First I want to express the honor I feel of being the protagonist of the historical fact that science has reached La Moneda.

The creation and implementation of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Knowledge is a first and great step, but if we believe that only this will solve the development problems we have, we will be disappointed. If there is no change in mentality towards science, the way of doing things will not change much with respect to the distant era of the colony.

Our first task then is to inspire. Inspire with the opportunities offered by this revolution that we are living, where knowledge has to be at the center of the development model.

When I say that the Ministry has to inspire, I don't want us to go out to tell how long it takes for the light to reach Earth, but to show a task that can be relevant to social development.

Then, we must link science with the private sector, with the educational system, with the productive world and with the cultural world, among others. We must link the scientific work with other tasks. We must link this Ministry to articulate many tasks and produce multiple discoveries to apply in all possible areas.

We must enthuse public and private actors, and if a scientist does not like to talk about the usefulness of his research, he will have to reconsider it, because if he is not prepared for that, he is not prepared to receive public funds, which belong to everyone. the Chileans. You have to be clear about why we do what we do. I was always calm spending public funds, although my laboratory did not leave any patents, nor was any employment generated.

The scientist is a highly valued professional, but at the same time there is a disconnection with regard to who do science, where it is done, how are those who do it. It is paradoxical, the scientist is well evaluated, but nobody knows what he does. Scientists must do an introspection to see how we can contribute to the development of the country and people. We must create an agenda for the promotion of scientific research, innovation and also the development of human capital.

There are many things to do in this new Ministry, and all important or priority, but mainly we must strengthen the places where research is done and link it to the productive, educational and cultural world. This Ministry will not be a pulpit for scientists to speak from an altar.