A few weeks ago, the 2025 edition of the “World's Top 2% Scientist List” ranking was released. This ranking is prepared annually by Stanford University (California, USA) based on information from Scopus provided by Elsevier, according to the impact and productivity of 100,000 scientists globally, both during the last year and throughout their research careers. 

Among those highlighted on this occasion are Professors Gabriel N. Gatica and Raimund Bürger, members of the Center for Research in Mathematical Engineering, CI²MA, at the University of Concepción, UdeC, and Full Professors in the Department of Mathematical Engineering (DIM) of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.  

Prof. Gatica is the founder and leader of CI²MA and, under his wing, of the Numerical Analysis of Partial Differential Equations Group, which currently brings together researchers from the universities of Concepción, Bío-Bío, and Católica la Santísima Concepción, and has gained increasing notoriety in this area of knowledge globally over the last two decades.  

Meanwhile, Prof. Bürger, current deputy director of CI²MA and director of the Doctorate in Applied Sciences with a specialization in Mathematical Engineering at the UdeC, is internationally recognized for his work focused on the development and analysis of mathematical models for the physical phenomena that occur in the separation of solids and liquids, with important applications in industrial processes in the mining and water treatment fields.  

At the local level, both researchers are among the 21 UdeC academics from various fields of knowledge to appear on the list. At the national level, together with Dr. Patricio Felmer Aichele, they are the three members of the Mathematical Modeling Center (CMM) at the University of Chile to be highlighted in the ranking.  

In this regard, their colleague from the DIM at the UdeC and the CMM, as well as director of CI²MA, Dr. Rodolfo Araya Durán, commented that "our center is proud to have two world-class researchers. This news is recognition of the research work and human capital training that Drs. Bürger and Gatica have been developing for a long time. We offer them our deepest congratulations and admiration."