Translation by Diana Taborda
The final session of the competition took place this Saturday, the 27th of November, where the 10 best projects were selected among the winners of the 26 regional phases. In a 4-minute pitch, the finalists presented the problem, the solution and the business and answered questions from the jury of the final phase.
After the evaluation of all projects, MyCare was the big winner. The platform aims to improve the quality of mental health during the prevention and treatment phases. It increases literacy and combats isolation through an integrated solution that provides social activities and facilitates access to specialised mental health support and treatment services.
The team is composed by Milena Alves (undergraduate student of the Faculty of Economics of the UC), Kevin Leandro (PhD student of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the UC developing research work at CNC), Jefferson Silva de Lima (PhD student of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology and developing research work at CISUC) and Susana Paixão (PhD researcher of the research centre CEGOT, Faculty of Arts and Humantities of the UC and lecturer at the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra - IPC).
In addition to the project development support and the €500 prize already won in the regional phase - the Coimbra Innovation Days - the team will receive support and mentoring from EITHealth experts to develop the business concept, and the opportunity to travel to the EITHealth Summit in Stockholm, Sweden, in May 2022.
"It makes us very proud to know that, for the first time, a multidisciplinary team from the University of Coimbra has won this European prize in such an important field. At a time when we are celebrating the centenary of our great writer José Saramago, I recall one of the phrases that appeared on the back cover of his books: "If you can see, look. If you can look, observe". The Coimbra team carefully analysed the reality that surrounds us in terms of mental health and observed a specific area that needed improvement and where they felt they could add value," says Cláudia Cavadas, the UC's Vice Rector for Research and Doctoral Studies.
"They have deepened their knowledge of this problem, listened to stakeholders, and have proposed a solution that we find quite innovative and original. It is also very important to know that a European jury has recognised the merit of this team and this project, giving them the opportunity to grow and mature the concept. The team's success is naturally due to their commitment and dedication, but also to the quality of their training, the support team for this initiative and also the environment of sharing, multidisciplinarity, research and innovation that the UC promotes within its academy," adds Professor Cavadas.