Over 280 Students Lead Research Projects

School science is the story here — not as a slogan, but as an actual pipeline. In Antofagasta, regional science officials and the PAR Explora team just sat down to compare notes on what h(diarioantofagasta.cl)h and innovation projects early. On May 4, Science Seremi Héctor Bravo Vásquez met with PAR Explora Antofagasta director Olga Hernández, whose program is run through the Universidad Católica del Norte, to map the next step. (diarioantofagasta.cl) ### What actually happened? The meeting was a working session between the regional offi(diarioantofagasta.cl)uding the 2026 Festival de las Ciencias. (cienciaenchile.cl) ### Why is 283 the key number? Because that is not a symbolic participation count. PAR Explora said its 2025 school research and innovation track involved 283 students and 62 teachers working on projects shaped around questions or problems from their own surroundings. That is a meaningful scale for a regional program — especially one built around doing science, not just hearing about it. (diarioantofagas([diarioantofagasta.cl)f program is this? The core school track is Investigación e Innovación Escolar, or IIE. It pairs teachers and students from primary through secondary school to build research or innovation projects, with training, methods support, and spaces to present what they made. Basically, the point is to make inquiry part of school life rather than an extracurricular bonus. (ucn.cl) ### Why does PIPE matter too? Because the pipeline starts earlier than high school. The Program of Indagación para Primeras Edades, or PIPE, reached 520 students and 81 early-childhood educators, bringing science exploration into preschool settings. That matters because the region is not just backing standout teenagers — it is trying to normalize questioning, testing, and observation from the first years of school. (diarioantofagasta.cl) ### Is there evidence this leads anywhere? Yes — and the clearest example is Millaray Barboza from Toconao. She came through the Explora ecosystem, was recognized in Explora Nobel 2025, and traveled to Stockholm for Nobel Week. That does not mean every classroom project turns into an international science trip. But it does show the system can carry a student from local school research to national and even global visibility. (ucn.cl) ### What changes in 2026? The 2026 IIE and PIPE calls are already open, so this is not just a retrospective. PAR Explora is actively recruiting schools, teachers, and education communities to launch another round of classroom-based science and innovation work. The additional piece is coordination — Bravo and the Explora team are trying to connect those school networks with broader public science events across the region. (ucn.cl) ### Why does this matter beyond one region? Because Antofagasta is treating science education as territorial development, not enrichment. The language from both sides keeps coming back to access, inclusion, and regional relevance — meaning the goal is to build scientific skills in the same communities that will later shape the region’s future workforce, institutions, and public debate. (diarioantofagast([ucn.cl)-lideran-proyectos-de-investigacion-e-innovacion/)) ### Bottom line The real news is not just that more than 280 students did projects. It is that Antofagasta’s science and education teams are trying to turn scattered school activities into a durable regional system — one that starts in preschool, reaches hundreds of students, and occasionally sends someone all the way from Toconao to Stockholm. (diarioantofagasta.cl)vestigacion-e-innovacion/))