This article was written by staff in the Office of International Affairs' Global Learning Initiatives and originally posted here.
The University of Maryland is proud to announce two student-led projects – BetterU and Dialectable– as its representatives for this year’s Universitas21 (U21) RISE Showcase and Awards.
U21’s RISE (Real Impact on Society & Environment) is an international showcase of student achievement in sustainability and social innovation. It is designed to accelerate the scale and impact of student-led projects by connecting them with a network of experts in academia and industry.
“It can be difficult to take a social enterprise or innovation idea beyond small-scale, local implementation, into something bigger,” the U21 team noted on their website. “RISE helps students realize this goal for their projects by giving them access to a global audience of potential supporters.”
As UMD’s representatives, each student team will create a video to pitch their project to potential international collaborators. U21 will review submissions from institutions across its international network and announce awards in mid-June. Those selected projects will be eligible for additional funding and guidance.
Each year, RISE welcomes network members to submit projects that focus on addressing global challenges, as outlined by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. UMD is one of 29 members of the U21 network, which brings together research-intensive universities from six continents to share knowledge, learning and perspectives. To select the UMD representatives for RISE, the Do Good Institute and Maryland Global’s Global Learning Initiatives (GLI) hosted a campus-wide contest.
As winners of the UMD contest, in addition to serving as UMD’s RISE representatives, these projects also each win $1,000 in total funding from the Do Good Institute and GLI.
U21 RISE Nominees
BetterU empowers individuals to be their best selves with its fun and engaging habit-tracking app solution. BetterU's focus on encouraging consistent and positive health habits enables individuals to take proactive steps toward their well-being.
Project leader: Saurabh Chapagain ‘25, Undergraduate, Technology Entrepreneurship
Dialectable aims to facilitate cultural preservation and deeper social connections through learning a common language. The app will use conversation-based minigames, goal trackers, and unlockable avatars to help immigrants learn or relearn their native language using ancestral knowledge.
Project leader: Michelle Akem ‘26, Undergraduate, Biology/Information Science
Read the full project descriptions.
2024 Office of International Affairs Special Award
Maryland Global’s GLI team also awards the OIA Special Award to any projects that are in their seed stage, showing great potential as future nominees for U21 RISE.
Winners
This year, the GLI team has selected two student projects for this recognition:
CerviCare focuses on improving cervical cancer screening accessibility, with a particular focus on reducing inequality.
Kulqi is a personal finance app that simplifies money management for young adults. Kulqi’s financial forecasting feature sets it apart from other apps.
Read the full project descriptions.
Honorable Mention
Global Brigades-UMD Chapter comprises student volunteers and medical professionals working alongside local communities and staff to implement sustainable health systems.