The Catalan economy, stem cells and ethics, hippotherapy for ADD and ADHD, face analysis, advertising for Estrella Damm beer and the fear of dentists were just a few of the topics of the 160 research projects presented in the ninth edition of the Pre-University Competition on Saturday, 23 February 2013. Projects from all areas were presented: social sciences, humanities, education, communication, technology, biology, medicine and dentistry.

The students defended their projects orally throughout the morning. The jury, which was made up of UIC professors from the different fields represented, judged the projects on their relevance and interest, as well as students' motivation, their skills in terms of structuring content and their oral expression.

This was the preliminary phase of the competition, which is sponsored by Banc Sabadell. The chosen research projects will be defended orally during the final phase, which will take place on Friday, 5 April 2013, from 3 to 7:30 p.m. Prizes will be awarded immediately following the jury's deliberation.

The students who finish in the top 10 will win a full academic scholarship to study any degree at the UIC in the 2013-2014 academic year and the first-place winner will be awarded a laptop computer. The second- and third-place winners will receive an iPod Shuffle. The tutors of the winning students will receive a Kindle eBook.