Mapocho River, receive agricultural and industrial waste, including organochlorine pesticides, chemical compounds used for pest control but which accumulate in the environment and affect health and biodiversity.

The Annual Congress of the Pharmacological Society is a space whose purpose is to promote scientific exchange, update evidence, and foster collaborations that drive research in pharmacology.

In this context, and before the closing conference, the event organizers decided to recognize Dr. Juan Pablo García Huidobro, an academic from the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, for his role in training undergraduate and graduate students, his career as a researcher, “and above all for his influence on many academics who now belong to the Pharmacological Society.”

Driven by high international demand, Chilean fruit growing has expanded steadily in recent decades. To maintain competitiveness, the sector has adopted intensive practices like higher planting density, aggressive pruning, and heavy fertilizer use.

Unfortunately, these practices have led to an increase in phytopathogenic fungal diseases, especially those affecting fruit tree wood. Such infections weaken the trees’ structure and significantly diminish their productivity.

Lactose, a natural carbohydrate abundant and inexpensive in mammalian milk, is a widely used sugar in the food industry. However, its high incidence of intolerance in a large part of the population limits its use. This widespread intolerance leads to global surpluses with few industrial applications and significant accumulation issues.

The Diploma in Artificial Intelligence Applied to Education offered by the University of Santiago is designed to provide up-to-date training on artificial intelligence, contextualized to the Chilean reality and consistent with the guiding principles of international organizations such as UNESCO and the OECD in the field of education.