Assoc. Prof. Anton Trník and Prof. Igor Medveď from the Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences at UKF in Nitra, visited the Universidad Tecnica Frederico Santa Maria (UTFSM) in Valparaiso, Chile. International cooperation between these institutions was established during the working visit of the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Prof. František Petrovič, to UTFSM in March 2019.

The aim of the working visit of Assoc. Prof. Trník and Prof. Medveď was to discuss opportunities for further cooperation between these universities. First they met Ms. Karol Trautmann, Head of the International Relations office. She introduced them to the university system in Chile, presented the history and parts of the university, and its study and research opportunities. Afterwards, they visited three departments of the university - at the Department of Physics they negotiated with Dr Carlos Garcia, at the Department of Civil Engineering they discussed international cooperation with Dr Ramir Bazáez and at the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science they met Prof. Claudi Aguilar.

During the discussions, both parties learnt about the particular departments of the universities, their technical equipment, fields of research and opportunities for joint research activities. They adopted initiatives for cooperation in materials research and physics. They also agreed to enhance international cooperation under the Erasmus+ KA107 project and to prepare a visit by Dr Carlos Garcia to UKF during which he would lecture on his research activities. Moreover, Prof. Aguilar showed his deep interest in double degree PhD study.

As part of enhancing international cooperation between the Faculty of Natural Sciences at UKF in Nitra and the Universidad Tecnica Frederico Santa Maria in Valparaiso, a PhD student from Chile is coming for a 2-month research stay to the Department of Physics in spring 2020. He is going to use the equipment of the department and discuss the experience of the Thermophysical laboratory's staff in analyzing selected metal samples with the use of thermal analysis methods.

Text and photo: Assoc. Prof. Anton Trník, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Physics