The Interfaculty Honors Program for Academic Excellence aims to contribute to the development of the University of Cuenca as an international research-focused academic institution.

Honores Vanguardia is an initiative that seeks to train the researchers and faculty of future generations.

Through high-quality research and academic training, it will enable students who have achieved outstanding academic excellence to reach their maximum intellectual potential and develop new skills.

Honores Vanguardia Program will develop through the following guidelines:

 

Students will be trained as junior researchers and skills for becoming faculty professors in the future.

 

Students will be able to complete their studies and thesis or final project for graduation promptly, and they will have the support to pursue further graduate studies at leading institutions worldwide.

The research students undertake will contribute to the University of Cuenca and the community at large.
Vanguardistas will be encouraged to build a network with students across UCuenca to learn about inter and multidisciplinary research to enrich their professional and academic experience.

 

The Honores Vanguardia Program for Academic Excellence is organized as a joint program between the Academic Provost Office (Vicerrectorado Académico) and the 12 Colleges of the University of Cuenca.

The Program is offered to the students with the best academic scores across UCuenca, i.e. those who achieve academic excellence and are interested to gain training for becoming researchers and faculty or to apply to a graduate program (masters or doctoral) in the future.

The Program intends to motivate and train participants for scientific research during their studies and their later career and life.
Students must complete 8 courses, two in each semester of the Program, for a total of 17 credits. Four courses belong to the research track and the remining four belong to the academic English track. A course for each track must be completed each semester:

During the program, students will be involved in the research efforts of their university and faculty. The activities completed in the Program will be linked to their final graduation project according to the undergraduate program requirements that follow research or intervention graduation final projects.

 

The admission to the program is selective and limited up to five students per college. This is an interdisciplinary program that builds on the opportunity to create an integrative network across the 12 colleges of UCuenca providing equal access in terms of academic excellence and gender.

Participants apply for the Honores Vanguardia Program in their fourth/sixth semester and begin in their fifth/seventh semester of studies at the University of Cuenca in agreement to the undergrad program duration. The program will always start at the beginning of each academic year by the September-February semester.

 

Merely participating in the Program should be motivation alone, additionally,

• students obtain credits toward their regular undergraduate study program.
• participants who complete the program successfully obtain a certificate attesting to their selection, participation, and success in the Program.
• students benefit from individualized coaching in finding and conducting their thesis projects and in finding opportunities for further studies at leading academic institutions in the world.

Contact: honoresvanguardia@ucuenca.edu.ec

Students interested in applying to the Honores Vanguardia program will have to respond to the recruitment email by providing

● 1-page intention letter written fully in English, explaining their goals and plans and how Honors Vanguardia will help them to achieve their professional goals.
● Curriculum Vitae (without photograph)
● B2 English level certificate of approval for the UCuenca Language Institute (certifications from private language institutes, IELTS or TOEFL exams that equate to B2 level may be received).
● Advance of curriculum (avance de malla curricular) detailing qualifications.
● Personal contact information: Full name, UCuenca institutional email, cell phone number.