PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE

Their core work

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) is one of Latin America's top research universities, serving as the primary bridge between European and Latin American research communities within H2020. Their real-world contribution spans climate change economics and policy modeling, cancer biomarker research (especially gastric and gallbladder cancers prevalent in Latin populations), and ecosystem services assessment. They bring irreplaceable access to Latin American datasets, patient cohorts, field sites, and policy contexts that European consortia cannot obtain otherwise.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early period (2015–2018), PUC focused heavily on climate change economics, energy policy modeling, and agricultural science — projects like TRANSrisk and GEMCLIME defined their profile around mitigation, adaptation, and cost-benefit analysis. From 2019 onward, a strong health and biomedical cluster emerged, with five projects on cancer screening and biomarkers (gastric, gallbladder, liver cancers), plus a growing portfolio in ecosystem services and environmental modeling. The university has effectively expanded from a climate-economics specialist into a multi-domain research partner with a distinct Latin American health and environmental angle.

PUC is expanding its health research portfolio around cancers with high Latin American prevalence while maintaining its climate and ecosystem expertise — expect growing strength in precision medicine and environmental decision-support systems.

How they like to work

PUC almost exclusively joins as a partner or third party — zero projects as coordinator, with 20 of 29 participations as a third-party contributor. This reflects their role as the go-to Latin American node that European-led consortia bring in for regional expertise, field access, and data. With 299 unique partners across 45 countries, they are a highly networked institution that works broadly rather than deeply with a few repeat partners, making them easy to integrate into new consortia.

PUC has collaborated with 299 unique partners across 45 countries, making it one of the most internationally connected Latin American universities in H2020. Their network spans the EU extensively but also bridges to other Latin American and global South institutions, giving consortia geographic reach beyond Europe.

What sets them apart

PUC is the most active Chilean university in H2020, offering European consortia something few partners can: direct access to Latin American populations, ecosystems, and policy environments. For health projects, they provide patient cohorts for cancers with uniquely high Latin American incidence (gallbladder, gastric). For climate and environmental projects, they offer Southern Hemisphere field sites, biodiversity data, and developing-country policy contexts that strengthen any proposal's global relevance.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ESCALON
  Largest single EC contribution (EUR 418,250) — European-Latin American network for hepatobiliary cancer biomarkers, connecting PUC's clinical expertise to a major translational research effort.
• GEMCLIME
  Six-year project (2016–2022) in climate and energy economics modeling — represents PUC's longest and deepest involvement in their core climate policy expertise.
• VOGAS
  Innovative breath-based gastric cancer screening using volatile organic compounds — a concrete diagnostic technology with direct clinical application.