During the event, April 23, prof. Jofré thanked the work of the team of professionals who, on behalf of UCSH, took part in the preparation of the proposal, and said: "With the beginning of this doctorate, as a university, we feel challenged to meet the different aspects that the formation of this level of specialization necessarily involves, namely: teaching, supervision of the thesis, research experiences, curriculum of the program, intellectual environment of the program and the institution's intellectual environment."
For his part, the Director of the Doctoral program, Dr Jorge Baeza, explained that "in the genesis of this doctorate there was an absolute convergence between the CEJU, who felt they had the maturity to activate a similar university path, and the network of Institutions of Salesian Higher Education (IUS) of America, which requires the Silva Henríquez University to prepare academics able to work in research and action in the field most dear to the Salesian Congregation: youth."
In the same way, Dr Baeza added that, "there is an extremely small number of university centers that are forming high-level researchers to study and influence public policies for the benefit of young people. Ours is the second doctorate in this field in all of Latin America."
Taking part in the presentation were university authorities, school principals, ruling bodies and administrative staff and PhD students from Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile.
Fr Roque Luiz Sibioni, Delegate for Youth Ministry at the "Salesian University Center de São Paulo" (Unisal - Brazil), is one of the first students of the Doctorate. "This experience is an opportunity to further explore the studies already made on young people and on what problems concern them. As a Salesian, it is also an institutional experience. I have examined other doctoral programs, but this focuses mainly on young people, that's why I'm here."
Finally, Fr Giuliano Vettorato, Director of the International Observatory of the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome, began the first lesson of the program, its title: "The study of the condition of youth in the condition of modernity: wealth of research and interpretive difficulties."
