Both projects add up to around $ 250,000 in grants.

September 24, 2018

Two Yachay Tech research projects will be funded by SENESCYT through their INÉDITA program. Both projects will receive a total sum of around $ 250,000 in funding. The first project, directed by Alfredo Viloria, PhD, professor of the School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, seeks to study the possibilities of using sands rich in iron and titanium here in Ecuador for the absorption of acid gases in the hydrocarbon industry. The second project, directed by Santiago Ballaz, PhD, professor of the School of Biological Sciences and Engineering, seeks to perform an analysis of the molecular mechanisms of neurotoxic agents in an in vitro model of human neurons, particularly under the action of a widely used pesticide (of the neonicotinoid type).

The INÉDITA National Funding Program for Research is a SENESCYT initiative that seeks to promote research in the fields of Health and Wellbeing, Agriculture and Livestock, Environment, Biodiversity and Climate Change, Industrial Development, Territory and Society, and Information and Communications Technology. There are two categories to present projects: as a collaboration network and as an institution.

Alfredo Viloria’s project was presented in the Collaboration Network category, as it will be developed along with Escuela Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL). Santiago Ballaz’s project was presented in the Institutional category, as it will be developed exclusively in Yachay Tech. Both projects will begin and receive their funding before October 18, 2018.