SpinUOC 2024: the UOC's entrepreneurship programme is now accepting entries

"Our mission is to fulfil the dreams and expectations of our community and our students." With these words, Àngels Fitó, rector of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), opened the final event of the SpinUOC entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer programme last June. Now, the University is preparing to welcome the next batch of entrepreneurs: until 21 January members of the UOC community can enter projects and ideas for SpinUOC 2024.

"Entrepreneurship is essential for us, not only promoting it through initiatives such as SpinUOC, but also integrating it into the way we do things and our programmes," said Fitó at last year's final. "Since we started this initiative, 1,200 projects, 1,200 ideas, 1,200 dreams and 1,200 entrepreneurial initiatives have been submitted. We have loved supporting them and trying to make them happen."

Who can take part in SpinUOC?

As in previous years, the new SpinUOC, organized by the Hubbik platform, is aimed at all UOC students (for example, a bachelor's or master's degree final project can become an entrepreneurial project), as well as anyone who has studied at the university (the Alumni community) or who is a member of the teaching, research or administrative staff. The only essential requirements are to have an entrepreneurial project or idea and to be part of the UOC community.

How does SpinUOC work?

Eight finalists will be selected from all the SpinUOC 2024 entries and will be presented at a final event in Barcelona on 27 June. At this event, three prizes will be awarded: one for the best entrepreneurial project, which will be decided by a jury of experts; another for the project with the greatest social impact, awarded by the Ramon Molinas Foundation, and a third for the best presentation, which will be chosen by the audience attending the event. The prizes in the first two categories have doubled in value compared to previous years, and the winners will receive €6,000, €4,000 and €2,000 in cash, respectively.

All projects submitted to SpinUOC 2024, regardless of their stage of development, will have access to entrepreneurship training materials and will be able to put together a business model canvas, a 90-second pitch and an executive summary. Up to 20 entries will be short-listed and the candidates will get personalized advice before the finalists are chosen.

The eight finalists will receive one-to-one mentoring and a ticket to attend 4 Years From Now (4YFN) in 2025, the start-up event at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Projects may also be selected to be featured at the UOC stand at this international event.

Participant satisfaction

"When I talk about entrepreneurship, I like to highlight three concepts: perseverance, environment and talent," said Àngels Fitó at last June's final. "There is a stereotype of the entrepreneur as someone who has a spark of creativity, but entrepreneurship requires perseverance and commitment over time. The environment, the ecosystem, is what makes things happen, and this is where the UOC comes in. And we find talent in all of humanity, regardless of age, gender, sex, country or place of origin."

Perseverance, environment and talent, three characteristics shared by all the projects presented at last year's SpinUOC event. "SpinUOC's support is helping us break into other parts of Spain and has provided us with valuable contacts. We are also fortunate to have the UOC's continued support," said María Martínez, who is studying for the UOC's Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and Management. She was the joint winner of the jury prize at SpinUOC 2023 with Fernando Carrasco, who is studying for the UOC's Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering, for their project Agrodit, a platform that aims to help farmers save time and resources with smart irrigation technology.

"Entrepreneurship is a difficult path and you often feel lost. In an entrepreneurship programme you receive guidance and set goals from mentors," said Paula Ferrer, a neuroscientist with a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the UOC and winner of the SpinUOC 2023 audience award for InSkin, a tool that improves the quality of dermo-cosmetic product recommendations from healthcare professionals and pharmacists, reducing the time and effort they spend on them. "The mentors' support has helped us to unlock processes."

"We started with little knowledge about how to approach an idea or project and how to carry it out following a structured action plan. Through its mentoring programme, the UOC has allowed us to turn an initial idea into something tangible," added Igor García, who, together with Francisca Villanueva – both students on the Joint University Master's Degree in Bioinformatics and Biostatistics (UOC, UB), – won the Ramon Molinas Foundation award for social impact for begIA, a mobile app for the early detection of eye diseases that cause blindness.

Submit your project now!

If you are working on an entrepreneurial project, now is the time to enter it for SpinUOC: all you have to do is fill in this simple form before 21 January.

SpinUOC is an initiative of Hubbik, the UOC's platform for promoting entrepreneurship, with the support of 4YFN, Estrella Damm and the Ramon Molinas Foundation.

UOC R&I

The UOC's research and innovation (R&I) is helping overcome pressing challenges faced by global societies in the 21st century by studying interactions between technology and human & social sciences with a specific focus on the network society, e-learning and e-health.

Over 500 researchers and more than 50 research groups work in the UOC's seven faculties, its eLearning Research programme and its two research centres: the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) and the eHealth Center (eHC).

The university also develops online learning innovations at its eLearning Innovation Center (eLinC), as well as UOC community entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer via the Hubbik platform.

Open knowledge and the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development serve as strategic pillars for the UOC's teaching, research and innovation. More information: research.uoc.edu.