IDi Universities Fund

General Objective: Design recombinant PET hydrolase enzymes through ancestral sequence reconstruction for the effective degradation of PET. Specific Objectives: Participating Institutions: UTA, ESPE, UDLA. Participants: Project director Liliana Alexandra Cerda Mejía Awarded budget: $44,000.00 Project status: In process

General Objective: Promote school research on climate change at the Higher Basic levels of rural educational units as a mechanism to strengthen environmental education and the social appropriation of science and local knowledge, through interdisciplinary teaching methodologies, in the communities. educational “Monte Sinaí” in the community of Sigsigcocha (Parish

General Objective: To evaluate the in vitro stem cell culture of three plant species of the Kalanchoe genus in the production of secondary metabolites with anticancer activity. Specific Objectives: Participating Institutions: ESPE, IKIAM. Participants: Project director Mónica Beatriz Jadán Guerrero Awarded budget: $31,188.46 Project status: In process

General Objective: Study the impact of anthropogenic activities, such as aquaculture, tourism and the presence of wetlands on the water microbiome of a coastal marine system during the El Niño event. Specific Objectives: Participating Institutions: ESPOL, ESPE, UTMACH. Participants: Project Director Guillermo Antonio Reyes Román Budget awarded: $43,985.37 Project status: In process

General Objective: Investigate and implement an early warning system for lahars in the Cotopaxi Volcano, based on disruptive technologies for the detection, monitoring and communication of lahars whose main purpose is to protect lives, livelihoods, mitigate economic damages and strengthen resilience before these events. Specific Objectives: Participating Institutions: EPN, ESPOCH, USFQ. Participants:

General Objective: Develop power control and optimization algorithms in terms of efficiency in multiport DC-DC converters of up to 3kW applied in the integration of small-scale distributed generation and electric vehicles in the residential electrical sector. Specific Objectives: Participating Institutions: ESPOCH, USFQ, ESPE. Participants: Project Director Jorge Luis Hernández Ambato Awarded budget: $42,700.00

General Objective: Implement transcriptomic analysis as a tool to accelerate the discovery of anticancer and anti-T peptides. cruzi. Specific Objectives: Participating Institutions: IKIAM, PUCE, UPS. Participants: Project director Carolina Del Carmen Proaño Bolaños Awarded budget: $50,000.00 Project status: In process

General Objective: Implement a technical study of wave energy under the modality of an oscillating water column plant using sustainable materials that best adapts the design to the dynamic wave conditions of the coastal sector in order to supply the energy demand of a part of the population. of Saint Helena. Specific Objectives: Participating Institutions:

General Objective: Develop a toxicological testing platform in zebrafish (Danio rerio) for the discovery of new environmental contaminants, the evaluation of water quality and the measurement of the effectiveness of decontamination treatments. Specific Objectives: Participating Institutions: PUCE, EPN, UTA, UTM. Participants: Project Director MARCO ANDRÉS ROMERO CARVAJAL Awarded budget: $50,000.00

General Objective: The general objective (OG) of the proposal is to analyze the evolution of some of the main territorial problems in Ecuador (informal settlements, uncontrolled urban development, advance of the agrarian frontier and evolution of natural spaces) from a perspective of Climate Change to facilitate the design of territorial planning strategies