Austral University of Chile facts for kids

Entrance to Austral University of Chile's botanical garden

The Austral University of Chile (known as Spanish: Universidad Austral de Chile or UACh) is a famous research university in Chile. Its main campus is in Valdivia, but it also has smaller campuses in Puerto Montt and Coyhaique.

The university was started on September 7, 1954. It is one of the eight original Chilean Traditional Universities. UACh is a non-profit university that gets a lot of money from the government.

History of UACh

How the University Started (1942-1968)

In 1942, a group called the Sociedad de Amigos del Arte (Society of Friends of Art) was formed in Valdivia. They wanted to promote culture and, most importantly, create a university in the city.

In the 1950s, Carlos Acharán Pérez de Arce, a senator from Valdivia, suggested the idea of a university to the national congress. He worked hard to make this dream come true.

On February 16, 1954, supporters of the university project met. They chose Eduardo Morales Miranda to lead their efforts. The university was first built with money donated by private people and some business owners.

The university officially opened on September 7, 1954. The president of Chile, Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, opened it on March 12, 1955. Important people like the leaders of other universities and ambassadors from different countries were there.

The first subjects taught at UACh were fine arts, farming (called agronomy), forestry engineering (about managing forests), and veterinary medicine (animal health). Each subject had its own department, called a faculty.

On June 3, 1968, UACh became independent from the University of Chile. This meant UACh could now decide its own study plans and programs. It no longer needed permission from the University of Chile.

Growing Stronger (1969-1999)

One of the "A"-houses of Universidad Austral near Valdivia River in Isla Teja Campus

In the 1980s, during a time when many universities became private, UACh took over a local school called Instituto Profesional de Valdivia. This helped UACh grow and offer new subjects.

By doing this, UACh stopped a new university from being created in Valdivia. The Instituto Profesional de Valdivia became what is now the 'Campus Miraflores'. This addition allowed UACh to start offering bachelor degrees in engineering. It also created its Engineering Faculty.

In 1993, the university held the Valdivia International Film Festival for the first time. This celebrated 30 years of its Cine Club. The festival has since become one of the most important film festivals in Chile.

Recent Times (2000-Present)

In 2007, a big fire broke out at the Emilio Pugín building on the Teja Island Campus. This building belonged to the Faculty of Sciences. It held many chemicals and scientific tools, which were all lost.

Many research projects had to stop because equipment, samples, and data were destroyed. The fire created toxic smoke, so the police had to move about 10,000 people away from Isla Teja. Firefighters from nearby cities came to help put out the fire.

The building housed important departments like chemistry, physics, zoology, microbiology, and botany. The damage cost about 5000 million Chilean pesos (around 10 million US dollars). The Chilean government helped pay for the damage that insurance did not cover.

Edificio Nahmias (left) and adjacent Serpentina (right) in Uach's Isla Teja campus

On May 13, 2008, the students of UACh went on strike. They felt that the university had not properly answered their requests. The strike and student occupation of the university ended in late June. The university leader, Rector Victor Cubillos, agreed to many of the students' demands.

In April 2010, work began to rebuild the Emilio Pugin building.

UACh Campuses

UACh's main campus is the Isla Teja Campus. It covers the whole northwest part of Isla Teja in Valdivia. This campus is where the university's main offices are. It also has the Cine Club, a beautiful botanical garden, and most of the university's departments.

The botanical garden is a fun place to visit and also a place for study. It has about 950 different types of plants on its 12 hectares. Most of the plants are from the Valdivian temperate rain forest, but some are from other parts of the world. The Cau-Cau River flows through the garden, allowing for a section of wetland plants.

The engineering department is located at Campus Miraflores. This campus is along the Valdivia River, south of Valdivia's main square.

There is also a third campus in Puerto Montt. Here, students can study business administration, speech and language pathology, and aquaculture (raising aquatic animals and plants).

UACh owns other properties in the Los Ríos and Los Lagos Region. These include Parque Arboretum on northern Isla Teja, the Calfuco field station near Niebla, and the forests of San Pablo de Tregua in the Andes mountains. A smaller campus called Campus Patagonia is in Coyhaique.

Research at UACh

Faculty of UACh in the forests of San Pablo de Tregua

UACh is one of Chile's top universities for scientific research. It was ranked second in scientific research by El Mercurio newspaper. It also received the third most government funding for research in 2008. Here are some areas where UACh scientists have made important discoveries:

• Archaeology: In archeology, university scientist Tom Dillehay led digs at Monte Verde. This is one of the oldest archaeological sites in the Americas. Another site studied by UACh scientists is Chan-Chan.

• Dendrochronology: Scientists at UACh's Dendrochronology Laboratory have created the longest tree-ring timeline in the Southern Hemisphere. It goes back 5666 years! Researchers have also used tree rings from Fitzroya trees to figure out temperatures over the last 3622 years. They also use tree rings to study global warming.

• Mapudungun Language: UACh is a key place for studying and teaching the Mapudungun language. This is partly thanks to Professor María Catrileo Chiguailaf. She won an award in 2009 for her studies of the language. Her work focuses on how Mapudungun sounds and how its words are put together.

• Palaeontology: Palaeontological studies in Southern Chile involve several UACh experts. One is geoarchaeologist Mario Pino. He helped dig at the Quaternary fossil site of Pilauco Bajo in Osorno. Here, they found the bones of a type of elephant-like animal called Gomphotherium.

• Virology: Researchers from the medical and science departments have worked together to study Hantavirus. They look at how this virus spreads between rodents and humans. Hantavirus was first found in Chile in 1995. UACh scientists have helped lower the death rate from Pulmonar Hantavirus in the Los Ríos Region.

UACh Museum Network

The Austral University of Chile manages several museums in Valdivia and southern Chile. These are run by its museology department. Some of these museums include:

• UACh's Contemporary Art Museum
• Philippi Museum (about 19th-century exploration of southern Chile)
• Maurice van de Maele Museum (about history and anthropology)

The museology department has collections of old objects made by native people. These include early pottery, Mapuche silverwork, and textiles. There is also a collection of items from the ancient human settlement of Monte Verde. Other collections include 19th-century clothes and toys, and many old photographs from 1850 onwards.

University Rankings

Centro de Educación continua building in downtown Valdivia

In a 2011 university ranking by Quacquarelli Symonds, the Austral University of Chile was ranked 30th among all universities in Latin America. It was 5th among Chilean universities. It was also the second-best university in Chile outside of Santiago.

In El Mercurio's 2006 ranking of the "Best Universities in the Country," UACh got the highest score for "teaching quality" among all Chilean universities. The same article also said UACh was second only to the University of Chile in research quality. Overall, UACh was ranked third among Chilean universities. Since the top two universities are in Santiago, UACh became the highest-ranked university in Chile outside the capital city.

In the 2009 Chilean university ranking by AméricaEconomía magazine, UACh was ranked 7th overall. It was 4th among universities outside Santiago. In specific undergraduate programs, nursing was ranked 3rd, medicine and agronomy were 4th, and law was 7th.

See also

In Spanish: Universidad Austral de Chile para niños