The University was founded as an extension of the mining education imparted in the region since the nineteenth century.

Its objectives have been to create, promote and divulge the region's scientific, technological, cultural and artistical advancements.

The University consists of a Main Building and 6 campuses located in La Serena, Coquimbo and Ovalle.

Ignacio Domeyko arrived from Poland on June 3, 1838 to educate miners, having been hired by the Chilean Government as the Coquimbo Department's Institute of Chemistry and Mineralogy's professor.

This Chilean university, college, or tertiary institution related article is a stub.