Chilean biologist of Croatian descent Francisco Božinović Kuščević has been awarded the country’s 2020 national prize in the natural sciences, the Chilean education ministry reports.
Chilean biologist of Croatian descent Francisco Božinović Kuščević has been awarded the country’s 2020 national prize in the natural sciences, the Chilean education ministry reports.
Professor Božinović Kuščević received the national science prize for his contributions to science and the development of Chile through his research of the ecology and evolutionary physiology. Božinović’s pioneering work in evolutionary biology developed a new paradigm and scientific approach, melding physiology, the environment and bio-geography, a concept referred to as integrative biology. His career has spanned over thirty years and has focused on integrative biology and his great dedication to work in the field of education.
The unanimous decision of the national prize committee is based on the great contribution that has been made by this Chilean biologist of Croatian descent in the domain of the natural sciences.
Božinović Kuščević is well known and much esteemed among his peers, not only for his discoveries and brilliant studies, but also for having focused his efforts on long-term projects, targeting his academic work towards society and education in the critical sciences. The prize, he says, is an encouragement to his further development of projects. “This is a recognition of what we have achieved in the sciences. This is a recognition of the work of many people, colleagues and students, of many technicians that have worked in this domain their entire life. It encourages us to undertake fascinating endeavours, to solve the core problems of the sciences, issues in the applied sciences, and new ideas,” says Božinović Kuščević, adding that, “Even during the coronavirus lockdowns, this helps a lot.”
The award-winning biologist has a message for young people: “What I think we all need to understand is that investing in science is the only path out of underdevelopment. I think that there is much to learn from the current pandemic situation; if we don’t learn from this, I can’t imagine we will be able to learn from anything at all. The countries that are developed, are developed because they invested in the sciences, not the other way around. We need to understand, once and for all, that if we wish to exit from the Third World, if we wish to pull ourselves out of underdevelopment, that there is no other path other than to invest in the sciences.”
Francisco Božinović Kuščević was born in Punta Arenas in 1959. He gained a degree in biology and his doctorate at the University of Chile. He is a full professor of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
By: Voice of Croatia / David Ray