CURRENT STATE OF EARTH SCIENCES
IN COLOMBIA (SOUTH AMERICA)
Carlos Alberto VARGAS-JIMENEZ 1 and Alexander CANEVA 2
ABSTRACT
Gathered between 1970 and 2010 data on the Colombian System of Science, Technology andInnovation, administrated by COLCIENCIAS 3, have been analyzed in order to identify development
scenarios in the field of Earth Sciences, with particular reference to academic and scientific standards,
conformation and tendencies of existing research groups, active research lines, and somecharacteristics of the education sector, the job market and performance, in the field of Earth Sciencesin Colombia.
One of the most relevant results is the identification of a constant strengthening of Earth
Sciences field owing to the growing of the number of institutions dedicated to the creation of researchgroups, the rise of academic publishing, and the impact on the productive reality of Colombia.
Nevertheless, the current state of Earth Sciences in Colombia allows identifying a substantial
delay. It must be resolved by institutional reinforcement of involved parts through the integration ofcooperative networks, and the planning of a strategic agenda for the next years, based on the practiceof technological surveillance and the strengths consolidation.
Keywords: Colombia, Earth Sciences, research, development, COLCIENCIAS.

INTRODUCTION
The analysis of the Earth Sciences status in Colombia requires, at least, the principal antecedents inthis field, in order to set up a comparative frame of reference, which gives us an idea of the progress,
which has been achieved in the last years, and of the future projections that can possibly be made.
First of all, the results of the “Science and Technology Mission” were examined. Created bydecree number 1600 in 1988, this Mission was carried out between 1989 and 1990 giving conclusions
regarding conditions of the national scientific development, fields of research, the impact, possibilitiesof specific training in Colombia, and possible breakthroughs in the 1990’s. The results of this work
were published in the mid-1990’s (Briceño and Mojica, 1993). The most significant dates related to
Earth Sciences development, which were presented in that study, are:• 1916 Started an “organized” geological research of Colombian territory owns to the creation of the“National Scientific Commission”.
• 1935 Foundation of the Geographic Institute Agustin Codazzi (IGAC 4), the first entity of Basic
Geophysical Research.
1

National University of Colombia, Bogota, Colombia (South America). Group of Geophysics.
cavargasj@unal.edu.co
2
Antonio Nariño University, Bogota, Colombia (South America). Group of Geophysics.
alexander.caneva@uan.edu.co
3
COLCIENCIAS – Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación. República de Colombia(Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation. Republic of Colombia).
www.colciencias.gov.co
4
IGAC – Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi (Geographic Institute Agustin Codazzi). www.igac.gov.co

•

•
•
•
•
•
•
•

•

•
•
•
•
5

1938 The “National Scientific Commission” cleared the way to the “National Geological Service”,
which in 1940 became part of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, founded in the same year. It
consisted in several departments, such as Stratigraphy, Paleontology, Geology, Economics,
Library and Museum. This structure was conserved, with some modifications, until 1963.
1941 The Geophysical Institute of the Colombian Andes 5 was founded.
1942 Based on the School of Mines of Medellin (created in 1887), the “Geology and Petroleum”
program, in the Faculty of Mines of the National University of Colombia 6 (founded in 1940), waslaunched.
1951 Creation of the Colombian Petroleum Company (ECOPETROL 7 ) entrusted to boost andsupervise exploitation, extraction and refining of hydrocarbons.
1956 Foundation of the Geological Department at the National University of Colombia 8 (Bogota
campus).
1963 The National Government undertook, with the aid of the United States Geological Survey,
the Mining Inventory that existed till 1968 as a parallel entity to the National Geological Service.
1968 Through the fusion of the Geological Service, the Mining Inventory and the National
Chemical Laboratory (founded in 1928), the Colombian Government created the National Instituteof Geological and Mining Researches (INGEOMINAS 9).
1974-1982 As a result of the “energy crisis”, many petroleum and mine companies, interested
mostly in extraction of uranium, came to Colombian market. According to several studies carriedout at that time, in the 1980’s geologists (and geophysicists) were in greater demand, which led tofollowing conclusions: it was important at that moment to a) Strengthen the current academic
programs; b) Introduce new geology and/or geophysics programs; c) Create private institutes ofEarth Sciences.
Starting in the 1980’s the Geology program was launched at the following universities: Industrial
University of Santander (UIS 10) (Bucaramanga city), University of Caldas 11 (Manizales city), andUniversity of Administrative Studies, Finances and Technologies (EAFIT 12) (Medellin city), andthe program of Geological Engineering at the Technical Pedagogical University of Colombia(UPTC 13) (Sogamoso city), and at the Engineering School of Antioquia (EIA) 14 (Medellin city).
1985 The National University of Colombia (Bogota campus), in collaboration with aninternational program for the development of the research capacity (ICFES 15-IADB 16), launches
the Master in Geophysics program.
1987 The Southwest Seismological Observatory is founded.
1994 Inauguration of the National Seismological Network of Colombia (RSNC 17).
2003 The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH 18) was created.

