University of Nicosia ties with the team behind Next Top Metaverse Build

University of Nicosia (UNIC) has joined hands with the team that created Next Top Metaverse Build, an NFT architecture competition. Next Top Metaverse Build unveiled this news through a press release on January 20, noting that the competition is dubbed buildathon and is open to architects, 3-D designers, and developers from all backgrounds.

According to the press release, the participants will compete in creating buildings, architecture, in-game assets, virtual designs, and configurations of other types intended for the metaverse.

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As part of the partnership between UNIC and Next Top Metaverse Build, the university’s Department of Architecture (ARC), will commit one week to host an educational workshop that lets students research, develop, and design for the metaverse competition. Through the workshop, UNIC will offer students access to expert mentorship and guidance for NFT architecture.

The organizations that will host this competition are digital asset firm GDA Capital and Renovi, a marketplace for infrastructure related to the metaverse’s design, development, and architecture. Decentraland and Metaverse Group will join this competition as partners. Notably, partners and mentors will actively participate in buildathon.

Amazing prizes are up for grabs

Per Next Top Metaverse, students will have an opportunity to compete for a plethora of prizes, including software subscriptions, up to $50,000.00 (£36,855.25) in Renovi tokens (RNVI), and parcels of land in Decentraland, which are currently valued at a minimum of $11,000.00 (£8,110.46).

Explaining why Renovi is giving away such a large amount, the company’s co-founder Andy Charalambous, said,

We have allocated $50,000 in RNVI tokens and will be giving software subscriptions to talented students participating in the competition since the competition is all about giving back and empowering both upcoming and established designers.

Charalambous added that Renovi is thrilled to join hands with the UNIC and leading companies like Decentraland and Metaverse Group.

Commenting on this competition, Michail Georgiou, Architect/Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture and Coordinator of the MSc in Computational Design and Digital Fabrication at UNIC, said,

The Next Top Metaverse Build competition is among the first UNIC projects aligned with the recent launch of the Open Metaverse Initiative. The event presents a unique opportunity for faculty and students to explore an emerging field in architectural practice and academia.

This news comes after UNIC rolled out the Open Metaverse project, which focuses on academic, research, and policy issues relating to the metaverse, in December last year. With this launch, UNIC cemented its position as the leading university in the field of crypto and blockchain.