Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile: U21 / PwC competition on innovation to respond to global challenges seeks its finalists
“U21 / PwC Innovation Challenge” is the name of the initiative promoted by the global network of Universitas 21 universities, in which UC participates as a member, which invites regular postgraduate students to submit new ideas in the workplace. Until June 4, voting by the UC Community will be open to define the finalist projects.
In a world in which various actors from the public, private and academic sectors try to reduce the differences and asymmetries of skills in the workplace in order to favor the development of countries, the U21 / PwC Innovation Challenge initiative invited all regular students from graduate to postulate an innovative idea in response to this global challenge.
Various studies, such as the report “Upskilling for Shared Prosperity” of the World Economic Forum and PwC , show that those who operate in their workspaces with better training and learning opportunities, also manage to demonstrate superior performance in their work tasks, as well as also contribute in a more favorable way to their immediate surroundings.
It is for this reason that the Universitas 21 (U21) network – where the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile is the only member study house in Latin America – together with the consulting firm PwC, decided to pose the innovation challenge “U21 | PwC Innovation Challenge ”in which the students of the U21 network who are pursuing their master’s or doctorate degrees, were able to propose through a 3-minute video in English to respond to the needs of the world of work today and tomorrow.
“We are very excited about the proposals received and the motivation of the students to participate. We know that this contest represents a great opportunity for them, and we are proud that the future finalists represent UC in the international round ”, stated Claire Voisine, Internationalization Coordinator of the Graduate School, and Florencia Roncone, Internationalization Coordinator at Home of the Deputy Vice President for International Affairs.
In a first internal stage, during the month of April, the applications for ideas were open at UC so that they could be sent individually. With this cycle closed and during the month of May, the Graduate School together with the Vice-Rector’s Office for International Affairs (VRAI), the UC Innovation Center and English UC , held both language and methodological support workshops so that each person registered in the contest could prepare in the best possible conditions and perfect your speech and application video.
Until June 4, public voting will be open, in which the entire UC Community is invited to vote for one of the five finalists in the contest. The winner of this vote, along with two other contestants chosen by an expert jury, will represent UC in the final stage of the competition that will be held with the entire U21 network, online.
The five students who are in this final internal round are:
● Gabriela Francisca Báez Bargellini, Doctorate in Education.
● Sebastián Andrés Barriga Vuylsteke, Master of Engineering Sciences.
● Sebastián Ibañez Marin, Master of Business Administration (MBA).
● Daniel Ignacio Silva Vargas, Master in Innovation.
● Roxana Tito Ugarte, Master in Information Technology and Management (MTIG).
To know their projects and vote for one of them, you can enter the following link .
Those who want to attend the announcement of the UC finalists on June 9, 2021 at 11:00 a.m., via Zoom, can register at this link .
The prizes awarded by U21 and PwC are:
● Winners (three in total): Travel to Dubai with expenses paid (7 days) to meet the PwC Dubai team who will organize visits to some of the most outstanding innovative projects in the city.
● Winners and runners-up: Professional development coaching sessions with the PwC Academy.
● All international round participants: Free and exclusive access to employability skills development online courses (through PwC Academy) – assessment and certificate costs included.