February 23, 2018

Carlos Castillo-Chavez, former rector of Yachay Tech University, promotes access to scholarships for students of the institution to carry out their research projects within the Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute (MTBI) Summer Program, at Arizona State University. The goal of these scholarships is to keep on contributing to research in Latin America and to the academic excellence of Yachay Tech students.

The MTBI Summer Program is an intensive experience that prepares undergraduate students to do rigorous research comparable to graduate research in the fields of mathematics and statistics related to biological and social sciences. The participants receive intensive instruction in dynamic systems, stochastic processes, and computational methods, all provided by important scientists and invited speakers from around the globe. Students are invited to ASU for eight weeks, splitting their time between class instruction and research practices.

Participants will also work on a collaborative environment with graduate students, postdoctoral students, and academic visitors through auto selected research groups. These groups will address research problems that they have selected themselves, while they collaborate with experienced faculty. By the end of the summer, the students must have completed a technical report and the necessary materials for a high quality presentation in any national or international poster session.

The eight selected students will receive a total amount of 80 thousand dollars. Their names are: Carlos Bustamente Orellana (from El Oro province), Jordy Cevallos Chávez (from Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas province), María Lorena Correa Abendaño (from Loja province), Peter Sly Manosalvas (from Guayas province), Ariana Rivera Herrera (from Guayas province), Henry Secaira (from Pichincha province), María Preciado Rivas (from El Oro province) y Darwin Tallana Chimarro (from Imbabura province).

This program was conceived as a long term project, with the goal of allowing more Yachay Tech students to participate in the MTBI Summer Program so they can have a better and international leveled professional education.

Yachay Tech University is grateful for Carlos Castillo-Chavez’s permanent collaboration.