Saxony is intensifying its efforts to promote academic cooperation with Chile and to attract more students from the South American country to its universities. As information from dpa states, a new Saxon Science Liaison Office has been opened in Santiago to serve as a dedicated contact point for young Chileans who wish to study in the German federal state.

The office is designed not only to support student recruitment but also to expand scientific exchange between academic and research institutions in both regions. Similar liaison offices already exist in Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Mongolia, and India.

According to Saxony’s Minister of Science, Sebastian Gemkow (CDU), Chile offers remarkable potential, as many young people there study German and therefore face fewer language barriers. He emphasized that the initiative should also help raise Saxony’s visibility across other South American countries.

Currently, around 50 active partnerships link universities in Saxony and Chile. These collaborations cover diverse fields such as natural resource extraction, astronomy, climate research, medicine, and the humanities. Research institutes outside of universities are also engaged in joint projects. At present, roughly 80 Chilean students are enrolled at universities in Saxony.

Germany’s ambassador to Chile, Susanne Fries-Gaier, underlined the importance of the new initiative, welcoming the Saxon Science Liaison Office as an additional actor that can further strengthen academic, scientific, and technological cooperation between the two countries, while also inspiring more Chileans to take Germany—and Saxony specifically—into consideration when choosing a destination for higher education.