The Institute for Business Citizenship (ICE) has announced the winners of the eighth edition of the ICE Academic Awards, which are designed to encourage and recognize academic papers written by higher education students regarding impact investing and impact businesses across Brazil.

The awards are based on master’s theses and doctoral dissertations, whether already presented or still to be defended. There is also an Undergraduate category, in which participants may submit final papers or articles based on scientific or technological research done at undergraduate level.

Students taking any course at any higher education Institution in Brazil can participate. In all categories, academic articles that have been prepared under the supervision of a university professor are accepted. In this case, the professor also receives an award.

In the Doctorate category, the winner this year was Priscila Keller Pires from Santa Catarina State University. Her winning paper was called “The Grammar of Impact: The Complex Figure of Impact Businesses in Brazil.” She will receive a prize of R$8,000, as will her university tutor Graziela Dias Alperstedt.

Mariana de Brunelli, a student at Rio de Janeiro Catholic University, took second place for her article, titled “Leadership in Social Enterprises: Revealing the Essential Attributes of Leadership for Social Entrepreneurs”. She and her tutor Flávia de Souza Costa Neves Cavazotte will both receive R$4,000.

In the Master’s category, the winner was Maria do Socorro Torres Silva from Campina Grande Federal University, based on her paper “Paradoxical Tensions in Brazilian Social Enterprises: A Study of Multiple Cases.” She and her tutor Suzanne Érica Nóbrega Correia will both receive a prize of R$6,000.

Second place went to Larissa Martins Lehmen of Rio Grande do Sul Catholic University, for her article called “Understanding Motivations During the Life Cycle Phases of a Social Enterprise.” She and her tutor Maira de Cássia Petrini will each receive R$3,000.

In the Undergraduate category, the winner was Pedro Henrique Santos Rafael Alves of the University of São Paulo, based on his article, “Raising Private Credit in the Capital Markets: Bond Issues and the Creation of Credit Rights Investment Funds by Social and Environmental Impact Businesses.” He and his tutor, Graziella Maria Comini, will each receive R$3,000.

Second place was taken by Thais Feitoza dos Santos Pagehú Carnelóz and Andressa Cristina Andrade of the Federal University of the ABC Region of Greater São Paulo, based on their paper, titled “Mapping the Social Innovation Ecosystem and the Configuration of Actors in the Urban Agriculture Sector in the ABC Region of Greater São Paulo.” They will share the R$1,500 prize and the same amount will be given to their tutor, Franciane Freitas Silveira.