Chile creates science ministry

Chilean President Sebastian Piñera inaugurated on Monday the country’s new Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation.

The ministry was established to help raise living standards in the Andean nation, the president said.

“Chile invests only 0.4 percent of GDP in science and technology, a sixth of what (other) OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries invest,” Piñera said.

The mission of the new ministry will be “to connect and organize the multiple funds, programs and councils on the matter of science and innovation that for decades found themselves dispersed among multiple ministries,” the president said.

After presenting the ministry, Piñera introduced the person who will lead it, Andres Couve, head of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Chile medical school.

“He is surely one of the most talented and influential representatives of the world of science, and he has been widely recognized and awarded throughout his career for his continuous effort to bring science closer to the people,” the president said of Couve.