Open talks for students and teachers, an exhibition of the most relevant research being carried out in our country and an opening lecture led by the Dr. Dora Altbir, 2019 National Prize for Exact Sciences winner, together with government ministers, senators and the Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Air Force, marked the start of NanoWeek 2025, organized by Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CEDENNA).
For an entire week, CEDENNA transformed the traditional “NanoDay” into an extended celebration of knowledge, bringing nanoscience and nanotechnology closer to students, teachers and the general public, and highlighting its role in building Chile’s technological sovereignty.
An opening with a vision of the future
The week began on Monday, October 6 with the participation of Dr. Altbir at the 3rd Conference on National Space Sovereignty, organized by the Chilean Air Force (FACH) in the Hall of Honor of the former National Congress. In the presence of the President of the Senate, Manuel José Ossandón; the Minister of National Defense, Adriana Delpiano; the Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, Aldo Valle; and the Commander-in-Chief of the FACH, Air General Hugo Rodríguez, the researcher reflected on the role of science and talent as drivers of technological sovereignty.
“Nanoscience teaches us that even the smallest things can transform the world. The same happens with knowledge: when the State, academia and industry work together, the tiny becomes powerful,” said the executive director of the CEDENNA Foundation and director of Institutional Projects at Universidad Diego Portales (UDP).
Her participation kicked off a week that put Chilean science at the center of the debate on innovation, sovereignty and development.
Talks and meetings to share science
Wednesday, October 8, the program continued at UDP with two open talks for students and teachers. The National Prize for Exact Sciences winner Miguel Kiwioffered a fascinating review of the origin and evolution of Quantum Mechanics, highlighting the contributions of its pioneers and the controversies that marked its history. During his talk, he mentioned the scientific collaboration of his friend Cristian Urbina with Michel Devoret’s team in the Quantronics group at CEA-Saclay, highlighting how this link connects the Chilean world with global quantum research lines and helps explain why Devoret, Clarke and Martinis were recently awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics.
The Universidad de Chile academic also addressed questions that remain relevant more than a century later: Young’s experiment, the EPR paradox and the enigmas that modern physics has yet to solve. With a deep and engaging perspective, he reflected on the physical, philosophical and practical consequences of this scientific revolution, stressing how nanoscience brings together physics, chemistry, biology and engineering in a single effort to turn knowledge into well-being for society.
Meanwhile, Dr. Roberto Lavín gave an explanatory talk on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, a clear and stimulating introduction to the world of the infinitely small. Through concrete examples and developments driven by CEDENNA, he explained how research on nanometric materials is enabling Chilean innovations applied to mining, health, energy and the environment, showing that nanotechnology is not the science of the future, but a present tool that is improving everyday life.
The week will conclude this Friday, October 10 with an inspiring talk by Dr. Dora Altbir in the Colegio Santa Ana, where she will share with secondary school students how nanotechnology is transforming medicine, energy and the environment. She will also deliver a message especially to girls, encouraging them to dare to dream and move forward on the path of science and STEM careers, just as she did. Chilean
Every October 9 marks World Nanotechnology Day (NanoDay), a date CEDENNA has commemorated since its creation. Founded in 2009, the Center brings together more than 70 PhDs and researchers from different universities across the country, who work collaboratively in 17 laboratories, integrating physics, chemistry and biology to develop nanotechnology with a Chilean hallmark.
Its laboratories have produced more than 1,600 scientific publications, 65 patent applications and collaborations with more than 100 national and international companies, consolidating the center as a Latin American benchmark in advanced research.
