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Currently, the demands of professional performance require educational strategies that can generate meaningful learning and develop competencies in students to train professionals capable of solving problems through innovation, so quality research is imperative. This paper is a description of the understanding of the general concept of competencies in higher education and the specific concept of research competencies, as well as the importance of their development in university students in the area of sciences. Overall, several authors’ perspectives on the development of competencies are addressed to collect fundamental ideas about their impact on the educational field. Since they are key competencies for research, they represent an excellent opportunity to improve the scientific and social fields.