Today, the final of the "Young Entrepreneur Abai University" startup project contest took place at Abai University. Students and faculty members of the institution presented new entrepreneurship-oriented projects and introduced their implementation plans. The university leadership and entrepreneurs evaluated the projects and expressed their readiness to support promising scientific ideas. The winning team was awarded a certificate worth 2,500,000 tenge.

The startup contest, which provides significant support to young researchers, is held annually at Abai University and has become a tradition. The prize fund of the competition is also quite substantial. The main feature of this contest is that the project authors who receive funding are required to fully implement their ideas.

— In today is final, 11 projects will be presented. We focus on the scientific basis of startups and their originality. It is also important that the copyright for each project is protected. We support projects that have a significant impact on the commercialization of the education sector. Therefore, we wish good luck to all participants! — said Ertai Sultan, Vice Rector for Research and Innovation, opening the contest.

The 11 projects that passed all stages of the contest and reached the final represent a collection of ideas that are beneficial for society and convenient for the education sector. One of these projects is the platform "1Suraq online", proposed by PhD senior lecturer Madina Moldagalieva. The platform aims to improve the methods of collecting public opinion through surveys. Respondents can register on the platform, answer surveys online, and receive bonuses. Each researcher or entrepreneur can formulate questions and obtain reliable answers. Additionally, AI tools can be used to verify whether the respondent is providing honest answers.

Another relevant startup is "Adyraspan Candle", a project developed by the faculty and students of the Chemistry Department. It involves the production of wax candles from Adyraspan – an herb that is part of our national culture, through alcohol-based processing. This project helps eliminate bacteria in the air and reduce stress in people. Contest participants, after analyzing the existing wax candle markets, noted that such a project has never been done before and that this idea is innovative.

According to the results of the contest, the first place went to the "Qaitalau" project, which received 2,500,000 tenge in funding. The project was presented with modern design. The "Kazakh-style Souvenir Production" project, prepared by Ay Dana Nurbayeva, a lecturer in the Department of Design, took second place (2,300,000 tenge). The third place (1,200,000 tenge) went to the "Adyraspan Candle" project, which focuses on making candles from Adyraspan. It is important to note that the winning startup projects must be implemented within a year and demonstrate their results.