Nowadays: Instituto Geofísico Universidad Javeriana (Institute of Geophysics Javeriana University).
fing.javeriana.edu.co/geofisico/
6
www.minas.medellin.unal.edu.co/index.php/es/
7
ECOPETROL – Empresa Colombiana de Petróleos (Colombian Petroleum Company). www.ecopetrol.com.co8
www.geociencias.unal.edu.co/9
Nowadays INGEOMINAS changed its name to Colombian Geological Service. www.ingeominas.gov.co
10
UIS – Universidad Industrial de Santander (Industrial University of Santander). www.uis.edu.co11
www.ucaldas.edu.co
12
EAFIT – Universidad Escuela de Administración, Finanzas y Tecnologías (University of Administrative
Studies, Finances and Technologies).
13
UPTC – Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia (Technical Pedagogical University of Colombia).
www.uptc.edu.co
14
EIA – Escuela de Ingeniería de Antioquia (Engineering School of Antioquia). www.eia.edu.co
15
ICFES – Instituto Colombiano para el Fomento de la Educación Superior (Colombian Institute for the Fomentof the High Education). www.icfes.gov.co
16
IADB – Inter-American Development Bank. www.iadb.org
17
RSNC – Red Sismológica Nacional de Colombia (National Seismological Network of Colombia).
seisan.ingeominas.gov.co/RSNC/
18
ANH – Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos (National Hydrocarbons Agency). www.anh.gov.co

The research performed by Espinosa et al. for COLCIENCIAS (Espinosa et al. 1998) analyzes
the academic programs offered in Colombia and the role of employers and institutions, such as ICFES
and COLCIENCIAS, which promote the education and research. One of the most important
conclusions of this work is proving the need of the reconstruction of the Committee of Earth Sciences,which functioned between 1987 and 1990, and to transform it in the future into the National Councilof Earth Sciences.
It is also pointed that the level of the academic programs and research is quite poor comparing
to any other field of Basic Sciences. This situation can be explained by lack of an efficient national
policy regarding education and research in the field of Earth Sciences.
After these outlines, we would like to state some conclusions about a breakthrough that Earth
Sciences have had in the last 40 years in Colombia, in order to identify a favorable scenario for theirs
evolution in the region.

RESEARCH LINES ACTIVE IN 1993
Based on researches, diploma thesis and published works, Briceño and Mojica (1993) stated that in
Colombia, in 1993, the principle lines of research in Geology were:
1) Evaluation and exploration of hydrocarbon prospective basins.
Institutions: ECOPETROL-ICP 19, and companies from the same field.
2) Geology applied to mining.
Institutions: INGEOMINAS, MINERALCO, CARBOCOL, etc.
3) Mineralogy and Petrology.
Institutions: National University of Colombia 20 (Bogota and Medellin campuses), Industrial Universityof Santander (UIS), University of Caldas, INGEOMINAS, EAFIT.
4) Stratigraphy and Micropaleontology.
Institutions: INGEOMINAS, National University of Colombia (Bogota and Medellin campuses),
University of Caldas.
5) Tectonics.
Institutions: National University of Colombia (Bogota and Medellin campuses), INGEOMINAS,
Industrial University of Santander (UIS), University of Caldas.
6) Oceanography.
Institutions: CIOH 21, INGEOMINAS, National University of Colombia (Bogota campus).
7) Volcanic Processes.
Institutions: INGEOMINAS, University of Caldas, National University of Colombia (Bogota andMedellin campuses), EAFIT.
8) Radiometric dating.
Methods: Fission tracks, K/Ar, Rb/Sr and carbon 14.
Institutions: INGEOMINAS, National University of Colombia (Bogota and Medellin campuses).
9) Geothermics.
Institutions: ICEL 22, National University of Colombia (Bogota), CHEC 23, INGEOMINAS.
10) Micropaleontology. Including projects on foraminifera and palynology.
Institutions: National University of Colombia (Bogota), Institute of Natural Sciences 24 , ICPECOPETROL, INGEOMINAS.
19

