UC3M, Santander and Airbus give more than 225,000 euros in awards for research, excellence and entrepreneurship
5/31/22
Today, the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) presents the 2022 Excellence Awards, which are supported by Banco Santander through Santander Universities and Airbus. These awards recognise the university community’s effort, quality, innovation and contribution to excellence.
During the event, the Emprende Awards were also presented, which aim to promote entrepreneurial culture and which are awarded to Final Bachelor’s Degree Projects (TFG in its Spanish acronym) and Final Master’s Degree Projects (TFM in its Spanish acronym) with an entrepreneurial profile.
This event, which will take place in the University’s Aula Magna, celebrates the 25th anniversary of the UC3M Social Council. The event was attended by UC3M’s Vice Chancellor, Juan Romo; the president of Santander Universities and the University’s Social Council, Matías Rodríguez Inciarte; the director of Santander Universities and Universia Spain, Susana García Espinel; on behalf of Airbus, the head of Collaboration with Universities, Cristina García Aliste and the General Director of Universities and Higher Artistic Education of the Community of Madrid, Ricardo Díaz Martín, as well as the former president of the Social Council, Rodrigo Echenique and the former UC3M Vice Chancellor, Daniel Peña. A commemorative report on the 25th anniversary of the Social Council will also be presented.
In this fourteenth year of the Excellence Awards, 192,000 euros will be distributed among the 52 winners. Among the winners are 10 young PhD researchers of international repute, receiving 15,000 euros, and 22 students who have excelled due to their excellent academic record, receiving 1,000 euros. In addition, 20,000 euros are awarded to a team of administrative and service staff. Lastly, a diploma and recognition trophy are awarded to 10 former University students who stand out for their outstanding professional development or entrepreneurial activity in two categories: those who graduated between 2016 and 2018 and those who graduated before 2016.
The Excellence Awards aim to promote research and value the work carried out by four University groups: young PhD research staff, students, administration and services staff and alumni, giving visibility to their projects and their academic and professional careers.
Emprende Awards
During the event, the Emprende Awards were also presented. The TFM Emprende Awards honour work carried out in the 2020/21 academic year by UC3M master's degree students who create business ideas that stand out due to their brilliance and viability. The first TFM Emprende Award, with a 10,000 euro prize, went to “Crea Producciones”, a project by Lucía Villegas Rico, from the UC3M Master's Degree in Entrepreneurship and Business Creation. The second TFM Emprende Award, with a 5,000 euro prize, went to Víctor Prieto Fernández, a student of the UC3M Master's Degree in Entrepreneurship and Business Creation, with his business proposal "HEYMATE!".
The TFG Emprende Awards honour students who have completed innovative Final Bachelor’s Degree Projects. The total cash prize amounts to 20,000 euros, which is used to finance entrepreneurial or training activities in this area. The first TFG Emprende award, with a 10,000 euro prize, was received by Esther Montero Blanco, from the UC3M Biomedical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree, and Laura Garrido Cediel, a UC3M Mechanical Engineering graduate, for the “LIFEBOT. Robot Móvil para Asistencia Hospitalaria” (“LIFEBOT. Mobile Robot for Hospital Care”) project. The second award, also with a 10,000 euro prize, went to the “Pública Diferencia” (“Public Difference”) project, developed by Andrea Monroy Gómez, from the UC3M Business Administration Bachelor’s Degree.
Banco Santander and UC3M
Banco Santander's support for the Excellence Awards, through Santander Universities, is part of the relationship that both institutions have maintained since 1999 for the development of various academic projects. Both entities have recently renewed their collaboration agreement to continue launching scholarship and award projects and programmes to promote academic mobility, university entrepreneurship and excellence, in addition to supporting UC3M's research to attract top-level national and international researchers through initiatives such as the UC3M-Santander Chairs of Excellence or the CONEX-Plus programme.
Banco Santander remains firmly committed to progress and inclusive and sustainable growth with a pioneering and consolidated commitment to education, entrepreneurship and employment, which it has been developing through Santander Universities for more than 25 years and which distinguishes it from the rest of the world’s financial institutions. Since its launch, the bank has allocated more than 2,100 million euros and has supported more than 790,000 students, professionals and entrepreneurial projects through agreements with nearly 1,000 universities and institutions in 15 countries.
UC3M is a Spanish public university that excels in research, teaching and innovation. It is among the best universities in the world in the QS World University Rankings 2022 and among the best universities for the employability of its graduates, according to the latest edition of the Times Higher Education (THE) Global University Employability Ranking. UC3M is the first university in Europe to obtain ACEEU dual accreditation for its contribution and impact on the industrial and social fabric, and it also has other accreditations and quality awards, such as the EUR-ACE seal in the field of engineering or the AACSB accreditation in business and finance programmes.
The UC3M Social Council fulfils, among others, the role of encouraging society's participation in university activity, especially in its financing, and fostering relations between the University and its cultural, professional, economic and social environment.
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