UC, Notre Dame and Luksic Scholars: 10 years of institutional collaboration

En la foto aparecen de izquierda a derecha: Rector de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Sr. Ignacio Sánchez, Directora Ejecutiva de la Fundación Luksic Scholars, Sra. Isabella Luksic, y Vicerrector de Internacionalización de la Universidad de Notre Dame, Sr. Michael Pippenger.

In 2013 , “The Faculty Luksic Exchange Grants ” was inaugurated, an initiative supported by the Luksic Scholars Foundation that aims to strengthen the exchange of researchers, professors and administrators between the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and the University of Notre Dame du Lac in the United States.

After ten years of bilateral exchange between the two institutions, benefiting more than 170 students, the relationship between the two universities has strengthened. Today, both universities include internationalization as a key objective in their development plans, sharing a commitment to fostering global competencies in their students and the collaborative dissemination of knowledge and innovation. This partnership has resulted in the creation of the “ND-UC Chile Luksic Scholars Joint Research Awards,” a research competition designed to encourage collaborative research across all fields of knowledge.

10th Anniversary Celebration

After a decade of working together, members of the University of Notre Dame and the Catholic University who were part of the scholarship program met in Chile with representatives of the Luksic Foundation to share the achievements and results that the program has had in both universities, such as collaborations and research in various areas such as philosophy, engineering, mathematics, arts and humanities.

Regarding this collaboration and the relationship that exists today between both universities, Michael Pippenger, Vice President and Vice Chancellor for Internationalization at the University of Notre Dame, stated:

“We are very pleased with what has been achieved with this program. Thanks to the Luksic Scholars Foundation for planting this seed, which has meant that today we are very close strategic partners with the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. We truly feel that in the future this bond can only grow stronger, since the relationship with Chile is a very important exchange for us.”

For his part, the Rector of UC, Ignacio Sánchez, highlighted the importance of encouraging internationalization in higher education:

“As a university, we are committed to continuing to build strong relationships with universities and research centers around the world. This program marked the beginning of a very fruitful collaboration that has benefited academics, administrators, and especially our students. We believe we need to foster global skills to meet global challenges, and internationalization opens up opportunities in that direction.”

Internationalization in Higher Education

As part of the 10th anniversary of this alliance, the meeting “Internationalization in Higher Education Institutions: reflections on the effects and impact of strategic collaborations at the institutional level” was held on December 17 at the Central House of the Pontifical Catholic University.

The meeting focused on discussing the various challenges involved in establishing a vice-rectorate for international affairs, international collaboration in research, and the impact of inclusive and sustainable student mobility.

Given the large turnout and the participation of the three institutions, the Vice-Rector of International Affairs, Lilian Ferrer, stated the following:

“Our challenge has been to imprint the mark of internationalization on our broad work as a University, in research, teaching, and public engagement. In this endeavor, the alliances with our strategic partners have been tremendously beneficial; with this, I want to emphasize the importance of collaboration between foundations and academia to train and attract talent that generates the knowledge necessary to address the challenges we face as a society.”

The event was open to the public and featured panelists from both universities: Vice-Chancellor Lilian Ferrer (UC); Vice-Chancellor Michael Pippenger (ND); Domingo Mery (UC), Rob Nerenberg (ND), Cristian Diaz Castro (UC), Hong Zhu (ND) and Steve Reifenberg (ND), among others.