The Social Council of the University of La Laguna approved today, Thursday, May 25, a call for applications for grants aimed at fostering the university's relationship with society, sustainable development, and academic excellence. Last year, the first year the grants were offered, they had an allocation of €3,000, and this year it has been increased to €30,000.
Six grants of €2,000 each are planned for organizations that develop and implement projects this year promoting knowledge, participation, and relationships between the University of La Laguna and society. Secondly, four grants of €2,000 each will be awarded to social commitment initiatives promoted by any group within the university community. These initiatives must be carried out in 2023 and contribute to the ecological transition or bridging the digital divide. Finally, ten grants of €1,000 each will be awarded to recognize academic excellence among students enrolled at the university.
Scholarships to departments
Furthermore, the Social Council has approved the distribution criteria for the Collaboration Grants offered by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training for the 2023-2024 academic year among its various departments. This year, 56 grants of €2,000 each are expected to be awarded to students in their final year of undergraduate studies or their first year of a master's program.
The criteria for distributing the scholarships were as follows: one scholarship for each of the applicant departments, which totaled 35; one grant for departments with more than one area of knowledge and five or more applications, which totaled 18; and three more grants to be distributed among the departments that applied for four or more scholarships and have five or more areas of knowledge.
The total number of applications has reached 189, so the Social Council will propose to the Ministry that next year they increase the number of scholarships granted to the University of La Laguna.
Social Council Awards
Finally, the Social Council plenary session announced the jury's decision for the three 2023 Social Council Awards: one for best internationalization practice, one for research groups or university institutes that promote knowledge transfer to businesses and other social institutions, and one for teaching excellence. The prize consists of a statue created by the Canarian sculptor José Abad.
Three candidates applied for the first prize, which was finally awarded to Benjamín Jesús González Díaz, from the Department of Industrial Engineering and representative of the project “International Interuniversity Master in Energy Decarbonization of Emerging Countries”.
There was only one candidate for the second prize, which was awarded to the Research Group on Diversity, Health and Education, represented by Professor David Pérez Jorge from the Department of Didactics and Educational Research. Finally, six researchers from the University of La Laguna were nominated for the last prize, which was awarded to Emilio José Sanz Álvarez from the Department of Physical Medicine and Pharmacology. An honorable mention was also awarded to David López Aguilar from the Department of Didactics and Educational Research.
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