A new organisation will see greater research collaboration between The University of Nottingham and Chile.
The University of Nottingham Chile Fundacion represents a major advance in the University's engagement in both Chile and the Latin American region and gives a legal status to research carried out in the country.
It will also enable the University to play a more active role in the country's research and knowledge transfer activities.
The opening of the Fundacion marks the culmination of a process that began several years ago, spearheaded by members of Nottingham's Power, Electronics, Machines and Control (PEMC) research group and the Faculty of Engineering's then director for internationalization, Professor Greg Asher.
Leading Chilean researchers are already working with PEMC to deliver a number of dual degree programmes at MSc and PhD level.
Professor Pat Wheeler, the Fundacion's first Executive Director, said: “This represents a landmark moment in our relations with Chile, which stretch back over 25 years.”
Jose Rodriguez, Rector of Universidad de AB, Chile, said: “This is great news for the continued research collaboration success story in Power Electronics and Electrical Engineering between Chilean researchers and the team at the University of Nottingham.
“We are looking forward to working with the team in the future on a number of exciting projects.”
The University of Nottingham is already one of Britain's most active universities in Chile, boasting on-going collaborations with over a dozen Chilean universities and research institutions, across an increasingly wide range of disciplinary areas.
These include an EU-financed programme on 'Lessons in Democracy for Europe from Argentina and Chile' and a number of projects funded through the UK-Chile Newton-Picarte Fund.
Neville Wylie, Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement (Americas), said: “I am delighted to see the Fundacion come into being, and am grateful for the assistance we received from the Chilean embassy in London in bringing this about.
"Our collaborations in Chile are hugely important for our global footprint and the Fundacion will help us take our relationship with this important country to a new level.”
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with a “distinct” approach to internationalisation, which rests on those full-scale campuses in China and Malaysia, as well as a large presence in its home city.’ (Times Good University Guide 2016). It is also one of the most popular universities in the UK among graduate employers and was named University of the Year for Graduate Employment in the 2017 The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide. It is ranked in the world’s top 75 by the QS World University Rankings 2015/16, and 8th in the UK for research power according to the Research Excellence Framework 2014. It has been voted the world’s greenest campus for four years running, according to Greenmetrics Ranking of World Universities.
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