{"id":520930,"date":"2026-08-11T15:51:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T19:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/mescyt-awards-three-university-startups-with-rd1-6-million\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T15:51:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T19:51:42","slug":"mescyt-awards-three-university-startups-with-rd1-6-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/uncategorized\/mescyt-awards-three-university-startups-with-rd1-6-million\/","title":{"rendered":"MESCyT awards three university startups with RD$1.6 million"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Santo Domingo.\u2013<\/strong> The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MESCyT) recognized this Tuesday the three winning projects of the 2026 National Entrepreneurship Competition<\/strong>, as part of its initiatives to promote innovation, research, and the development of solutions with social and economic impact in the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the ceremony, the proposals that took the top three places were awarded, following an evaluation process carried out by a jury that assessed the projects presented by students from different higher education institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first place<\/strong> went to an initiative from the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henr\u00edquez Ure\u00f1a (UNPHU)<\/strong>, which received a prize of RD$500,000<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second place<\/strong> was awarded to Agro Smart<\/strong>, a project linked to the agricultural sector, whose members received RD$450,000<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the third place<\/strong> went to Aula Digital<\/strong>, an initiative of the Open University for Adults (UAPA)<\/strong>, which received RD$400,000<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center (CEI) of the Technological University of the Cibao Oriental (UTECO)<\/strong> was recognized for achieving the best management during 2025. The distinction was accompanied by a contribution of RD$250,000<\/strong> to continue strengthening its programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the awards and the contribution granted to the university center represent an investment of RD$1.6 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also read: MESCyT explains who can apply for “Excellence without Barriers”<\/a><\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

During the event, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Rafael Santos Bad\u00eda<\/strong>, stated that innovation, entrepreneurship, and scientific research must become tools to generate knowledge, jobs, and new opportunities for the development of the country<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santos Bad\u00eda maintained that nations that manage to generate wealth from knowledge are those that invest in research and develop instruments and processes capable of responding to the needs of society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The official highlighted that innovation initiatives can contribute to addressing challenges in sectors such as health, the environment, and agriculture, provided they are aimed at generating value and offering solutions to concrete problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cCuriosity is the starting point of research\u201d, stated the minister.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In that sense, he urged students to maintain an attitude of learning, experimentation, and a constant search for new solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santos Bad\u00eda also pointed out that the proposals that did not win will not necessarily be discarded, since the MESCyT contemplates evaluating those that demonstrate relevance, viability, and development possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entrepreneurship as a way to generate opportunities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Director of Entrepreneurship at MESCyT, Giovanna Pe\u00f1a<\/strong>, highlighted that the National Entrepreneurship Competition seeks to strengthen the capabilities of university students and motivate them to transform their ideas into sustainable projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pe\u00f1a explained that the process is carried out in stages and seeks for young people to learn to identify problems, design solutions, and turn their proposals into initiatives with the potential to generate social and economic impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, he thanked the participating universities, the students, and the jury in charge of evaluating the projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UTECO management recognized<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

During the activity, the work of the UTECO Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center<\/strong> was also recognized for its support of students and its contribution to the development of innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives within the university community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MESCyT reaffirmed its intention to continue supporting projects emerging from higher education institutions, with the purpose of strengthening research, innovation, and entrepreneurship as pillars for sustainable development and the generation of opportunities for Dominican youth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Santo Domingo.\u2013 The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MESCyT) recognized this Tuesday the three winning projects of the 2026 National Entrepreneurship Competition, as part of its initiatives to promote innovation, research, and the development of solutions with social and economic impact in the Dominican Republic. During the ceremony, the proposals that took the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133543,"featured_media":520931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-520930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-2bw6","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-11-at-3.46.10-PM.jpeg","dum_api":{"author_name":"Carolina \u00c1lvarez","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2026-05-26-at-5.31.57-PM-96x96.jpeg","categories_name":["Uncategorized"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-11-at-3.46.10-PM.jpeg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133543"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}