U.S. Air Force scientific delegation visits Bolivia to boost academic cooperation

A scientific delegation from the U.S. Air Force's Southern Office for Aerospace Research and Development (Soard) is visiting Bolivia this week. The primary goal is to identify and promote opportunities for basic scientific research and to strengthen bilateral cooperation in academia.

The delegation's itinerary includes visits to universities in La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz. These visits are designed to facilitate an exchange of knowledge and explore potential joint projects with Bolivian researchers and higher education institutions. The U.S. Embassy in Bolivia also announced that the American representatives will tour the Salar de Uyuni.

Robyn Remeika, Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy, emphasized that the meetings will help strengthen academic and scientific ties and open doors for lasting collaborations between researchers from both countries. Soard, based in São Paulo, Brazil, and Santiago, Chile, focuses on identifying and funding transformative basic scientific research across Latin America. It also connects regional researchers with U.S. Air Force research laboratories.

Since 2009, Soard has funded over 300 initiatives with approximately 45 universities in 11 countries, currently maintaining around 60 active projects. During their stay in Bolivia, the delegation will explore cooperation in areas such as engineering and complex systems, chemical and biological sciences, information technology and networks, and physical sciences, among other priorities for the Soard program.

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the meeting will allow us to strengthen academic and scientific ties and open the possibility of establishing lasting collaborations between researchers from both countries.