The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the University of California (UC), in the United States, have confirmed their interest in continuing as strategic academic partners by updating their General Collaboration Agreement for the next ten years, and creating new binational climate research groups. Flexibility, migration and inequality, climate and health, and sports.
In addition, the second phase of the UNAM-UC Innovation and COVID project has been announced, during which five joint teams will be funded to further develop research.
The Dean of UNAM, Enrique Grauwe Witchers, expressed his satisfaction with the meeting between the two Study Houses and stressed that it was essential to foster specific projects to grow together.
For example, he noted, in areas such as medicine, cooperation dates back 10 years and should continue on the same path. “Let’s keep working and focus on the accomplishments we want to achieve,” he noted at the meeting held at the Yunam Rectory.
In turn, his counterpart from the University of California Riverside and Alianza MX Executive Sponsor, Kim A. Wilcox, explained that Mexico and this North American state share 225 kilometers of border, but above all a common history that unites their residents. For the University of California, it is essential to continue strengthening relations with high-level institutions such as UNAM, which is why today we are extending our cooperation agreement for another 10 years.
Both educational institutions have been historical partners, sharing a commitment to social and public service, through science, innovation and the training of professionals and social leaders in multiple sectors.
Through this meeting, he said, “we reaffirm our commitment and advance a strategic framework for scientific research and academic exchange that contributes to greater economic prosperity, with social inclusion, in California and Mexico.”
The Coordinator of Relations and International Affairs of the United Nations Mission in Namibia, Francisco José Trigo Tavira, confirmed that 110 joint research projects have been carried out in recent years in areas such as biological, physical and earth sciences. Publications have also been boosted, with publications totaling around 2,200 in the past decade.
Regarding student exchange, he explained that the national university has sent more than 300 students to the University of California and received a similar number of North American students.
In turn, Alianza MX Director Isabel Studer stated that in the context of political polarization, social and economic inequality, questioning of science and the urgent need to address key challenges such as climate change, pandemics, migration and inequality, among others, universities are called upon to play a fundamental role in building bridges. and dialogue.
“The University of California is a force in science and innovation, which through Alianza MX seeks to strengthen relationships with its peers in Mexico to create greater collaborative links for the benefit of both countries,” he said.
He added that the challenges related to global warming already exist and are diverse Campus The University of California has innovative businesses focused on attacking wildfires, forests, water, and canal coverings to prevent water evaporation.
Climate resistance
On his occasion, the Director of the Climate Change Research Program at UNAM, Francisco Estrada Porreta, indicated that they seek to develop projects to support decision-making, advance public policies, and communicate science about this challenge to the population at large. Some of the topics they work on are: water, agriculture, drought and biodiversity, as well as designing portals on climate change, and political governance, for example.
Migration and Inequality
Introducing the new research group, Migration and Inequality, the Humanities Coordinator at UNAM, Guadalupe Valencia García, stated that there are common interests of great importance between the two institutions.
“With more than 12 million citizens in the United States, we are the main immigration corridor in the world and this increases the desire to collaborate with the University of California.” In this way, activities such as seminars Online, And another in its facilities next fall, in which actors and communities will participate.
In this regard, UC Merced’s Deputy Interim Vice Chancellor and Chief of Staff, Marjorie Zatz, said they seek to advance interdisciplinary research to address different areas of these problems. Among some of the topics will be labor rights for immigrant workers, social justice for Latinos, gender and immigration, as well as education.
Commenting on the current research group, Innovation and COVID, Jorge Vázquez Ramos, Coordinator of Technology and Transport Links at UNAM, noted that the pandemic gave the opportunity to organize bilateral cooperation and fund innovative technological development projects to address the health emergency.
Among the proposals from the two universities, a panel of experts selected 20 to receive funding of $10,000 for each project on topics such as health systems or the social and economic consequences of the pandemic; Five of them were selected to continue their work.
Stefano Bertozzi, professor of health policy and management at UC Berkeley, emphasized that it is convenient to link experts who want to collaborate together on the same topic.
Referring to “MOOC Sustainability: Bend the Curve,” the university’s coordinator for sustainability, Leticia Merino Perez, spoke and stated that collaboration between UNAM and UCLA in this area is going well, with the aim of reaching the widest possible audience. You want to translate online courses and develop additional content.
Meanwhile, Institutional Development Minister, Patricia Davila Aranda, noted that sustainability is a relevant issue in the national university and one that should be considered interdisciplinary, so biologists, sociologists, etc. work in a coordinated manner to understand common challenges. In the near future, it is necessary to focus on specific ideas and concrete actions.
Alejandro Fernandez Varela, Director General of University Sports, explained some aspects of cooperation in American football, “the main sport of our university which this year celebrates its 95th anniversary”: It was agreed to implement a training program “with a visit to our website coaches to me Campus From Berkeley or Davis. In any of them the proposal would be great. ”
Also participating in the meeting, from UNAM, Scientific Research Coordinator, William Lee Alardín, who noted the contribution to the natural sciences; as well as Samuel Ponce de Leon and José Miguel Hartasanchez, coordinator and member of the University Health Research Program, respectively, who, together with Stefano Bertozzi, have addressed issues of student mobility and outreach; In addition to the general director of university sports, Alejandro Fernandez Varela, who indicated cooperation in this matter.
Joanna Regolska, international affairs coordinator at the University of California, Davis, explained the joint online courses.
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