ICP – Instituto Colombiano del Petróleo (Colombian Institute of Petroleum).
www.ecopetrol.com.co/especiales/Portafolio%20ICP/portafolio/centro/index.htm
20
www.unal.edu.co
21
CIOH – Centro de Investigaciones Oceanogáficas e Hidrográficas (Oceanographic and Hydrographic
Research Center). www.cioh.org.co
22
ICEL – Instituto Colombiano de Energía Eléctrica (Colombian Institute of Electrical Energy).
23
CHEC – Central Hidroeléctrica de Caldas (Hydroelectric Central of Caldas).
24
www.icn.unal.edu.co11) Environmental Geology.
Institutions: INGEOMINAS, EAFIT, National University of Colombia, University of Caldas,
Industrial University of Santander (UIS), Geographic Institute Agustin Codazzi IGAC-CIAF 25.
12) Cartography, basic and applied Geology.
Institutions: INGEOMINAS, universities, private companies.
13) Hydrogeology.
Institutions: INGEOMINAS, CVC 26, CAR 27, National University of Colombia (Bogota and Medellincampuses), private consultants.
14) Remote sensors applied to Geology.
Methods: Conventional aerial color photography, radar and satellite images (MSS/SPOT and Landsat).
Institutions: Geographic Institute Agustin Codazzi IGAC-CIAF, INGEOMINAS, private consultantsand EAFIT.
Regarding Geophysics Briceño and Mojica (1993) identify the following:
1) Seismotectonics.
Institutions: thesis works and dissertations presented in Bogota (National University of Colombia) andoverseas (USA, USSR, France), international cooperation projects as “Proyecto Nariño”, and the
project carried out by the University of Valle and the Swiss government, in order to establish theSouthwest Seismological Observatory, as well as the study conducted by French institutions and
INGEOMINAS regarding the Bucaramanga seismic nest. The stand out participation of some national
entities, such as National Planning Department 28 , regional corporations that conducted studies onseismic and volcanic hazards, and Volcanological Observatories in Colombia was very helpful.
2) Geophysical prospecting.
Institutions: ICP-ECOPETROL, and acquisition, processing and interpretation of seismic data national
companies.
3) Geothermics.
Institutions: studies carried out since 1978 mostly by ICEL y la CHEC, in collaboration with Italian
government, and OLADE 29, Ministery of Mines and Energy-COLCIENCIAS.
Briceño and Mojica (1993) also state that the geophysical methods are fundamental for the
exploration of subterranean waters as well as for the solution of problems presented in Engineering, inEnvironmental Geology, and in Prospecting Mining.
Espinosa et al. (1998) identify as a milestone of development the environmental topics related
to the Territory Studies, Environmental Management, and the Urban Reform. They emphasizes theimportance of the Meteorology and works performed by the IDEAM 30 and INGEOMINAS oriented tothe promulgation of policies, which are identified in:
1) Earthquake-Resistant Construction Code (1984, 1998).
2) National Prevention System and Disaster-Response Agency (1989).
3) Urban Reform (1989).
4) Environment (1993).
5) Territorial legislation (1997).

