I would like to take advantage of this fascinating network established between Bionexa and Nature Networks to announce the organization of a conference that aims to gather young Chilean scientists working in Europe. The event is called “Encuentros” (which translates to “gatherings’), and will take place on the 11-13 February in Göttingen, Germany. I was inspired to pursue this project because of a small meeting of young Chilean scientists that took place in Milan last year, where a group of approximately 15 people met to essentially see what the ‘other Chileans’ were doing. It was not only a lovely scientific meeting, but also an opportunity to meet really interesting people (of similar age to me) and establish new relations with fellow country men (the Bionexa network was also launched at this meeting). I was also inspired by the organization of a student-run conference called Neurizons in Göttingen, Germany, where I am currently living, and which is organized every two years. To cut the story short, I wanted to create an event that would have the spirit of the meeting in Milan (and Dresden the year before that) but with the scale and logistical organization of Neurizons.

Since then, I have had a few key players and supporters that decided to join the ride (two Max-Planck-Institutes from Goettingen, the Bionexa team, Chilean embassies in Germany and France, and the Fundación Ciencia para la Vida; unfortunately other Chilean institutions have been slow to realize the potential of such a unique event, but we are working on it). The end result can be seen here. It is possible to register in Encuentros for a very small price, and we managed to secure approximately 5000 euros for travel grants to make it easier for young Chilean scientists working in Europe to attend. We have also managed to develop a program that includes both young and established scientists (from Chile and Europe), with the dual aim of connecting Chileans among themselves but also of promoting stronger scientific ties between Chileans and Europeans. In this regard, our confirmed speakers include emerging and established scientists working in Chile (including a national science winner and also Miguel Allende, who is part of the Latin America forum), and even a Nobel laureate. However, response to registration has been rather slow since registration was open one month ago. We speculate this is because it is difficult to reach Chileans who are dispersed over Europe, but networks such as Bionexa give us hope that this is just a lag phase that is typical in these sort of events.

I have taken this opportunity to advertise Encuentros and give it a more personal “taste” to its conception. I hope that Nature Networks (and here I am not only asking for Matt Brown’s help, but that of all the members of this forum to spread the word) can also act as a discussion and advertisement platform for Encuentros 2009, and help this project take off and show that it not only can work, but also that it could be a model for other meetings for other fellow Latin Americans.