UNIVERSIDAD MAYOR

Their core work

Universidad Mayor is a Chilean private university based in Providencia (Santiago) with research active across natural sciences and environmental studies. In H2020, their participation spans two unrelated fields: stellar astrophysics — contributing to international research on the physics of massive stars — and urban environmental sustainability, specifically co-producing nature-based solutions for cities. Their H2020 footprint is modest (two projects, one as a third party with no direct EC funding), suggesting they primarily engage as a knowledge contributor rather than a project driver. Their value to European consortia lies in providing Latin American academic expertise and geographic reach for globally oriented research networks.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Universidad Mayor's two H2020 projects, both starting within a year of each other (2019–2020), show no meaningful chronological evolution — they entered EU research collaboration simultaneously in two completely unrelated domains. Their early engagement centered on hard physics: the mechanics of massive stars, stellar wind dynamics, and mass-loss processes. Their near-concurrent move into nature-based solutions and urban ecology suggests these reflect distinct faculties or research groups within the university acting independently, rather than a strategic pivot of the institution as a whole.

No clear directional trend is detectable from two concurrent, thematically unrelated projects; future collaboration potential depends heavily on which internal faculty or research group is driving the next engagement.

How they like to work

Universidad Mayor has never coordinated an H2020 project — they enter as a partner or third party, following the lead of European institutions. Despite only two projects, they have connected with 43 unique consortium partners across 17 countries, which reflects the large, distributed nature of MSCA-RISE and RIA consortia rather than a deep personal network. Working with them likely means engaging through an established European-led consortium where they contribute specific disciplinary expertise or provide access to the Latin American research context.

Their network of 43 partners across 17 countries is disproportionately large relative to their two projects, driven by the inherently broad consortium structures of MSCA-RISE and RIA funding schemes. There is no evidence of a narrow geographic focus — their links span Europe and beyond by design of the funding instruments they joined.

What sets them apart

Universidad Mayor is one of the few Chilean universities with documented H2020 participation, giving European consortia a credible institutional anchor in South America for projects that benefit from Latin American geographic or scientific coverage. Their simultaneous engagement in astrophysics and urban sustainability signals a broad multidisciplinary capacity, though this breadth also makes their specific institutional identity harder to characterize. For MSCA-RISE or globally scoped RIA projects seeking a non-European academic partner, they offer a legitimate Chilean higher-education presence with an established track record of EU project compliance.

Highlights from their portfolio

• POEMS
  A large MSCA-RISE mobility network on the physics of extreme massive stars, notable for connecting Universidad Mayor to 40+ international partners and embedding Chilean researchers in European astrophysics mobility flows.
• CONEXUS
  The only project where Universidad Mayor received direct EC funding (EUR 49,938), contributing to a transdisciplinary RIA on nature-based urban solutions — a domain entirely distinct from their astrophysics work, highlighting the university's multi-faculty reach.