Both institutions have strengthened their agreement to promote research, internationalisation of university students and entrepreneurship, among other areas of collaboration.

Madrid, 03 de marzo de 2021 - NOTA DE PRENSA
The Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and Banco Santander, through Santander Universities, have renewed their collaboration agreement and within this framework, they will launch the start of 135 research careers through grants for Master’s and PhD studies this year. This agreement also places special importance on students’ international experience as a key factor for their academic progress and professional future and plans to award more than one hundred grants for stays at prestigious universities in the United States and other non-European countries.

The collaboration agreement, recently signed by UC3M President, Juan Romo Urroz, and the Director of Santander Universities and Universia España, Susana García Espinel, seeks to develop new cooperative projects to strengthen access to a good quality university education, improve employability in R&D&I, and propel entrepreneurship.

On the education front, one of the main aspects of this agreement,there are other courses of action included, such as the Santander Progreso Grants, which aim to facilitate access to higher education for students who perform well academically in any undergraduate or post-graduate degree and will take into account candidates’ difficult economic circumstances. Another key programme that makes up part of this collaboration is the Santander - Consejo Social Grants which recognise and motivate effort and contribution to the excellence of the university community each year, in particular young research staff and students at the University.

In terms of entrepreneurship, a variety of activities will be developed that promote entrepreneurial spirit among undergraduate, post-graduate and PhD students through the Santander Explorer programme, which has its own co-working centre at the UC3M. In addition to this, training programmes in this field will be carried out across all degree programmes.

The UC3M and Santander Universities, within the framework of this collaboration, will also continue to work on various technological cooperative projects to drive the digital transformation of management and certain value-added services for the university community, such as the use of the Smart University Card and other online resources.

The grant programme promoted by Banco Santander through Santander Universities has formed part of its commitment to progress and inclusive and sustainable growth and of its leading position as a socially responsible bank for 25 years. In addition to this, it is considered one of the largest initiatives of its kind supported by a private institution, which has already allocated almost 2,000 million Euros to Education since 2002 and has awarded 600,000 grants since 2005.

The UC3M is a Spanish public university which excels in teaching, research and innovation. It ranks among the top 35 universities in the world in the QS Top 50 Under 50 ranking and appears among the best Spanish universities in terms of employability of its graduates, according to the Times Higher Education (THE) Global Employability Ranking.  In fact, 93.4% of its graduates gain employment within the first year of graduating and their overall satisfaction is extremely positive: 96.6% of them would recommend studying at the UC3M. The UC3M has numerous accreditations and quality distinctions, such as the EUR-ACE label in the field of Engineering and an AACSB accreditation in Business and Finance programmes, among others.