Global Astronomy Survey : Chile

SPoC Approved : YES

1. Professional (Research) Astronomy:

(i) Number of universities offering Astronomy (and their names)
Five:
Universidad de Chile
Pontificia Universidad Católica
Universidad de Valparaíso
Universidad de Concepción
Universidad Católica del Norte (Licenciatura en Física con mención en astronomía)

(ii) Number of universities offering Physics (and their names)
Ten
Universidad de Tarapacá
Universidad Católica del Norte
Universidad Católica de Valparaíso
Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María
Universidad de Valparaíso
Universidad de Santiago de Chile
Universidad de Chile
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Universidad de La Frontera
Universidad Austral

(iii) Number of academics who have been trained in Astronomy (ideally with their names and levels of qualification)
about 40 faculty in Chilean Universities

(iv) Number of astronomical facilities (observatories, telescopes, etc) and as much detail about each as possible (websites/contact details)
In Atacama (Chajnator)
- APEX (Atacama Pathfinder Experiment)
- CBI (Cosmic Background Imager)
- ALMA (in construction)
- TAO (Tokyo Atacama Observatory)
- CCAT (Cornell Caltech Atacama Telescope)

- Gemini Sur
- Tololo
- La Silla
- Las Campanas
- Paranal (Very Large Telescope)

(v) Self evaluation (according to the different phases above, how would you rate your country in terms of Professional Astronomy? Please include any other relevant information to motivate your choice.)

Professional astronomy done in Chilean institutions has grown considerably in the last 10 years... before which, only 1 university (~18 faculty) offer astronomy as a career.
Phase 1.

2. Public Understanding of Astronomy:

(i) What governmental astronomy/science outreach programmes for the public take place (co-ordinated either by government departments or national facilities)

In the north of Chile, there is a growing interest from municipalities to promote astro-turism and promote outreach activities, not so in the rest of the country.

(ii) What non-governmental astronomy/science outreach programmes for the
public take place (NGO activities or international programmes that your country is involved in)

Professional observatories like ESO, NOAO, ALMA, GEMINI do keep an active outreach program, specially near the cities were their observatories are installed.

(iii) Comment on the presence of astronomy in the media (TV, radio, newspapers). Is it very prominent? Are there specific programmes on astronomy? Is the media generally willing to publish news on astronomy?

Newspapers publish information about astronomy, not every day, but frequently. Doesn't happen the same with TV and radio.

(iv) Comment on the presence of astronomy/science in the general culture
of the people. Are there any specific challenges or setbacks? Is astronomy a welcome subject of conversation?

Chilean people knows astronomy is a science very important in our country, but don't know too much about it.

(v) Self evaluation (according to the different phases above, how would you rate your country in terms of Public Understanding of Astronomy? Please include any other relevant information to motivate your choice.)

People in the northern part of the country are in general aware of astronomy, but no so in the rest of the country. Many don't know of all the big projects installed in our country.
Phase 2

3. Astronomy in Schools:

(i) What governmental astronomy/science education and outreach programmes for schools take place (co-ordinated either by government departments or national facilities)

None.  Although basic astronomy is part of school curricula for middle-school, even though most of the teachers are not trained on this topic

(ii) What non-governmental astronomy/science education and outreach programmes for schools take place (NGO activities or international programmes that your country is involved in)

Again in the northern part of the country, some of the international observatories do interact with schools in the cities close to where they are installed, and in Santiago the Millenium Center for Supernova Science (MCSS) has a program: an amateur astronomer gooes to public school.

(iii) Comment on the presence of astronomy in the school curriculum. Is it part of the school curriculum? Is it very prominent? What age groups?

Children only learn something about the universe and the solar system as part of the school curriculum, but astronomy it isn't something prominent

(iv) Comment on the status of astronomy/science in schools. Are there any specific challenges or setbacks? Sufficient number of students studying maths and science? General interest in maths/science/astronomy in schools?

The main problem in this area is that there is not enough teachers able to teach astronomy, many schools even have problems finding  a good physics teacher.

(v) Self evaluation (according to the different phases above, how would you rate your country in terms of Astronomy in Schools? Please include any other relevant information to motivate your choice.)
Phase 2

Much work still needs to be done in bringing astronomy to classrooms.