University Heidelberg Center Latin America: Intensive German-Chilean Collaboration
26 March 2025
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visits Heidelberg University’s center abroad in Santiago de Chile
As part of the long-standing partnership between Germany and Chile, including in the field of science, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited the Heidelberg Center Latin America (HCLA), the center abroad of Heidelberg University in Santiago de Chile. During his trip to Latin America, he stopped at the HCLA in early March to meet with civil society representatives. “The Federal President’s visit underscores the long-standing, close relationship between Germany and Chile. Our countries can look back on more than 70 years of productive collaboration in science,” said Dr Inés Recio, Executive Academic Director of the HCLA. The delegation accompanying the Federal President – which comprised representatives from science, business, and culture – included Prof. Dr Dominika Wylezalek, an astrophysicist at Heidelberg University.
As Dr Recio highlights, Heidelberg plays a special role in scientific and academic collaborations between Germany and Chile. With the offshore campus of the Heidelberg Center Latin America (established in 2002), strategic partnerships with the Universidad de Chile and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile since 2006, and numerous other networks, Heidelberg University serves as a key driver of German-Chilean collaboration. As a Center of Excellence in Research and Teaching, the HCLA supports the internationalization of Heidelberg University, promotes the creation of international research networks, and initiates teaching collaborations through structured study programs with leading Latin American universities. The HCLA collaborates with a wide range of institutions, including universities in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, as well as organizations such as the German-Chilean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the German Center for Research and Innovation São Paulo.
The Federal President’s visit to HCLA kicked off his three-day stay in Chile. Among other activities, he visited the Paranal Observatory of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the construction site of ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope, which is being built in the Chilean Atacama Desert as another hub for cutting-edge astronomical research. Galaxies, black holes, and new telescopes also took center stage at an event at the Universidad de Chile, featuring Prof. Wylezalek and Nobel laureate Prof. Dr Reinhard Genzel, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching. Over 150 guests, including numerous students and young researchers, attended the event. The Heidelberg astrophysicist accompanied the Federal President on his Latin American trip, which took him to Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile. She previously worked for six years at the European Southern Observatory and currently conducts research at the Institute for Astronomical Computing of Heidelberg University.