25

CIAF – Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Información Geográfica (Research and Development Center
for Geographic Information). www.igac.gov.co
26
CVC – Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca (Autonomous Regional Corporation of Valle delCauca). www.cvc.gov.co
27
CAR – Corporación Autónoma Regional de Cundinamarca (Autonomous Regional Corporation ofCundinamarca). www.car.gov.co
28
DNP – Departamento Nacional de Planeación (National Planning Department). www.dnp.gov.co29
OLADE – Organización Latinoamericana de Energía (Latin American Organization of Energy).
www.olade.org
30
IDEAM – Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales de Colombia (Institute of Hydrology,
Meteorology and Environmental Studies of Colombia). www.ideam.gov.co

EARTH SCIENCES RESEARCH GROUPS ACTIVE IN 2010
Below an analysis of the information registered on the International Network of Information andKnowledge Sources for Science, Technology and Innovation Management (ScienTI Platform 31
administrated in Colombia by COLCIENCIAS) is presented, regarding the research groups
emphasized on Earth Sciences.
Registered and classified groups
The whole list of Colombian groups on the ScienTI Platform by fields of interest was analyzed. There
were found 74 registered groups, which declare “Geosciences” as their Field of Knowledge. According
to COLCIENCIAS, these 74 research groups correspond to the 11% of the registered groups from the“Exact and Earth Sciences” Global Field of Knowledge (according to the COLCIENCIAS
classification).
The products of these 74 groups, in general, are related to Earth Sciences, i.e. involve topics
related to the study of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, as well as the solid Earth; however, some of those
products are closer to topics like oil and gas industry, ecosystems and environmental management,
alternative energies, soil analysis, town planning, waste management, transport engineering,
environmental sustainability, ecology, territorial development, etc. whilst, in this study we would liketo analyze the contributions of groups that are working in basic research associated with geophysics.
Because of that from 74 groups we select only 56, which are directly involved in basic research, forfurther analysis.
The distribution of groups according to theirs National Programs of Science and Technology(according to COLCIENCIAS classification) is presented in Table 1.
Classification of groups according to their category
COLCIENCIAS classify the registered research groups according to their relevance (including
production, track record, members, etc.) in five categories: A1, A, B, C and D, where category A1 isthe higher one. The groups without a defined category are considered like “acknowledged”. The
number of groups according to their categories is shown on Figure 1.
Table 1. Distribution of 56 Research Groups, which declare “Geosciences” as theirField of Knowledge, according to theirs National Programs of Science and Technology.
The research lines corresponding to each Program, and which are under considerationin the present analysis, are enclosed in parentheses
National Program of Science and Technology (research lines)
Number of Groups
Basic Sciences (Earth sciences)
27
Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics (complex andintelligent systems, geographic and environmental informatics systems)
1
Energy and Mining Research (exploration and exploitation technologies
of mining and energy resources)
6
Environment, Biodiversity and Habitat (risk management and global
climate change)
19
Sea and Hydrobiological Resources (climatology and meteorology,
global change, oceanography and hydrography, marine geology andgeomorphology, minerals and hydrocarbons, alternative energies)
3
TOTAL
56

31

ScienTI Platform. www.colciencias.gov.co/scienti

Figure 1. Number of groups according to their category.

Figure 2. Classification of groups based on the type of institution they belong to.
Classification of groups based on the type of institution they belong toOf 56 groups registered in ScienTI Platform, 7% correspond to private entities, 16% to state entities,
13% to private universities, and 64% to public universities (Figure 2).
Classification of groups based on the year of creation
The first research groups in the field of Earth Sciences were created in 70’s and 80’s, but only in thelate 90’s the number of groups started increasing (Figure 3). This increase can be related to thedecrease of the energy and mining “boom”. As a consequence, universities and institutions provided
with more sophisticated technical equipment look at new problems more systematically.

Figure 3. Number of groups according to the year of group’s creation.

Figure 4. Distribution of the groups based on their fields of interest.
Classification of groups based on their field of interest
Figure 4 shows the distribution of the groups based on their field of interest:
Classification of groups based on the academic level of theirs leaders
According to the information registered on the ScienTI Platform, the leaders of the registered groups
have the following degrees: postdoctoral, doctoral, master and graduated. The classification of groups
based on the academic level of the group’s leaders is shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Classification of groups based on the academic level of the group’s leaders.

