Applications for the 2nd call of Academic Working Capital open until May 30th
Academic Working Capital is a free entrepreneurial education program whose goal is to help students turn their undergraduate thesis into a service, technology, or product ready to succeed in the marketplace. Due to the pandemic, classes in Brazilian universities resumed in late March and early April, and only now, in May, are university students starting to build their thesis papers. To allow a greater number of students to participate in the AWC selection, TIM Institute has opened a second call for project submissions.
According to the survey Empreendedorismo nas Universidades Brasileiras (Entrepreneurship in Brazilian Universities), carried out by Endeavor Brasil, only 11% of graduates have had (or have) entrepreneurial experience. “The growth of any nation is premised on creating jobs and income, and starting new businesses is a key element. However, when graduating, the prevailing logic is the search for a job. The option of starting a business should be among the career alternatives for a student”, says Marcos Barretto, engineer, professor at USP, and academic coordinator at the AWC.
Encouraging entrepreneurship within universities and showing young people that starting a business can be a career option is fundamental and that is why we are making a second call to Brazilian university students. To encourage more women and black people to participate, gender and race criteria were included in the selection and tie-breaking of the projects. In the first call for projects submission, held in April, proposals were received from students from several cities around the country, covering all Brazilian regions.
“We have a unique approach in the universe of funding programs, working with students who could not even dream of turning their thesis into a company, encouraging them to invest in a dynamic career with opportunities based on their own talent,” says the President of Instituto TIM, Mario Girasole.
Applications are open until May 30th and must be made at the project’s website (awc.institutotim.org.br/inscrevase).
