The University of Santiago, Chile (Usach) proudly announces that Dr. José Zagal, a distinguished professor in its Faculty of Chemistry and Biology and recipient of the 2024 National Prize for Natural Sciences, is among the fifteen finalists for the 2025 Global Energy Prize. This prominent international award sees Dr. Zagal as the only Latin American representative at this stage of the competition.
Attendees were welcomed by the Vice-Rector for Research, Innovation, and Creation at Usach, Dr. Alberto Monsalve; the Director of Cedenna, Dr. Juliano Casagrande; and the Executive Director of the Cedenna Foundation, Dr. Dora Altbir. They were joined by the Head of the Science and Society Division of the Ministry of Science, Pablo Brugnoli, representing the government.
A closing event marked the conclusion of the Fondef project, “Development of a new bactericide based on lytic bacteriophages for the biological control of bacterial canker in cherry trees and bacterial spot in tomatoes, diseases caused by Pseudomonas syringae.” Progress and results were presented at the gathering.
This initiative was led by Dr. Antonio Castillo Nara, a professor in the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology. Dr. Andrea Mahn Osses, professor and acting dean of the Faculty of Engineering, served as the project’s alternate director.
A new interdisciplinary project between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Universidad de Santiago de Chile (Usach) was awarded the MIT Global Seed Fund. This project, entitled “AI Applications for Understanding Planet Formation Dynamics”, aims to advance the analysis of astronomical data using artificial intelligence techniques.