RAKIDUAM - Knowledge

4 174 years ago, in the recently created Republic of Chile, La Casa de Bello took on the responsibility for helping to form the identity of a nation from the public and state vocation that gave rise to it. The Universidad de Chile has met the challenges it has been presented, during essential historical events during history. A few examples of meeting challenges are organizing the national educa- tion system; contributing to the creation of the public healthcare system; progress towards overcoming child malnutrition; promoting the construction of productive infrastructure, and developing the country’s anti-seismic engineering. These examples are only a few of the con- tributions made and that have become important cor- nerstones of the national development. The quality of our commitment is manifest in the awards and senior positions obtained by its graduates and aca- demics: two Nobel Prizes in Literature, 20 Presidents of the Republic and over 170 National Awards in all areas of knowledge. Today, our responsibility is the same: to culti- vate science with a marked sense of what is public, orientating scientific research towards the paradigm of sustainable development, based on the excellence of its researchers and the relevance of their projects. Our objective is a state university that conducts research projects with a transdisciplinary focus, in frank collabora- tion with other regional public institutions, addressing global problems from a local perspective. Prof. Ennio Vivaldi Véjar Rector of the Universidad de Chile Words of our Authorities