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Unique in Maule: UCM Was Awarded a New Research Fund for Universities

abril 29, 2025

The recently created grant will support a project that enables the institution to articulate its research more effectively with regional priorities.

The project that the Universidad Católica del Maule (UCM) was awarded in the first call for a new research fund for higher education institutions will last nine months.

It is a program that rethinks the way in which the State invests in science and knowledge, moving from a system of “project to project” to one that recognizes scientific work as a permanent activity.

In regime, the Research Fund for Universities (FIU) will grant close to 80 billion pesos annually, at the national level.

“This first stage will allow our university to generate a diagnosis of its situation and a research and innovation development plan, to then implement those plans in a second stage, which involves longer processes of up to 10 years,” said the director of the initiative, Francisco Letelier, who heads the only proposal from the region that will receive FIU resources, in the territorial line.

«In the last decade, UCM has made an important leap in terms of research volume, a quantitative leap in the production of high-impact scientific articles, in the number of doctoral programs and in the creation of research centers, also advancing in research policies and in the creation of new research centers. also advancing in institutional policies and regulations that promote research and the relationship with the environment. However, there is still a gap between the knowledge produced and the regional problems», emphasized the academic from the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences of the university.

How will work

The program, which highlights the public function of universities, will be implemented in two modalities: FIU Territorial and FIU Frontier. In its initial phase, the FIU will have a budget of 2 billion pesos, in accordance with the commitment made by the government in the last Public Account, approaching the goal of achieving an investment of 1% of GDP in R+D+i. “Combining competitive funding for excellence and structural funding, is what has allowed many countries to achieve the growth we expect in this area,” explained the Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, Aisén Etcheverry, at the launch of the call in September 2024.

«The university develops a set of research lines and we have to define which of them need to be enhanced to make a more substantive contribution to the problems and challenges of the region.

A key instrument for guiding research is the Regional Development Strategy 2042, which is a very powerful strategy, very well done, with a great process of citizen participation, and therefore has legitimacy as a policy guide,» said Letelier, who also holds a doctorate in Geography, Territorial Planning and Environment.

The project, entitled “UCM Roots: R&D&I that consolidates and expands from the heart of Maule”, will start next March.

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