Chile's national research network bridging Latin American academia with European R&I through infrastructure and science policy partnerships.
REUNA is Chile's National Research and Education Network (NREN), the non-profit corporation that connects Chilean universities, research centers, and public institutions to advanced networking infrastructure and international research networks. In H2020, they contributed as a Latin American node for collaborative digital infrastructure projects and as a voice for the Global South in EU-third country science policy dialogues. Their role bridges the Chilean academic community with European research and innovation systems, particularly on questions of equitable access and international cooperation frameworks. They are not a laboratory — they are a connectivity and policy actor embedded in Chile's higher education ecosystem.
MAGIC (2015-2017) involved REUNA as a participant building middleware for collaborative applications and global virtual communities, consistent with their core role as Chile's national NREN.
GENDER STI (2020-2023) engaged REUNA in bilateral and multilateral dialogues on gender equality in science, technology and innovation between the EU and third countries, including Latin America.
GENDER STI is the sole evidence for this area, covering gender in R&I frameworks, co-creation methodologies, and benchmarking across international contexts.
GENDER STI keywords include design thinking, co-creation, and community of practice — methods REUNA applied in a multi-country participatory process.
REUNA entered H2020 through the infrastructure pillar with MAGIC (2015-2017), contributing to middleware for collaborative digital environments — work that naturally aligns with their operational identity as a network operator. Their second project, GENDER STI (2020-2023), represents a sharp pivot toward science policy, gender equality frameworks, and international cooperation governance, with no overlap in keywords between the two projects. The trajectory suggests REUNA is broadening beyond technical infrastructure into the socio-political dimensions of research ecosystems, positioning itself as a policy-relevant actor in EU–Latin America dialogue rather than purely a connectivity provider.
REUNA appears to be evolving from a technical infrastructure role toward a science diplomacy and inclusion-policy role, making them a more relevant partner for projects addressing international R&I governance, Global South representation, or gender-mainstreaming in research programs.
REUNA has participated in both projects as a non-leading partner, which is typical for non-European organizations in H2020 — EU funding rules limit coordination roles for third-country entities. Despite this, they have built an unusually wide network: 36 distinct partners across 27 countries from just two projects, indicating they join large, internationally distributed consortia rather than small bilateral arrangements. Working with them likely means access to a well-connected Chilean institutional gateway rather than a specialized technical team.
With 36 unique consortium partners across 27 countries, REUNA's network is disproportionately broad for an organization with only two projects — a result of participating in large, multi-continent consortia. Their geographic reach extends well beyond Latin America, spanning Europe and other third-country regions.
REUNA is one of very few Chilean NRENs with direct H2020 participation, giving them a rare institutional bridge between the European Research Area and Chilean academia that most Latin American organizations lack. For projects requiring a credible, non-commercial Latin American partner with both technical and policy credibility, REUNA is one of a small number of qualified options. Their combination of network infrastructure expertise and emerging engagement in gender and international cooperation policy also makes them relevant for projects where digital inclusion and research equity intersect.
