On August 9, the National Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation (Senacyt) held a recognition ceremony for student researchers and research tutors of 35 scientific research projects that were successfully completed after receiving funding from the New Researchers Program.
The areas of knowledge addressed through these investigations were: Basic Sciences and Mathematics, Agricultural Sciences, Engineering and Technological Sciences, Health Sciences, Hydrology and Water Resources, Sociology, Economics and Political Sciences, Logistics and Transportation, Environment and Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecology and Industry 4.0.
Some projects addressed topics such as the presence of microplastics in commercial fish from fisheries in the Panamanian Pacific; the implementation of nanobiotechnological applications for the study of brain injuries; monitoring of pesticides in surface, underground and drinking water in the Azuero region using gas chromatography; estimation of the risk of coastal erosion and storm flooding in three coastal areas of the Panamanian Pacific; the development of a model to predict chemical components of specialty green coffee produced in the province of Chiriquí, using NIR spectroscopy and chemometrics; or the DOPDIVI: Obstacle Detector for People with Visual Disabilities, among others.
The 35 projects were successfully completed between 2023 and 2024 and were led by students from public and private universities, accompanied by a scientific tutor from institutions or research centers in Panama.
The main objective of the New Researchers Program is to encourage research and innovation at a university level, seeking to develop professionals with the appropriate skills to face challenges in their field of study and, in this way, increase the generation of theses as an academic requirement.
As part of the results obtained from the 35 research projects, theses and publications in indexed journals have been generated to date, all based on the work carried out by students of the Senacyt New Researchers Program.
In addition, the attraction, retention and progress of women in scientific and technological professional careers has been increased. Among the 35 completed projects, 19 female researchers and 20 male researchers have participated.