Table 2. Contribution of groups according to their category.
Presentation
Book’s
Articlesat scientificBooks
chapters
events
Qty.
%
Qty.
%
Qty.
%
Qty.
%
607
27
1254
36
56
18
39
11
Groups A and A1
257
11
449
13
49
16
73
21
Groups B
294
13
355
10
87
29
42
12
Groups C
629
27
1011
29
77
25
123
36
Groups D
504
22
425
12
37
12
69
20
Acknowledged
2291 100
3494
100
306
100
346
100
TOTAL

Thesis
Qty.
514
149
272
615
222
1772

%
29
8
15
35
13
100

Production of the groups according to their category
According to GrupLAC 32 the production of the research groups includes: Articles, book chapters,
research books, writing thesis or dissertations, grey literature, and other results not certified, results
related to the technical services or qualified consulting, products of disclosure and popularization of
results obtained from researches, technological products or processes, etc. Nevertheless the productsof the research groups are of diverse types, we present here the statistics of the verifiable products only
(see Table 2).
Considering the relation between the number of groups of each category and the quantity of products,
is clear that the contribution of groups of categories A1 and A is the most relevant.
EDUCATION AND JOB MARKETIn the National Information System of High Education (SNIES 33) there are 58 academic programs
somehow related to Earth Sciences 34. The classification of the number of these programs, according to
the academic level of the programs and their impact level, is presented in Table 3. A preliminary
32

GrupLAC http://201.234.78.173:8083/ciencia-war/
SNIES – Sistema Nacional de Información de Educación Superior (National Information System of High
Education of Colombia). www.mineducacion.gov.co/snies/
34
The results of this search were provided by COLCIENCIAS and the searched words were Geomatics,
Geoinformatics, Earth, Mineral, Cartography, Cadastral, Hydrography, Meteorology, Seismology, Geophysics,
Geodesy, Geography, Oceanography, Hydrology, Geology, Tectonics, Structural.
33

Table 3. Classification of the number of programs (related to Earth Sciences). The
classification presents the number of the programs, according to the academic level ofthe programs and their impact level (high, medium, low and very low).
Technical
Technology
Graduate program
Specialization
MasterDoctorate

No. of Institutions

High

MediumLow

Very Low

2
6
16
25
19
1

0
1
2
6
8
0

0
1
2
4
5
1

1
4
4
4
1
0

1
0
1
10
2
0

analysis of each program’s curriculum, based on a Delphi matrix, allowed assessing the contribution
level of different programs to the field of Earth Sciences. They are classified by High, Medium, Low
and Very Low. The programs with Medium and Low incidence can somehow contribute to theresearch in Earth Sciences, however, due to the program’s contents this contribution seems to be weak.
Professional Studies
Since the aim of this study is analyzing the actual state of Earth Sciences in Colombia, only the
programs directly related to the topic and with high incidence are considered. Among them, there are
two graduate programs: Geology and Oceanography. Additionally, even if in the search there were notregistered the programs of Geological Engineering and Mining Metallurgy Engineering of the
National University of Colombia in Medellin campus, they are included as belonging to the field. The
five (5) graduate programs, from the Geology field, which are active and full-time tuition programs
are offered by the universities: Caldas, Pamplona, EAFIT, UIS, and National University of Colombia.
Between 1987 and 1988, the percentage of aspirants to the Geology program in Colombia was
0.21% of a total. In Bogota the relation of applicants/admitted was greater than 10 to 1. It was slightly
less in Medellin, and equal at the Industrial University of Santander (UIS) and at the University of
Caldas. The number of students admitted per semester did not pass 30 in each one of these four
institutions (Briceño and Mojica 1993). Between 1990 and 1995, the average of admitted students
varied, but is mostly around 40 (Espinosa et al. 1998).
In 2008 and 2009, the relation of aspirants to the Geology program to a total number ofaspirants was 1% at the National University of Colombia (Table 4). The relation in Mining andMetallurgy Engineering program at the National University of Colombia in Medellin campus was 2%.
Students admitted to the Geology program represented 1% of the aspirants admitted in Bogota.
It was 2% in 2008 and 3% in 2009 in the case of the Geological Engineering program in Medellin. A
similar situation has happened in the Mining and Metallurgy Engineering program where thepercentage was 2%.
At the National University of Colombia, 11% of all aspirants were admitted to the Geology
program in 2009 (it is similar to the percentage reported in the late 80’s). In 2008, it was 13%. At thesame time, the Geological Engineering program in Medellin campus had 60% admitted students.
Briceño and Mojica (1993) state that the results of a survey performed in different universities
have revealed a big difference in physical, instrumental and human resources. The average number offull time professors per program was not greater than 15 in most of the cases, and less than 50% ofteachers have a postgraduate diploma. By 2010, the numbers became substantially greater.

