The Industrial University of Santander (UIS) presented the Eloy Valenzuela Awards 2025–2026, its highest distinction for research, in a ceremony held at the Scientific Complex for Research in Health and Life Sciences, with participation from the university community.
During the opening, Rector Hernán Porras Díaz emphasized that “UIS honors those who make knowledge a way of transforming the world,” and invited students to embrace research as a path to social impact. Likewise, Vice-Rector Cristian Blanco Tirado highlighted that research involves not only answering questions, but also formulating new ones and building an academic community.
Winners by area
In Science, first place went to the project “Design and construction of MuTe: a hybrid muon telescope to study Colombian volcanoes,” led by Luis Alberto Núñez de Villavicencio Martínez and José David Sanabria Gómez. Second place went to “Biomarker analysis in phytoplankton,” developed by Marianny Yajaira Combariza Montañez and Cristian Blanco Tirado.
In Humanities, first place was awarded to “Training of teachers in high academic quality within the Colombian higher education system in undergraduate teaching programs (2015–2019),” led by Álvaro Acevedo Tarazona. Second place went to “Neoliberalism, emotional pathology, and the death of narrativity. Notes on depression in the achievement society,” by Andrés Botero Bernal and Javier Orlando Aguirre Román.
In Physical-Mechanical Engineering, first place went to “Optical-computational system for high dynamic range image acquisition based on the mathematical theory of unlimited sampling,” led by Jorge Luis Bacca Quintero. Second place was awarded to “Software for parenchymal analysis of mammographic images to estimate breast cancer risk,” by Said David Pertuz Arroyo and Ana Beatriz Ramírez Silva.
In Physical-Chemical Engineering, first place went to “Exploration of catalytic alternatives for hydrocarbon valorization reactions using NiMo/zeolite-boehmite catalysts,” developed by Víctor Gabriel Baldovino Medrano and Edgar Mauricio Morales Valencia, together with alumni Luisa Fernanda Acevedo Córdoba and David de Jesús Pérez Martínez. Second place was awarded to “Determination of manufacturing conditions for activated carbon electrodes produced from agro-industrial cocoa waste for supercapacitor applications,” led by Óscar Andrés Vargas Ceballos.
In the Health area, first place went to the project based on CRISPR/LbCas12a for the rapid detection of Trypanosoma cruzi in vectors and reservoirs of Chagas disease, developed by Jonny Edward Duque Luna, Rafael Cabanzo Hernández, and Stelia Carolina Méndez Sánchez. Second place was awarded to “Identification of genetic variants in the AHR gene that may contribute to susceptibility to head and neck cancer in the Colombian population,” led by Clara Inés Vargas Castellanos.
Research Career
UIS recognized the careers of Professor Marianny Yajaira Combariza Montañez and Professor Darío Yesid Peña Ballesteros for their contributions to scientific development and their impact on the academic community.
The evaluation of nominees was carried out under rigorous criteria and with the support of the corresponding academic bodies, ensuring transparency and excellence in the process.
With the Eloy Valenzuela Award, UIS reaffirms that research is a vital force that drives critical thinking, innovation, and regional and national development. The university continues to champion knowledge as a driver of social transformation.
