The Department of Geosciences at the University of Padua has awarded the "Geosciences for Sustainable Development" 2025 study prizes. The winners of this first edition are Juan Sebastian Rodriguez Rinta from Colombia and Arsen Mamadbekov from Tajikistan, both enrolled in the Master's degree course in Geophysics for Natural Risk and Resources.

The prizes, worth 2,500 euros each, were established as part of the Excellence Project funded by the Ministry of Education and Merit. The initiative aims to promote higher education among students from developing countries, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4.

The call was reserved for students enrolled in the 2024/2025 academic year in the first year of the master's degree courses in "Environmental Geology and Earth Dynamics" and "Geophysics for Natural Risk and Resources", holding citizenship in countries classified by the UN as "economies in transition", "developing economies", or "least developed countries”.

The committee selected the two winners from among six candidates. This recognition not only rewards academic excellence but also underlines the University of Padua's commitment to supporting international students from countries with transitional or developing economies, thus contributing to the global expansion of access to higher education in the field of Geosciences.