2008
2009 I semester

Table 4. Relation of aspirants to geology profile programs in different universities 35.
Total
Admitted Aspirants Admitted
Program
Aspirants
per
per
per
per campus
campusprogram program
Geology
74,957
5,482
566
74
National University (Bogota campus)
Geological Engineering
11,6863,305
136
81
National University (Medellin campus)
Mining and Metallurgy Engineering
11,6863,305
254
74
National University (Medellin campus)
Geology Caldas University
989
125
Geology
260
52
Industrial University of Santander
Geology
44,0642,845
355
40
National University (Bogota campus)
Geological Engineering
7,213
1,647
103
46
National University (Medellin campus)
Mining and Metallurgy Engineering
7,213
1,647
142
39
National University (Medellin campus)
Geology Caldas University
59

Postgraduate Programs
At a postgraduate level, there are eight “Master” and five “Specialization” programs (Table 5).
Briceño and Mojica (1993) point out that the lack of postgraduate programs in the field ofEarth Sciences means a huge disadvantage in the case of Colombia, and a high economic and social
cost, due to the deficit of national experts and the dependence on the right solution of Mining
problems, the prospection and extraction of hydrocarbons, Geological Engineering and Environmental
Geology (geological risk problems), among others.
Specialized Laboratories
The Colombian universities are provided with different kind of laboratories: preparation of samples,
stereomicroscopy, photointerpretation, petrography, and paleontology. Particularly, the universities:
National of Colombia, EAFIT, UIS and Caldas, have academic licenses for specialized software andhardware on petroleum industrial analysis.
Between 2008 and 2010, the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) set up a national projectof the Earth Sciences Laboratories Network in order to outfit the universities that have Geology
programs with specialized laboratories. The aim of this Project is to increase the number of welltrained specialists nationwide and to offer to universities a possibility to have all the tools for
exploration of hydrocarbons. The fact of having a well-equipped laboratory strengthens research,
supports the industrial development and expedites country’s economy. The mentioned Project ispermanently supported and managed by COLCIENCIAS, and will allow mobility and academic
development on a collaborative scenario among all Geology schools.
Donated by ANH specialized laboratories are distributed as follows:• Industrial University of Santander (UIS) – Geochemistry.
• National University of Colombia, Bogota campus – Geophysics.
• University of Caldas – Stratigraphy.
• EAFIT – Remote Sensors.
• UPTC – Structural Geology.
• University of Pamplona – Petrophysics.
35

Information taken from the Universities’ statistics reports. www.admisiones.unal.edu.coTable 5. Postgraduate programs in Earth Sciences in Colombia 36.
Institution
ProgramSpecialization in geology
EAFIT University(geological cartography)
University Foundation Los Libertadores
Specialization in Geomatics
Military University Nueva GranadaSpecialization in Geomatics
Specialization in Earth Sciences and
EAFIT University
Environment
Specialization in Earth Sciences and
EAFIT University
Environment
Naval Academy Almirante PadillaSpecialization in Hydrography
Specialization in Planning and Integral
Santo Tomas University
Management of Hydrographic Basins
National University of Colombia
Master in Geomatics
Industrial University of Santander
Master in Geology
National University of Colombia
Master of Science - Geophysics
National University of Colombia
Master of Science - Geology
National University of Colombia
Master of Science - Meteorology
University of Caldas
Master in Earth Sciences
EAFIT University
Master in Earth Sciences
Naval Academy Almirante Padilla
Master in Oceanography

City
Medellin
BogotaBogotaMedellin
PereiraCartagena
BogotaBogotaBucaramanga
BogotaBogotaBogotaManizales
Medellin
Cartagena

