The Cluster KIT - Chile

The KIT-Chile cluster is a network of scientists from KIT and Chilean universities/institutions. Its main objective is to initiate and consolidate research and scientific network structures and to bridge the gap between science and industry. The general themes of this collaboration include industrial ecology, sustainable development and local economic growth. This initiative is based on many years of active cooperation between 14 KIT institutes and 9 Chilean universities.

The cluster emerged from many individual contacts between KIT stakeholders and Chilean partners in 2015. Starting this year, workshops were held to institutionalise the cooperation in the KCC (KIT Chile Cluster). These workshops led to the definition of a joint topic: "Eco-Industrial Development (Resources | Energy | Climate)".

In 2017, an application was submitted for the BMBF's IEDE (Institute for Eco-Industrial Development) project, in which Chile is a strategic partner. The aim of IEDE is to create multilateral virtual institutes with a strategic framework for joint, interdisciplinary, international and inter-institutional lines of research. The IEDE project partners include the KIT, the Universidad de Concepción, the Universidad de Chile and the Universidad Austral de Chile.

Within KIT, several institutes and centres are involved in the cluster, including the Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology (CEDIM), the Institute of Industrial Production (IIP) and the Institute of Information Systems and Marketing (IISM).

The Chilean universities involved are located in cities such as Antofagasta, La Serena, Valparaíso, Santiago, Rancagua, Concepción and Valdivia. Several Chilean research centers in these cities are also involved, such as CEDIM and SERC Chile (Solar Energy Research Center).

A specific project within this collaboration is InAgriLA³ - An International Network for Urban Agriculture in Latin American Drylands, which the BMBF funds with €970,560. Partners in this project are UTP (Peru) and UdeC (Chile), with the collaboration based on a fact-finding mission to Chile and Peru in 2018.

Another important program is CORFO's international call for proposals for the Chilean Institute of Clean Technologies, which offers up to US$193,485,024 over a 10-year period. Applicants include KCC, Fraunhofer Chile and CSIRO (Australia), with collaborative events such as the Matchmaking Event in Antofagasta (March 2019). The aim is to establish institutes for solar energy, zero-emission mining and new materials for lithium and other minerals.

Note: The establishment of the Institute for Customer Insights (CIN) and the Institute for Information Systems (WIN) at KIT on January 1, 2025, marks a significant advancement from the former Institute for Information Systems and Management (IISM).