“The South Also Exists” – The first course in NIR spectroscopy in Uruguay

The utilization of infrared (IR) spectroscopy, particularly near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, has grown in South America in recent years, as demonstrated by the wide range of recent applications. While NIR spectroscopy is gaining traction in many fields, it is not yet a widely adopted technology in South America as in other regions of the world due to the cost of instrumentation as well as the lack of critical mass and training (e.g. university level) in both spectroscopy and chemometrics. Efforts have been made by different research groups and universities in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. However, small countries like Uruguay did not have the opportunity to access to formal training due to many reasons. Consequently, the first seminar and workshop in Spanish on the application of NIR spectroscopy and chemometrics was organised by the Faculty of Agronomy (Montevideo, Uruguay) in May 2025.