In this context, it was highlighted the diplomat’s willingness and his interest in developing relations with Chilean public universities, particularly in regions, and, fundamentally, with the Universidad de Los Lagos.

The Ambassador, Roland Dubertrand, stated that “I am visiting Osorno and I know that Universidad de Los Lagos is an important actor and partner of the Alliance Française in Osorno, because there are French language courses that are taught between this organization at the university and also, the French Embassy has the cooperation service” and adds that “we have a very strong and very diverse cooperation with the university. So I wanted to see this and find those responsible for the house of studies to further strengthen this university cooperation, because the university works with many French universities and participates in our research and scholarship programs,” he said.

Internationalization

In turn, the host on behalf of the ULagos was the vice-rector for Research and Postgraduate, Patrick Puigmal, who said that the visit of the French ambassador to the university, “is part of the internationalization policy of the university, since we have started for some years French courses for postgraduate students who are in programs that have cooperation agreements with French universities. Therefore, we have been able to send our students to finish their master’s degree at the University of Reims, France, with a double degree. A no less plus for a student, “emphasized the university authority.

And added the Doctor in History, that the visit responds to the “elaboration of common research projects, between French universities and our university. There are a number of concrete actions, for example, obtaining scholarships for postgraduate students who could do an internship in France. There are tools that the embassy has and that can be very useful in our internationalization policy,” he said.

The French ambassador, continued Patrick Puigmal, has had a great willingness and interest in developing relations with Chilean public universities, particularly in the regions. “There are, for example, research topics, which have to do with comparative research of something that is being done in Chile, for example, the beginning of decentralization, what has been applied in France for almost 40 years, therefore a student could spend 3 to 4 months in French universities, study this topic and share his experience with his classmates, and, in addition, to publish scientific articles on this subject,” he said.

Research

Sandra Ríos, Director of Research at ULagos, highlighted the importance of generating these institutional spaces between the University of Los Lagos and the French Embassy, from the point of view of research, to improve networks of linkage and mobility between academics and researchers with the aim of developing binational research projects. For this reason, “the main objective from the research is to be able to improve our internationalization indicators, oriented to the priority areas, especially everything that has to do with agri-food systems and everything that France means in the production of wines” and adds that “there is also the link of the wine sector with the agronomy career and everything related to social sciences. We believe that in social sciences and humanities, through our graduate program, we can greatly improve quality through this France-University of Los Lagos link,” she said.

The ambassador is very willing, added the university authority, “to generate this type of alliance. We explained that as a regional university, we wanted to design our own instruments of the ULagos with the French Embassy, mainly because through Conicyt, the resources are concentrated in Santiago, and these resources are preferably accessed by universities in the center of the country, therefore, regional universities like ours, which have the opportunity to have the ambassador and prospect research opportunities, It’s very important,” she said.

Cooperation.

Andrea Bruccoleri, Executive Director of the Alianza Francesa in Osorno, indicated that it is an important moment, “an honor, to have the visit of the Ambassador of France. There are ties between Universidad de Los Lagos and France that are very old.  There is exceptional work that was done in the whole field of university cooperation. There are many agreements signed between the ULagos and French-speaking universities and, with regard to the collaboration with the Alliance Française in Osorno, we already have 3 collaboration agreements that seek to promote the learning of the French language and also the cultural field, which allow the joint development of quality projects that are aimed at the entire student community”, Assured.

Ceder

The sociologist and researcher of Ceder and Academic Director of the Santiago headquarters of the ULagos, Daniella Gac, also participated in the meeting, which she described as “very important, not only in my role as academic director, but as a researcher of Ceder, since there are a series of experiences that have allowed us to develop a joint work, especially in territorial issues and mainly in my topic of interest that is wine. I work on the impact of the wine industry on social territorial configurations and social inclusion,” she said.

The idea, added the researcher, is to be able to continue working with researchers from France, since “I have done internships in Bordeaux, in which in some way, we have tried to do studies compared with the reality and the denomination of origin, also of the wine industry,” she said.

History

Marcel Thezá, Director of the Santiago branch of the ULagos, commented that it was a “very significant meeting, because it places in a context of value, the academic links of much history that Chile and France have had. I know that today we are very marked by the importance of the United States, for example, in terms of academic relations, but if one analyzes historically, Chile’s closest ties were with European countries and particularly with France,” he said.

“We in Santiago had the opportunity to invite the Ambassador of France to the exhibition of the academic year and, precisely, in his exhibition, he gave an account of the rich history, of relations between Chile and this country, in the cultural and academic field” and adds that “from that perspective, I would say that the gravitating thing for our university, is to recognize that history and try to project it into time, starting from what is the Universidad de Los Lagos; a public, regional university that has specific challenges on several campuses and we think that France is a good ‘colleague’ is a good academic friend who can help us to carry out that process in an appropriate way,” he said.

Frontiers

The Director of Post-Graduate of the ULagos, Gonzalo Miranda, analyzed the visit of the French diplomat and explained that the fact “that we are a regional university, does not mean that we have to lock in and develop what we do only at the local level. On the contrary, the meaning and relevance of what we do crosses borders. In the case of postgraduate studies in particular, it is very important for us to offer alternatives of internationalization, generate exchange and also give possibilities for our students to come out and know another reality, other professors, other experiences, other references, that is why this meeting is so interesting together with the ambassador of France”, he concluded.