The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) announces the first edition of the “SpinUOC Rural” awards, aimed at projects framed within the scope of contemporary ruralities—that is, projects developed in municipalities with up to 5,000 inhabitants or with direct application to the challenges and issues faced by rural areas, such as depopulation, digital connectivity, natural resource management, access to services, or economic and social revitalization.
This recognition is part of the #SpinUOC program, the UOC’s annual entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer event, where each year eight projects from the community compete for three cash prizes.
This initiative seeks to highlight and address current challenges in rural areas. With 17% of the UOC community living in rural zones, this new award reinforces the University’s commitment to diversity, equality, and innovation as strategic pillars for the future.
The best project will receive a 10.000€ prize and will become the eighth finalist of SpinUOC, gaining the opportunity to compete for one of the other 10.000€ prizes at stake.
Any individual, whether or not they are part of the UOC community, may participate in this call with a project developed in municipalities with up to 5,000 inhabitants or directly applicable to the challenges and issues of contemporary ruralities, provided that, at the time of submitting the application, they meet the following requirements:
- Be a natural person over 18 years of age.
- Have a business idea or innovative project, regardless of its level of maturity.
Rules on compatibility and incompatibility between SpinUOC calls in the same edition
- Incompatibility between participation in the general SpinUOC call and the SpinUOC Rural call.
If a project could be considered under both categories, the entrepreneur must choose which call to apply for, as it will not be possible to participate in both at the same time. - Compatibility between the SpinUOC Rural call and the SpinUOC Dona call.
However, to participate in the SpinUOC Dona awards, it is a mandatory requirement to have previously registered for either the general SpinUOC call or the SpinUOC Rural call.
To participate, applicants must submit a pitch video.
This call follows the timeline detailed below:
- Deadline for proposal submission: January 18, 2026
- Deadline for submission of the project’s technical documentation (canvas + 90-second pitch video + executive summary): February 8, 2026
- Notification to all participants of the ten preselected projects: by February 23, 2026
- Deadline for submission of the updated technical documentation (canvas + 90-second pitch video + executive summary): March 22, 2026
Once the second phase of individualized mentoring is completed, a jury will review the preselected proposals to choose the 4 best projects (and two backup projects), evaluating the submitted documentation according to the following criteria:
(1) strategic alignment with the UOC and social impact, (2) innovativeness, (3) feasibility and market transferability, and (4) entrepreneurial profile and presentation skills of the project lead.
Jury members chosen for their links to the UOC:
● Between one and two members representing the Office of the Vice Rector for Research, Knowledge Transfer and Entrepreneurship at the UOC, of whom one will act as secretary of the jury.
● Jury members chosen for their links to contemporary rural contexts:
● At least one institutional member from among the UOC's political, economic and social partner institutions.
● Between one and three representatives of organizations from rural areas or with links to such areas.
● A member representing the Ramon Molinas Foundation (RMF), an organization that collaborates with the UOC to carry out SpinUOC.
The exact composition of the jury members will be notified before the start of the programme, and will be announced on the Hubbik website.
The best project will receive a 10.000€ prize and will become the eighth finalist of SpinUOC 2026, where it will have the opportunity to compete for one of the other 10.000€ prizes.
In addition, all participants will have access for one year to Hubbik’s resources and opportunities related to entrepreneurship. To do so, if they wish, they must register for the Entrepreneurial Process Guidance Program, which is independent of participation in the SpinUOC Rural Award.
The awards will be granted through a selection process that ensures transparency, equal opportunities, and objectivity in the evaluation.
SpinUOC is an entrepreneurship promotion program of the UOC, coordinated by the Hubbik platform and supported by the Ramon Molinas Foundation.
SpinUOC could be co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the European Union, within the framework of the ERDF Operational Programme of Catalonia 2021-2027.
Do you want more information?
Download the program guidelines
Registration
From October 27, 2025, to January 18, 2026