Virginia Tech and Universidad Austral de Chile expand academic partnership

Virginia Tech and Universidad Austral de Chile (UACh) are expanding a decades-long collaboration in research and teaching. Following a recent exchange of delegations, UACh Rector Egon Montecinos met with Virginia Tech President Tim Sands in Blacksburg to discuss deepening their relationship.

A key component of this expansion is the launch of a new study abroad program this fall, which currently has a dozen Virginia Tech undergraduates studying in Valdivia and the Chilean Patagonia. The partnership aims to establish UACh as a key institution within Virginia Tech’s emerging Global Innovation Network.

The collaboration spans multiple academic disciplines, including animal sciences, business, biological sciences, natural resources, food science, veterinary medicine, and the humanities and social sciences. Both institutions emphasized that these international ties are designed to bring new talent and ideas to their respective regions while serving a global academic community.