Oficina de Postdoctorados

About Santiago and first accommodation

Santiago is a big city. The urban cluster of counties and neighborhoods (comunas) effectively associated to Greater Santiago amounts to about 8 million people (almost 40% of the national population).

One can find some write-ups on Santiago, its neighborhoods and the rest of Chile in the web page of the National Service of Tourism.

The university doesn't provide any type of accommodation neither inside nor outside the campus. You can use an open service such as Airbnb to book your accommodation, or feel free to contact our administration for special discounts with ContactChile

It is recommended to get a temporary accommodation for the first month, and then select your permanent one when you are in Santiago. For permanent housing you can check at Portal Inmobiliario

Campus Life and transportation

The neighborhood around the Campus San Joaquín is neither very pretty nor perhaps very safe very late at night if one walks alone, although incidents nearby are very rare and usually connected with events like high stress football matches in the Colo-Colo stadium, located just 1 km away. The campus itself is quite safe and guarded 24 hours a day by personnel on mountain bikes. Every entrance is manned. You need an electronic key to gain access to the buildings, and only authorized personnel, professors, postdocs and some students are given such keys. However, if you bring in your laptop to work, you are encouraged to use a security cable and lock your door when you leave your office. The bus stop and metro station are directly outside the main entrance, and it is very safe to take a bus or the subway (called Metro) even until quite late at night (but note that the Metro closes around 22h45). Furthermore, one can ask the guards to call a taxi to pick you up at the entrance. Regular cabs can also be waved down from the main entrance easily at any time of the day.

Some graduate students and postdocs (although basically no professors) live in the university neighborhood. However, access to our campus is very easy, whether by metro, bus or car, from basically any place in town.

Campus San Joaquín UC

Take a look to the metro system at Metro de Santiago

Living Expenses

In this section, prices are quoted in Chilean pesos if not specified otherwise. The current exchange rate available at http://si3.bcentral.cl/Indicadoressiete/secure/Indicadoresdiarios.aspx.

The cost of living is similar to the U.S. or Europe (though not as expensive as in California or New York, for instance, or some cities in Western Europe). Food and raw materials are generally cheaper (particularly bread, fruits, and vegetables), housing varies widely depending on neighborhood, clothing more expensive (by about a factor 1.5), and mechanical or electronic devices are also more expensive (typically between 20% and 50% more). If you plan on bringing any household appliances with you, note that the local system uses 220 V and 50 Hz. Transformers for 110-220 V can easily be purchased in Chile, although the required adapter plugs may be trickier to find—bring your own with you, if you can.

Public transportation in Santiago is cheap, with about 800 pesos for a one-way trip in either bus, subway (called Metro, consisting of five lines crossing much of Santiago), or a combination of both. There is a Metro station, San Joaquín, just steps away from the main gate of the University, and from there you can easily get to most places in town where you might need to go. You are advised to get a "BIP!" Card, which is an electronic card that works for the Metro and buses. Buses and the Metro can be very full at rush hour, but many in the Institute use both buses and the subway regularly to come to work. In particular, Santiago's Metro trains are modern, fast, clean and safe. Taxis are also relatively cheap in Chile, compared to the U.S., Western Europe, and even other places in Latin America. Gasoline prices are around 800 Chilean pesos per liter.

Unfortunately, in the last year or two, it has become more difficult to find good apartments at good value, with the best places likely to rent the same day they are listed. A modern, well-located 1-bedroom (2-bedroom) apartment typically costs around 400,000 (500,000) CLP per month, excluding common expenses. Rent of a house with two bedrooms, two+1/2 restrooms, a service bedroom, and a nice garden on the outskirts of the city, down the pre-Andean hills, goes at about 600,000-700,000 CLP. Many available rental options can be found on the either in the classified section of the newspapers or online (see, e.g., www.corredoresintegrados.cl, www.vivaqui.com, www.procasa.cl, www.portalinmobiliario.com, inmuebles.mercadolibre.cl) and to find out where exactly a given address is located, point your browser to www.mapcity.com. There are also apartment placement companies which can streamline the process significantly for the equivalent of one month's rent.

A typical weekly purchase at the supermarket for 2 adults with a 3 year old kid is about 200,000 CLP. It would be cheaper if one bought less wine, frozen fish (fresh fish is cheaper), expensive meat cuts, etc. Shopping for fresh vegetables, meat, and fish at the various open markets around the city will generally yield better quality at better prices.

Internet is more expensive than in the U.S. or Europe, typically costs around 30,000 CLP for high-speed (broadband wireless) connection. There are several Internet providers in the city (such as Movistar, VTR or Telefonica), also offering phone line and cable TV, with many U.S. and European channels in addition to the Latin American ones, so one can watch TV in English, French, Italian, German, etc. Available channels include CNN (English and Spanish), BBC, RAI, Discovery, FilmZone, HBO, Cartoon Network, ESPN, FoxSport, etc. Such a triple pack (fast internet+telephone+TV) costs about 50,000 CLP. Note that you need to obtain your Chilean I.D. card (commonly referred to as RUT or carnet) before purchasing any such services. Request your RUT as soon as possible upon your arrival: It usually takes three weeks to just over a month before a foreign citizen's RUT is ready. You will also need your RUT to open a bank account. Below, we give 2 examples of itemized monthly expenses, first from the point of view of a professor with a family, and then from that of a single postdoc:

Example of monthly expenses for a four-person family, in Chilean pesos:

Rent (a nice, 5 small bedroom, 3 bathroom house with a small garden in a nice neighborhood, not very close to campus): 700,000;

A good private school for 1 child (public schools are free, but are often not as good as the private ones in Chile): 300,000 (the total range of possibilities goes at least a factor of two either way from this number);

Nursery school (mornings only) for 2-year old child: 300,000;Various utility bills (phone, water, electricity, cable TV): about 80,000;

Various utility bills (phone, water, electricity, cable TV): about 80,000;

Nana (full-time monthly salary and benefits for a woman who does the cleaning, cooking, etc., and takes care of the children when they are not at school): 350,000 to 400,000. Hiring a "nana" is quite common and most people in the Institute do it to help with at least some of the cleaning at their homes;
Supermarket (food, etc.): about 400,000.
Rent (a modern, 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment in a fancy neighborhood, like Providencia or Las Condes, 20-30 mins by bus or metro to campus): 450,000 including common expenses;
Various utility bills (phone, water, electricity, gas, cable TV): about 80,000;
Supermarket (food, etc.): about 250,000;
Nana (weekly visits to clean up the house, iron clothes, etc.): about 100,000;
Social activities (drinks, clubs etc.): depends, of course, on how much you drink and go out. Typically, a Saturday night out with friends in a bar will cost about 25,000 pesos, including snacks and a few drinks. You will find that you can live without hardships and can easily afford weekend trips to the coast or the mountains. 

Weather

On the good side, Santiago has an extremely nice weather pattern in the spring, summer, and fall, probably most similar to Northern California or some places in Southern Europe. It is generally fairly dry, with nearly all rain concentrated in the winter months. During the summer months, weeks can easily go by without you noticing a single cloud in the sky. Early mornings tend to be cold, while the afternoons warm, with a swing of perhaps 15°C within the same day not uncommon. Maximum temperatures in the summer tend to be near 35°C, minimum temperatures in the winter rarely go below 0°C. It very rarely hails or snows in the city. This climate has meant that central heating is common only in the more modern buildings, whereas air conditioning remains relatively rare (and unnecessary) in most places. That being said, the IA's offices are equipped with heating and air conditioning systems.