School:Universidad Católica del Uruguay

Overview

Universidad Católica del Uruguay (UCU) was initially founded in 1882 by the first Archbishop of Montevideo, Mons. Mariano Soler. In 1985, it was reopened and entrusted to the Compañia de Jesus making Universidad Católica del Uruguay, the first main work of the Catholic Church in the field of higher education in Uruguay. It is the private’s first and oldest university in the country and most geographically widespread.

• Faculty of Business Science
• Faculty of Human Science
• Faculty of Law School
• Faculty of Nursing and Health Technologies
• Faculty of Engineering and Technologies
• Faculty of Odontology
• Faculty of Psychology

Promoting student innovation entrepreneurship

Universidad Católica del Uruguay believes that innovation and entrepreneurship are of huge importance and, therefore, has various different ways to promote its students to engage in this area. Not only are there courses that indirectly provoke students to feel intrigued and widen their knowledge in this area, but UCU also provides courses, clubs and workshops that facilitate this learning process. Some faculties offer a wider variety of these activities than others but all students, no matter their major, have the possibility to innovate and become an entrepreneur if they desire so.  Particularly, ÍthaKa(Innovation and Entrepreneurship centre), OPITI and Students Affairs are responsible for promoting, mentoring and supporting the students with their ideas and projects. For instance, ÍthaKa centre organized the three-day-long engagement called “Innovatón” in Punta Del Este, where attendees learned the well-known Design Thinking process.

Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship

There are spaces in the University that encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, stimulating students to carry on with their passion and dreams to make them materialized, to make them real. Some of these spaces are:

Cowork Space by Universidad Católica with the support of Santander Bank. The space allows students to meet to study and work on the development of common projects or ideas.

Nexo - Entrepreneur Development Center. The objective of Nexo is to promote the realization of business ideas and start up of companies created by students, graduates and postgraduates of the Universidad Católica del Uruguay (UCU), offering a wide range of services and supports.
The service as a pre-incubator, includes collaboration in the design and development of business models of new enterprises through guidance as well as access to a support network for the start-up of the same, consultation and advice of experts in areas access to sources of funding. Its scope is for all the faculties of the UCU and the Network of Institutions to support the entrepreneurial activity.

Center for Support to Business Innovation (CAIE). The support of the CAIE aims to reduce or eliminate the constraints that the entrepreneur encounters when transforming his innovative ideas. It is carried out through methodologies of simple application and high practical impact.

Through the CAIE, the UCU offers companies support to improve their innovative capacity, through advice provided by highly experienced professionals and support to facilitate access to cofinancing by ANII.

The Center for Innovation and Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering and Technologies (CII in Spanish) is a platform aimed for fostering the innovation and entrepreneurship skills of students, graduates and teachers. Since 2014, the CII in the UCU provides support and guidance to students with an entrepreneurial spirit in the different areas of Engineering; supports the development of technological projects with innovative potential, encouraging the rapprochement with the productive sector, and the creation of dynamic companies based on products or technological services by students.

University - Industry Collaboration

The UCU is facilitating their relation to the industry through NEXO, National Agency of Research and Innovation (ANII) and the Cowork Santander. The Entrepreneur Development Center (NEXO) and The Center for Innovation and Engineering (CII) are where ideas materialize. As in the section Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurs, the students, graduates or postgraduates are guided and supported to develop their business ideas and start up. They foster the innovation and encourages the creation of vigorous companies centered in products or services.They help students with the first phase so as to present the prototype to National Agency of Research and Innovation (ANII) and to ANDE to finance it. ANDE is the acronym in spanish for the National Development Agency. Their purpose is to contribute in the economic development in Uruguay through efficient and transparent programs, with special emphasis on the promotion of micro, small and medium businesses. ANDE and ANII are important instruments in funding and UCU is assisting and helping students to acquire those fundings. Moreover NEXO also has various funds to gain seed capital to advance the idea into a reality.

Also, the university has partnerships with distinctive industries and businesses. Depending on the career, there are internships to help the students face reality, know how to interact with the work environment and assess their career.

Regional and Local Economic Development

Uruguayan government is helping the startup industry flourish by implementing these institutions National Agency of Research and Innovation (ANII) and National Development Agency (ANDE). Enhancing this, the Co work spaces and the special Centers dedicated in supporting students, postgraduates and graduates with an entrepreneurial spirit are an important base in the progress of the realization of ideas.

Related Links

Student Priorities

Fall 2017 Fellows

Julieta Caputo

Sofía Muñiz

Manuel Heslop

Victoria Ferrer

Writen By

Julieta Caputo

Sofía Muñiz

Manuel Heslop

Victoria Ferrer