On October 5th and 6th, the UA hosted this initiative aimed at boosting the commercial potential of research results and business ideas. The program, inaugurated by the Deputy Vice-Rector for Knowledge Transfer, José Luis Todolí, took place in the coworking space of the Colegio Mayor and was targeted at researchers, doctoral, and master's students.
Guided by innovation experts, participants worked on their projects, presenting them in three minutes to a specialized jury. They received support for market analysis, aligning ideas with concrete applications, and effectively communicating their work.
Professor Ana Beltrán from the UA's Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition, and Bromatology shared her experience with the Rebotanics project, which focuses on transforming agri-food by-products into active and functional ingredients.
The three award-winning projects were: 'Virginia', a digital platform for classifying comprehensive care needs, which received the Audience Award; 'Pharmeutectics', proposing sustainable drug production using residue-free eutectic solvents, awarded the Best Runner Prize; and 'Dida', a digital tool for analyzing social media content on nutrition, body image, and well-being, which won the Best Pitch Award.
Other participating projects addressed areas such as pelvic floor measurement devices ('Loea Pred'), windows as clean energy sources ('Sundow'), biological solutions for crop protection ('Chitocarbs'), valorization of Ocean Posidonia biomass ('Insignia'), a self-care session app ('Mochilapp'), and the capture of micro and nanoplastics in water ('Desaborización').
In previous editions, the program has hosted 48 projects, some of which have already become Knowledge-Based Companies (EBC) or received other accolades.
This initiative is part of the UA's institutional entrepreneurship program ua:emprende, in collaboration with the Vice-Rectorate for Transfer, Entrepreneurship, and Scientific Dissemination, the Vice-Rectorate for Students and Employment, the Research Results Transfer Service-OTRI, the Employment Center, and the Alicante Science Park. The project is supported by the Conselleria de Industria, Turismo, Innovación y Comercio of the Generalitat Valenciana.
