UANDES 2024 Doctorate Ceremony
The Universidad de los Andes celebrated the 33 new Ph.D.s were added to its academic staff. in 2024. In his speech, the Rector José Antonio GuzmánHe emphasized the relevance of this new stage for the doctors, inviting them to project their work into the future: "Their work in teaching and research will always be the best service they can offer to the society.", he stated.
We reproduce the speech:
In our 35 years of history, we have never graduated so many PhDs in so many disciplines, and this is a sign, if not of maturity, at least of the maturity of our university.
Many other Chilean universities experience a similar joy at the end of the year. We are all part of the great effort that the country has made in recent decades to develop and strengthen doctoral programs where students from Chile and other countries are trained.
This collective effort should result in a constant improvement of our higher education system, which is beneficial for the country as a whole. It also allows for closer academic ties with universities in other countries, which is particularly beneficial.
We are at a graduation ceremony for 33 new PhDs. What is a doctor? According to the Royal Academy it is a person who has received the highest university academic degree. This information is valuable, but it does not tell us much about what this degree consists of that you have sought with so much effort, not only personally, but also from your families.
If we look for the meaning of doctorate, we find that it is the finished and full knowledge of some subject. However, you know that a knowledge of these characteristics can only be received from the specific subject of your thesis, and not even that, because if you have done your work seriously, you will be aware that there are still many things that you ignore in the subject you have investigated, and that your knowledge is in no case as complete and full as the dictionary assumes about doctors.
Perhaps it would be simpler to simply say that the doctoral degree certifies something that may seem relatively modest, but is very important. With it, this university certifies that its holder is someone who knows how to do research. The doctorate then has to do with one of the two tasks that characterize the university professor: research, that is, the systematic search for truth in a given field of knowledge. In these years, research has been an important part of their lives and, for the good of the country, I hope that in the future it will continue to be so.
Indeed, reality has an infinite richness as a reflection of the infinite character of its author, God, and therefore, the task of scrutinizing it knows no limits. "With these words, Aristotle begins the book of metaphysics, which for centuries has been the object of study and analysis of numerous philosophers.
The task of research is connected with that deep yearning of the human being. However, today I would like to invite you, who have been completely dedicated to research, to pay attention to other facets of the academic, I am referring to teaching. I hope that in the years to come you will do a lot of research but that you will never neglect the task of teaching, and within it, in a very particular way, undergraduate teaching.
The task of research is connected with that deep yearning of the human being. However, today I would like to invite you, who have been completely dedicated to research, to pay attention to other facets of the academic, I am referring to teaching. I hope that in the years to come you will do a lot of research but that you will never neglect the task of teaching, and within it, in a very particular way, undergraduate teaching.
It is well known that, for some time now, there has been a tendency in many universities for certain professors to concentrate their teaching on postgraduate seminars where they present the progress of their highly specialized research. Other forms of teaching are considered in some cases a waste of time and intellectual resources. As a consequence, undergraduate students, especially those in the first two years, do not receive the attention they require, and their training is left to people with little experience. This is serious, because it means deteriorating the fundamental mission of the University institution, which cannot be confused with a research center, even though research is very important in it.
D., you will have begun your teaching and research work at other universities. It is possible that you will take to them many good practices and ideas that you will have learned during these years at the Universidad de los Andes. You will also have learned lessons so as not to repeat the mistakes we have made in your training process, which will certainly not be few.
Receive my most sincere congratulations on behalf of the University and our gratitude for having trusted us at such an important moment in your lives. And our recognition also goes to your families from whom you have received support and teachings much more important than those we have given you.
José Antonio Guzmán
Rector Universidad de los Andes