Job Performance
The top job sectors are the mining, petroleum and civil engineering. Nevertheless, universities do notincorporate labor needs fast enough and do not recognize, which of the society and company's
requirements are circumstantial or and which structural, without their total integration in theredefinition of the programs.
Giraldo et al. (2005) point out that the unemployment rate rises in 3 years up to 7.0%
compared with 0% in 2002. It can be explained by the major participation of graduates, who in 2004
were just starting to join the job market, which affected the unemployment in general. The
underemployment that distress geologists basically is the lack of working hours (15.8%). It means thatthe graduates, especially those who work in the fields related to their professional profile, would be
able to work more hours per day. In 2005 the underemployment rate is 22.8%, 3.3% greater than in
2002 because, unlike the past study, in which the underemployment rate was concentrated in lack ofworking hours, actually 2.6% are underemployed due to the competence and 5.3% because of theinadequate earnings.
The majority of the professionals are working in the economic sector, where the labor isrelated to the graduates’ task. 24.5% of them work in the exploitation of mines and quarries, and20.8% in the educational sector. The average salary per month is equivalent to: 3950 USD for those
who work abroad and 1320 for those who reside in Colombia.
The numbers reveal that geologists join the job market easily because 63.7% get a job before
or right after the graduation and the majority gets it after 7 months of searching. However, in otherfields the average time of job search is 30.4 months, which is 3 times longer than in general (10.1
months); in addition, the job would not correspond to the formation in geology.
The job rotation is more dynamic for those who have their profile related more to theadministrative work than with the research one. Therefore, the first group has more mobility
36

Information taken from SNIES.

(depending on the administrative post) than the second one. Different factors influence these results:
few job sources for geologists due to a still incipient development of geological research, theorganizational structure of entities where they work and the type of contract.
Geologists perform their postgraduate studies in order to deepen or complement theirformation (83.3%). Only 16.9% decide to change the qualification or to extend their work possibilities.
Mostly, these are employees of the administrative sector, unemployed or inactive specialists. There aredifferent options of entrepreneurship: the graduates who have changed their profiles founded
companies specialized in construction and in wholesale and retail commerce. Those who haveconserved their initial formation created consulting companies and companies in the mines and quarry
exploitation sector.
RESEARCH, PUBLICATIONS AND EVENTS
Funding
Since 1970 until 2010, in the field of Geosciences, in association with different universities, research
centers and companies, COLCIENCIAS has co-financed 127 research projects. Table 6 shows thecontributions (in USD) of COLCIENCIAS and the other institutions (counterparts).
This amount corresponds to the 2.5% of all projects co-financed in the Basic Sciences
National Research Program (according to the report provided by COLCIENCIAS). This amount,destined to Earth Sciences, obviously is not enough to cover the necessities of this strategic research
topic. The number of projects co-financed by COLCIENCIAS per year is shown in Figure 6.
As a Technology Development Center for Earth Sciences in Colombia, ECOPETROL has theColombian Institute of Petroleum (ICP), whose objective is to conduct research, development and totransfer strategic technologies, which allow maximizing the benefit of the operation, and optimal riseof hydrocarbon sector. The projects developed by the ICP are entirely financed by ECOPETROL.

Table 6. Contributions (in USD) of COLCIENCIAS and the other entities to theresearch projects in Colombia.
COLCIENCIAS
Other institutions (counterparts)
Total
9,240,354
11,911,311
21,151,665

Figure 6. Number of projects, in Earth Sciences, co-financed by COLCIENCIAS per year.

Table 7. Publications in the field of Earth Sciences in Colombia 37.
ISSN

Journal0012-7353

DYNA

0120-5609

Engineering and Research0120-0542

Scientific Bulletin CIOH

0122-9761

Bulletin of Marine andCoastal Researches

1794-6190

Earth Sciences Research
Journal0120-0283

Bulletin of Geology

0120-3630

0121-3423

Bulletin of Earth Sciences
CT&F Science, Technology
and Future
Journal of Colombian
Academy of Exact, Physicaland Natural Sciences
Advances in HydraulicResources
Scientific Bulletin CCCP

0120-9833

Energetics

1794-9165

Engineering and Science
Bulletin of Colombian
Energy Observatory
Colombian Geology

0122-5383
0370-3908
0121-5701

1657-480X
0072-0992

Publishing House
National University of Colombia
Medellin campus
National University of Colombia
Bogota campus
Center of Oceanographic andHydrographic Researches CIOH
Institute of Marine and Coastal
Researches José Benito Vives deAndreis, INVEMAR
National University of Colombia

PUBLINDEX
classification
A2
A3
A4
A
B

Industrial University of Santander(UIS)
National University of Colombia
ECOPETROL S.A.
Colombian Institute of Petroleum

