Investigación

Just a few years ago, electric vehicles felt like a futuristic promise. Today, they are a global reality, and Chile is rapidly adopting them—most recently evidenced by Copiapó becoming the country's first city with a 100% electric public transport system. While this technology represents a vital, cleaner alternative to traditional fuel, this shift to electromobility simultaneously creates new, complex environmental challenges that current systems are not yet equipped to handle.

Researchers from the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology successfully designed a pyridinium salt molecule that is critical for molecular electronics. The molecule's key feature is its ability to perform reversible electrical switching even when immobilized on a surface.

Chile is actively positioning itself as a global leader in green hydrogen production and export, a clean fuel that is essential for national decarbonization and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. 

Thanks to its vast solar and wind energy potential, Chile is well-positioned to produce green hydrogen via water electrolysis. In this process, electricity from renewable sources such as solar panels or wind turbines is used to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, producing a fuel that only emits water vapor as a waste product.

Through the Corfo "Crea y Valida" (Create and Validate) program, a high-impact collaboration between Usach’s Faculty of Medical Sciences, Cedenna, and Clínica Pasteur is advancing. This pioneering Chilean project focuses on the laboratory cultivation of corneal limbal stem cells—pluripotent-like cells capable of regenerating the ocular surface in patients suffering from severe corneal blindness.

Dr. Jorge Castillo-Sepúlveda, academic at the FAHU School of Psychology and Vice Dean of Research and Postgraduate Studies, together with Jhonathan Castro Pino, are leading the cutting-edge project entitled "Towards a river biopolitics: a case study of hydroelectricity from Itaipú," funded by the Usach Office for Scientific and Technological Research through its 2025 competition.

Open science has firmly established itself as one of the most significant transformations in the global scientific system. It actively promotes the accessibility, reusability, and transparency of publicly funded research results, greatly strengthening academic collaboration and the democratization of knowledge.

Currently, this essential vision has been promoted by the National Research and Development Agency (ANID) through its Open Access Policy, which seeks to have all Chilean universities make their research publications available in interoperable repositories.

On the morning of Tuesday, November 4, the hybrid seminar “Strategies for Improving the Diet of Older Adults” was held at the Center for Postgraduate Studies and Continuing Education at the University of Santiago, Chile (USACH). The event brought together food science researchers, students, and professionals in the field of geriatric nutrition to address the critical challenges associated with improving nutrition and eating habits in older adults.

When we activate a cell phone screen, an LED flashlight, or a device that glows in the dark, the microscopic event is light emission or luminescence. This phenomenon occurs when a material absorbs energy, exciting its electrons. When these electrons return to their ground state, they release that absorbed energy, which is then transformed into light.

Renewable energy is a necessity in the face of climate change, as industries and communities are increasingly adopting clean sources, such as solar and wind power. However, a major challenge is their intermittency; the sun does not always shine, and the wind does not always blow. This variability creates a gap between when energy is generated and when it's consumed, making it difficult to use its full potential.

Two R&D initiatives proposed by the University of Santiago, Chile, were awarded the 2025 Technology Centers for Innovation Competition, organized by ANID, in which six proposals were selected nationwide.
The call for proposals funds the creation and strengthening of technology centers for innovation, with a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach, aimed at addressing challenges in the country's productive sectors. The aim is to contribute to sustainable development and strengthen the national ecosystem of science, technology, knowledge, and innovation (CTKI).