The initiative is promoted by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the University of the Basque Country, and the large number of projects reflects the growing curiosity generated by entrepreneurship in the university environment.

This year, 21 projects have been submitted to the award for two main reasons: diversity, both in the training of those who present them, in the types of problems they want to solve, and in their maturity.

The projects have been proposed by students from 9 UPV / EHU faculties: Bilbao School of Engineering, Faculty of Economics and Business and the following faculties: Law, Education, Biology, Medicine and Nursing, Social Sciences and Communication, Science and Technology, and Psychology.

In terms of the solutions proposed, diversity is once again the most important feature: the topics covered include climbing, animal geolocation, explosive detection, digitization of wound scarring, mental health, smart trade or sustainable beauty. The challenges of digitalisation, health, sustainability and local trade have been repeated.

Also aimed at university master’s and doctoral students, some of the projects are at the level of research teams and have the support of professors and researchers. Some of the proposals come from final master's theses, and in some cases have already been set up as companies, and have received grants from the Provincial Department of Economic Promotion for entrepreneurship.

"50% of the projects submitted are in the process of being launched and are not just a good idea," they explained at the awards ceremony. Director Olatz Goitia Beaz emphasized that this is important: "you are the link between knowledge and its application in the production sector, which allows you to use the knowledge gained and the research developed at the university to promote innovation and economic development in the Territory".

Awards:

1. Auziker. Ainhoa ​​Isla and Luis Bartolome- Faculty of Science and Technology. A bait that allows the detection of an explosive for the training of dog units of the state security forces.
2. Urban Wind Wind. Mario del Río and Ariana Martín- Faculty of Economics and Business- A tool for measuring the wind generation system and the wind potential of a place.
3. Bee Agritech. José Miguel León, Lorena Ruiz de Larrínaga, María del Carmen Navarro- Faculty of Economics and Business- Biotechnological products and services that protect bees and the environment
4. Seasons Virtual Mindfulness in AGHN. Amaia Olarza, Goretti Soroa, Aitor Airtzeta- Faculty of Psychology- Treatment of attention deficit that combines virtual reality and mindfulness.

Zitek UPV / EHU

Zitek is an initiative to spread the culture of entrepreneurship in the university community and encourage the creation of innovative and technology-based companies. It has been promoted since 2000 by the UPV / EHU, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and Beaz.
It has three university incubators, all on the Bizkaia campus: Zitek Seminar, Zitek Portugalete and Zitek Bilbao.
The main conditions for access to the farms are to be linked to the UPV / EHU and to have an innovative and viable project.

Projects in the development phase remain in the Entrepreneurship Room for one year; after setting up the company, they go to one of the incubation modules to spend a period of up to five years.
In addition to the nurseries, Zitek organizes various activities to promote a culture of entrepreneurship, which resulted in it winning the European National Award for Business Promotion in 2015.