B

Colombian Academy of Exact,
Physical and Natural Sciences

B

National University of Colombia
Medellin campus
General Marine Direction
National University of Colombia
Medellin campus
EAFIT University

B

B

C
C
C
C

Colombian Observatory of Energy

C

National University of Colombia

C

Publications, information and documentation
At a national level, in Colombia, publications related to the field of Earth Sciences and registered in
PUBLINDEX 38 are the following (Table 7).
Of the fifteen (15) Colombian journals classified in PUBLINDEX, only a few have articles byauthors from other countries and research results of high impact level. It is important to strengthen thecompetences at a level of scientific divulgation, in order to be considered as a country where theresearchers would like investigates and publishing their results. Therefore, joining efforts andresources of different institutions for one publication could be the most convenient way to be noticed
by the international community.
Additionally, we must mention: the Geological Bulletin of INGEOMINAS, which has been
publishing the results of the studies performed by this institution since 1953, and the Special
Geological Publications of INGEOMINAS, published since 1978 no periodically.
It is necessary to identify the results of researches through the program of technologicalsurveillance by answering questions, such as: where are co-authors of Colombian researchers from?
37

Data taken from Publindex.
PUBLINDEX – Sistema Nacional de Indexación y Homologación de Revistas Especializadas de Ciencia,
Tecnología e Innovación (National System of Indexing and Homologation of Science, Technology andInnovation Specialized Journals). 201.234.78.173:8084/publindex/

38

Which journals publish their results of research? Who are the most productive authors and in which
field?
Scientific Events
The scientific community organizes different events in Colombia, where researchers meet and show
their last results:• Colombian Congress of Geology. This event is organized every two years by different Colombian
schools of Earth Sciences with the support of the Colombian Geological Society. Technicalscientific developments are introduced through conferences, poster sessions, meetings and forums.
• Technical week of Geology. It is an academic event that favors to the integration spaces anddivulgation of the student’s activities. It is organized every two years, intermittently with theColombian Congress of Geology, with the support of the Colombian Geological Society.
• Bolivarian Symposium of Petroleum Exploration of the Sub-Andeans Basins. This event isorganized by the Colombian Association of Geologists and Geophysicists of Petroleum every
three years. Geologic topics on the exploration of hydrocarbons are considered.
• Latin American Congress of Seismology and Colombian Congress of Seismology.
Approximately every two years the Groups of Geophysics of the National University of Colombia
and the Antonio Nariño University, the Quimbaya Group of the University of Quindio 39 , theSeismological and Geophysical Observatory of Colombian Southwest 40 , with the support of
INGEOMINAS through the National Seismologic Network of Colombia, and seismic
observatories in Pasto, Manizales and Popayan cities, organize this event in order to advance inthe knowledge related to the seismic phenomena and their impact on the society.
• Other events are: Colombian Meteorology Congress; Seminar about the Colombian Quaternary.

CONCLUSIONS
It is unquestionable that a long road has been run in order to consolidate the Earth Sciences inColombia. Probably, most of negative aspects detected in the past have been overcome. However, it isnecessary to move forward having in mind the following strategic key points:• Consolidate research groups through the research and publications of high impact level.
• New technological innovation schemes in the field of Earth Sciences should be assessed.
Promotion of the interdisciplinarity could help to increase technological production taking inconsideration new realities.
• Strategies should be identified in order to close gaps among the State, universities and the
productive sector that still exist in some fields.
• Implementation of the National Network of Laboratories must be continued, as well as the new
infrastructure with their collaborative use by institutions, stimulating the generation of joint
cooperation projects with Colombian research groups and research networks from other countries(state institutions, universities, etc.). It will help also to eliminate the duplicates of research work.
• A graduate program in geophysics has to be consolidated. The petroleum and mine industry
demands it and the evolution of new scientific concepts allows it. It is also necessary to promote
the creation of advanced formation programs, especially doctorates in Earth Sciences, which
integrate more than 50 years of academic history and outline in the future new niches of researchof high impact.
• It is necessary to undertake new graduate academic programs, such as Meteorology, in search ofincorporating and revitalizing new generations of experts that will be able to investigate somecomplex topics as Risk Management and Climatic Change.

39
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http://osso.univalle.edu.co

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