PH Embassy, PH Space Agency Identify Potential Areas for Space Cooperation with Chile

Santiago PE and PhilSA teams pose for a photo following their 03 November 2023 online meeting PHL-CHL space cooperation.

SANTIAGO 07 November 2023 – During an online meeting, the Philippine Embassy in Santiago, Chile and the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) agreed to propose priority areas for space cooperation with agencies and universities in Chile.

The Embassy updated PhilSA on Ambassador Celeste Vinzon-Balatbat’s initial discussion with officials of the Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB) in October 2023 on graduate scholarships in astronomy and astrophysics for Filipino scientists and PhilSA personnel.

She said, “Chile offers an comparative advantage in its access to astronomy experts, strategic location as an astronomer’s paradise, and infrastructure for space observation and data.”

The Philippine Embassy offered to help connect UNAB with universities in the Philippines for academic partnerships. PhilSA would, in turn, take up this proposal with the University of the Philippines, with which PhilSA has existing linkages, and suggested other institutional partners such as Rizal Technical University (RTU).

PhilSA Director General Dr. Joel Joseph Marciano, Jr. welcomed these scholarships as a part of the agency’s capacity-building initiatives and the Embassy’s efforts to serve as a bridge between PhilSA and academic institutions in Chile.

DG Marciano, Deputy Director General Gay Jane P. Perez, and other members of the PhilSA team elaborated on areas for Philippines-Chile collaboration in the long-term, such as:

(1)       exchanges of best practices in Astronomy and Astrophysics through public seminars/webinars, lectures, and/or academic networking events;

(2)       postdoctoral fellowships between Philippine and Chilean scientists and experts;

(3)       partnerships in new or ongoing research, joint proposals, and/or access to data generated by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) astronomical project and;

(4)       data-sharing between Earth observation satellites and ground stations.

Also joining the meeting on the part of the Philippine Embassy were First Secretary & Consul Dennis John C. Briones, and Information and Communications Officer Brian Peter C. Bustamante. END

For more information, visit https://www.santiagope.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinChile.