IDi Universities Fund

General Objective: Diagnose the nutritional status of the corn crop (Zea mays) through an intelligent system based on remote sensing techniques and Deep Learning for modern and sustainable agriculture. Specific Objectives Participating Institutions: ESPOL, UTM, UC. Participants: Project Director María Fernanda Calderón Vega. Awarded budget: $38,241.50 Project status: In progress.

General Objective: Develop educational innovations based on immersive technologies to strengthen the teaching-learning process of Physical Sciences in Higher Education. Specific Objectives Participating Institutions: YACHAY, ESPOCH, UTPL. Participants: Project director Cristian Isaac Vacacela Gomez. Awarded budget: $34,000.00 Project status: In progress.

General Objective: Estimate the seroprevalence rate of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgA antibody over the course of 9 months of observation in people over 18 years of age, with moderate risk of exposure and associated factors, in two Andean cities in Ecuador, during the year 2022. Specific Objectives Participating Institutions: UIE, ESPE, UTA. Participants: Project Director Natalia

General Objective: Develop a virtual cyber-physical instrument, through the installation of 1) host equipment; 2) remote equipment, and; 3) the implementation of a virtual plant, within a supervision and control framework to perform hybrid simulations of structural engineering systems, and study the dynamic behavior of structures in the face of seismic events. Specific Objectives Participating Institutions:

General Objective: Develop a virtual cyber-physical instrument, through the installation of 1) host equipment; 2) remote equipment, and; 3) the implementation of a virtual plant, within a supervision and control framework to perform hybrid simulations of structural engineering systems, and study the dynamic behavior of structures in the face of seismic events. Specific Objectives Participating Institutions:

General Objective: Evaluate the diversity of parasites and microbiome associated with roadkill wildlife in the Tropical Andes (Phase 1 sampling, Napo Province, October 2020-March 2021) and expand the existing biobank with collection of roadkill wildlife in Chocó-Darién . Specific Objectives Participating Institutions: UCE, ESPE, PUCE, UG, University of Reading. Participants: Project Director Ana

General Objective: Evaluate the use of biochar produced from guadua angustifolia and its doping with iron particles for the removal of lead, arsenic and cadmium in waters of the Papallacta River through adsorption and anaerobic digestion processes. Specific Objectives Participating Institutions: YACHAY, IKIAM, EPN, UEB. Participants: Project director Carlos Andrés Navas Cárdenas.

General Objective: Design recombinant enzymes based on the three-dimensional structure of the enzyme PET hydrolase from Idionella sakaiensis (IsPETase) for the effective degradation of synthetic organic polymers. Specific Objectives Participating Institutions: UTA, ESPE, UDLA. Participants: Project manager Liliana Cerda Mejía. Awarded budget: $38,196.20 Project status: In progress.

General Objective: Establish the relationships of rhizosphere microbial communities and soil physicochemical factors associated with bud rot based on the analysis of microbiomes in African palm Elaeis guineensis and its O x G hybrids, aimed at future agroecological management plans for the disease. . Specific Objectives Participating Institutions: ESPOL, USFQ, UDLA. Participants:

General Objective: Generate, in the next 12 months, an open access, interactive, georeferenced and chronologically organized cartographic platform using nine historical maps of urban settlements along the Guayaquil-Cuenca-Azogues axis. These maps will be constructed from the analysis of pre-existing cartography and historical documentation, from the period before the Spanish conquest.