This Saturday, 7th September, the Annual Assembly of the Chilean Researchers Association in Switzerland - ICES was held at the Alumni Pavilion of ETH Zürich. In its tenth edition, the assembly featured the distinguished participation of various speakers, members of the association, and authorities.

ICES is an organisation founded in 2015 with the primary aim of strengthening the relationship between Chile and Switzerland, based on the academic, professional, and social experiences of prominent Chileans in the Swiss Confederation. The association provides a space for networking, exchanging experiences, and exploring new challenges within the community through scientific, academic, professional collaboration, and personal development among Chileans dedicated to research in Switzerland.

In its tenth edition, held in Zürich, the annual meeting brought together Chileans engaged in various fields of research to present their work or collaborations on projects developed in Switzerland. Following the opening remarks by ICES President Priscila Becerra, a virtual greeting from Carolina Gainza, Chile’s Undersecretary for Science, Technology, Knowledge, and Innovation, and words from Erwan Varas Dulac, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Chilean Embassy to the Swiss Confederation and concurrently to the Principality of Liechtenstein, the six blocks of presentations commenced, allowing questions from the audience in each segment.

The first block was led by Francisco González, President of the Kawésqar People’s Foundation, who dedicated his presentation to introducing the initiative called Ko Aswál - al día siguiente. This initiative enjoys the collaboration of the Chilean Embassy in Switzerland and the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zürich. Following this were several interesting presentation blocks dedicated to Social Sciences, Basic Sciences, Cultural Heritage, Environment, and finally a block focused on Latin American networks in Switzerland. 

The event concluded with the election of the new ICES board, a display of other works by Chileans in informational panels along with explanations from their authors, a reception with food and Chilean wine, and the award for the best presentation, which went to Francisco González, President of the Kawésqar People’s Foundation. He expressed his gratitude to the attendees for their votes and for the interest in the Ko Aswál initiative that was ignited within the community of Chilean researchers in Switzerland.