SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) -- Microsoft announced the creation of a Latin American virtual research foundation dedicated to unifying the region's scientists working on potentially world-changing projects.

Microsoft said the Latin American Collaborative Research Federation will enable scientists separated by borders or languages in Latin America and the Caribbean to work together to solve pressing problems.

"Latin America is home to some of the finest minds in technology and science today," Microsoft chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie said at an academic summit in the Chilean city of Vina del Mar about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Santiago. "New approaches in information and communication technologies can have great impact in a wide range of areas that are crucial to the region, including education, healthcare, agribusiness, micro-economies, energy and the environment."

Microsoft is providing nearly a million dollars in funding for the federation, which is a "virtual institute" administered by Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile and the Universidad de Chile.

The universities will form a "hub" connecting via Internet technology with academic institutions throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, according to Microsoft director of external research and programs Sailesh Chutani.

The list of centers in the network will be finalized in July and the initial request for research proposals will be announced by the end of September.

The first research grants are expected to be awarded in January.

"There is a sense of urgency that we need to do this quickly," Chutani told AFP in a telephone interview from the conference in Chile. "In Latin America they are really concerned about being left behind by India and China, and see the payoff of investment in research and development and education in those countries."

In the past five years the Redmond, Washington-based computer software giant has established academic research institutes in France, Australia, Italy, Japan, Brazil and the United States.

The federation in Latin America is the first "virtual" institute created by Microsoft.

"This is a winning situation for everyone," said Ignacio Casas Raposo, professor of Information Technology, Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Chile. "The federation and combined research agenda we are building with Microsoft will be a catalyst for collaboration across the region, and will enable participation from the broader academic community."

Technology researchers in Latin America are dispersed among varying countries, and when they do seek to collaborate on research, the tendency is to look to colleagues in Europe or the United States, Microsoft said.

"We spent a year talking to policy makers and scientists to see what it will take to really put Latin America on the map and be a player down the road," Chutani said. "We want to give an infrastructure and framework for scientists to collaborate and build a critical mass so that collectively they can do research that is meaningful."

Research projects in the first round of funding are expected to focus on biodiversity in life-rich ecosystems such as the Amazon and using mobile Internet technology to improve health care in remote areas.

Research teams requesting funding must be comprised of scientists from multiple countries in the region and results will be made available throughout Latin America, according to Chutani.