Announcement

Joint Committee ESO–Chile funds awarded

3 December 2020

To strengthen its cooperation with Chile, ESO provides and manages an annual fund that awards projects dedicated to the development of science research, technology and education in astronomy. The Joint Committee ESO–Chile 2020 has now selected 15 projects fitting these criteria, awarding a total of 460 million Chilean pesos (about €500 000).

The funds will support postdoctoral programmes in astronomy at Chilean academic institutions, scientific visits for researchers, academic faculty positions, the construction of technological systems for astronomy, as well as educational programmes for the teaching and dissemination of astronomy.

Created in 1996, the Joint Committee ESO–Chile brings together representatives of ESO and the Chilean Government, through the Energy, Science and Technology & Innovation Division (DECYTI) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREL), and with the participation of the Chilean National Agency for Research and Development (ANID), and the Chilean Astronomical Society (SOCHIAS).

The Joint Committee ESO–Chile has made a sustained contribution to the development of astronomy and the associated technological disciplines in the country through competitive funds. The Committee evaluates yearly proposals that are granted both to public and private academic institutions, as well as to related institutions throughout the Chilean national territory.

The proposals awarded in 2020 are:

Name of Proposal	Principal Investigator	Institution
Extragalactic astronomy in Valparaíso: entering the era of big data	María Argudo-Fernández / Yara Jaffé	Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso / Universidad de Valparaíso
Disentangling the past and present of the Universe with the mappers in this decade	Iván Lacerna	Universidad de Atacama
The origin of magnetic white dwarfs in close binary stars	Matthias R. Schreiber	Universidad Técnica Federico Santa Maria
Exhaustive study of the protoplanetary environments and search for circumplanetary disks	Alice Zurlo	Universidad Diego Portales
Using wide binaries with polluted white dwarfs to constrain the rocky compositions of exoplanets	Paula Jofré	Universidad Diego Portales
New Hope for Characterizing Dark Matter in Dwarf Galaxies	Julio Chanamé Domínguez	Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
The Galaxy Nature-Nurture Problem Across Mass and Time	Julie Nantais	Universidad Andrés Bello
Postdoctoral position on Circumgalactic Medium research	Sebastián López	Universidad de Chile
Support for a Faculty Position at the new Astrophysics group of Universidad Adolfo Ibanez	Andrés Jordán	Universidad Adolfo Ibañez
Talleres de Astronomía y Física para Residencias Familiares del Sename en la Región de Valparaíso	Catalina Arcos	Universidad de Valparaíso
Astro-Theatre: Un viaje al Universo del Principito	Patricia Arévalo	Universidad de Valparaíso
A Virtual Museum of Time: The history of astronomy at the Region of Valparaiso	Eduardo Ibar Plasser	Universidad de Valparaíso
Breaking the Barriers II	María Fernanda Durán	Sociedad Chilena de Astronomía (SOCHIAS)
Concentrating Solar Power Plants as Radio Telescopes: Characterization and Feasibility Study	Walter Max-Moerbeck	Universidad de Chile
Visit of Prof. Bolatto (University of Maryland) to Universidad de Concepción and Universidad de Chile	Rodrigo Herrera-Camus	Universidad de Concepción