Chile

Political framework for bilateral cooperation in research and education

The 1970 intergovernmental agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Chile forms the basis of scientific and technological (S&T) cooperation between the two countries. However, due to the political situation between the overthrow of the Allende government in January 1973 and the democratic election of President Aylwin in December 1989, this framework agreement only existed on paper for many years. The joint steering body in charge of S&T cooperation between the two countries is the Joint STC Commission, which first met in Chile in September 1999 and determined a joint action programme to breathe new life into S&T cooperation.

President Michelle Bachelet, who has been in office since 2006, has made it one of the priorities of her presidency to support research in Chile. In her government programme, she plans to increase investment in research and development in order to increase the country's competitiveness. The Chilean government aims to intensify its cooperation with Germany.

Chile is expanding its S&T cooperation with the EU, as well. An agreement on scientific and technological cooperation was signed in September 2002. To date, the key areas of cooperation have been

• biotechnology and health,
• information technology,
• food safety,
• sustainable growth, and
• climate protection.

Chile's economy has been experiencing a boom since 2004. In 2007, GDP increased by 5.2% and is expected to continue to rise in coming years, according to the German Office for Foreign Trade (bfai). This development is attracting numerous German and European investors.

Key areas of German-Chilean cooperation

In collaboration with its international partners, Chile is engaged in efforts to explore outer space and find out more about the Antarctic continent. The BMBF, together with numerous European and non-European partners, provides funding for the construction and operation of efficient large-scale research equipment such as telescopes and research satellites, which have provided significant research results relating, inter alia, to the development and origins of the universe, our understanding of galaxies and massive black holes, and the emergence of stars and planets. In a new research initiative, the Helmholtz association is developing a research plan under the heading Risk Habitat Megacity. The aim of this research endeavour is to develop strategies for sustainable urban development in Latin-American urban areas, focusing on overcoming the ecological, social, and economic risks of mega-urbanization. The first case study will be Santiago de Chile. Currently, researchers from five Helmholtz research centres, partner organizations from Chile, and UN-CEPAL are involved. In total, there are three programmes relating to megacities, which complement each other (HGF, DFG, BMBF). Plans to bundle these into a national initiative for research on megacities are currently underway.

A highlight of bilateral cooperation

In the area of university collaborations, the contacts between the German University Rectors' Conference (HRK) and the Chilean partner organization CHRUCH deserve special mention. After an equivalency agreement was signed in 1999 and supplemented by an agreement on consecutive study courses - the first of its kind - in 2000, the University Rectors' Conference concluded the first cotutelle (double doctoral degree scheme) agreement in Punta Arenas in 2002. It regulates the procedure for doctoral theses that are supervised in two different countries. The University Rectors' Conference currently has 75 contractual relationships between German and Chilean universities on its records. This makes Chile one of the most important Latin-American partners for German universities.

The Chilean foreign minister Dr Alejandro Foxley and the German Federal Minister of Education and Research Dr Annette Schavan both welcomed the initiative to increase cooperation in the area of Antarctic research. Accordingly, an agreement on closer cooperation between the Alfred Wegener Institute and the Chilean Antarctic Institute was concluded in April 2006.

Funding for collaborations with Chile

Bilateral scientific and technological cooperation with Chile has continually evolved thanks to the joint calls for proposals that have been published annually since 1999. The funding is provided jointly with CONICYT, the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica) and is handled by the BMBF's International Bureau.

The current key areas of S&T Cooperation are (1) biotechnology (particularly nutritional science), (2) basic research on renewable energies, (3) the sustainable use of natural resources, (4) environmental sciences and (5) marine and polar research.