Luis Chavarría holds a BS and a PhD in science with a major in astronomy from the University of Chile. He carried out his doctoral-thesis research at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and has done postdoctoral studies in Chile, France, and Spain, focusing on projects related to the star-formation process. In 2013 he joined the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) as support astronomer and Chilean coordinator for the APEX (Atacama Pathfinder Experiment) telescope. In 2016 he became the director of the Astronomy Program, coordinating strategies to strengthen international collaboration and support the immense and growing scientific infrastructure installed in Chile to the benefit of the local scientific community. In 2021 he joined the European Southern Observatory (ESO) as the ESO representative in Chile. He became the first Chilean citizen to fill this position in the 60 years of ESO.
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