Thnot d’Or and Kinal Prize 2026: shortlisting of the best student projects underway

For the 2026 Thnot d’Or, out of 35 teams initially registered, 26 groups from nine universities ultimately submitted a concise project brief in line with the contest’s requirements, focused on creating an innovative probiotic drink using raw materials from Cambodian terroirs. These teams come from the Royal University of Agriculture, the Institute of Technology of Cambodia, the Kampong Speu Institute of Technology, the Prek Leap National Institute of Agriculture, the National University of Meanchey and the Royal University of Phnom Penh.

The jury will now select the 10 teams that will take part in the competition final, on the basis of clearly structured criteria scored out of 20 points: relevance of the project in terms of enhancing Khmer agricultural products and economic development, feasibility for SMEs or family‑run structures, and degree of innovation in terms of product, process, packaging, uses and environmental respect. Ahead of the August 29 final and the September 12 ceremony, this first stage therefore plays a strategic role, ensuring that the projects presented in the final meet both the scientific ambitions and the development objectives of the Kinal Foundation.

On the Kinal Prize 2026 side, the competition registered 44 groups and 217 students from five faculties (UP, RCAF, UHS, NU and IU), but only 34 groups made it through to the proposal submission stage, a sign of an initial “natural” selection linked to academic constraints and the demanding nature of the application. From these 34 proposals, a tight selection was made to retain only nine finalist teams, announced on April 20, which have now entered the in‑depth research phase.

This preselection highlighted the strong mobilization of three institutions – UP, RCAF and UHS – which alone account for the nine shortlisted projects. The topics focus on probiotics and well‑being (gastrointestinal health, sleep, mental health, consumer behavior), based on Cambodian products such as amla, noni, palm juice or fermented fruits and plants.

As with the Thnot d’Or, this intermediate stage structures the competition: it ensures that the projects reaching the final competition on September 4 have already passed an initial scientific and methodological threshold, so that the coming months can be devoted to deepening the studies and enhancing the quality of the final presentations.