The Metropolitan University of Education, Science and Technology -UMECIT-, Chitré Campus, was the scene of the XXV Student Research Conference, This activity reaffirms the institutional commitment to strengthening research thinking and demonstrates the collaborative work between the Research-Innovation and Academic Coordination.

This event is part of the actions included in the operational plan of the Directorate of Research and Innovation, aimed at creating spaces that allow students to develop skills to analyze their environment, propose solutions and contribute, through research, to the transformation of their reality.

Research to understand and transform

The event featured a keynote speaker from Martha Bolívar, Health Promotion Specialist at the Ministry of Health (MINSA), who highlighted the importance of the interactive research method.

During her presentation, she explained that this approach breaks with the conception of the researcher as a distant observer and promotes a continuous and dynamic dialogue between the researcher, the environment, and the participants. In this way, research is not limited to explaining a reality, but rather seeks to understand it. to understand it and, at the same time, contribute to transforming it.

81 students and 31 research projects

As a result of the training process, approximately 81 student researchers presented 31 research projects, developed from different areas of knowledge.

The works were done by students from the undergraduate programs of Law and Political Science, Criminalistics, Systems and Programming, Medical Records, Environmental Management, and Social Work.

The day unfolded under a hybrid mode, Integrating the analysis and discussion of research articles into class groups strengthened academic exchange and promoted the active participation of students and teachers.

The projects were evaluated and enriched with input from the teachers. Francis Escobar, Osvaldo Solís, Karen Botello, César Tobar and César Hidalgo, who accompanied the process from an academic and methodological perspective.

Recognition of outstanding projects

Following the evaluation process, the projects that achieved the top positions were recognized:

🥇 First place: “Innovative web platform for reporting and monitoring water resource incidents in Chitré”, Developed by students Cristhian Castro Sáez and Omar De Jesús Espinosa Pinto, under the guidance of the teacher Guillermina Higuera, from the Bachelor's Degree in Systems and Programming.

🥈 Second place: “Development of an institutional web platform for the Tomás Herrera Bilingual School”, presented by the student researcher Cristian Castro, under the guidance of the teacher Isela López.

🥉 Third place: “Routine habits as a risk factor in victim selection”, Developed by students Angelica de Icaza Gutierrez and Arian Martinez Batista, under the guidance of the teacher César Hidalgo.

The quality of the projects presented reflected the commitment of the students and teachers to the development of research based on rigorous processes, analysis of real problems and search for alternatives that can generate significant contributions in different areas of society.

The XXV Student Research Conference It also represents an opportunity to recognize the efforts of those who make research a tool for learning, innovating and providing solutions.

UMECIT congratulates all the student and faculty researchers who participated in this event and reaffirms its commitment to an education that promotes research, innovation and the transformation of the context.

We continue to investigate in order to transform our reality!