UIC Barcelona, with support from Banco Santander, via Santander Universidades, has awarded the Banco-Santander Alumni Grants for the eighth consecutive year. Since its first edition, these grants, that award recipients with 20,000 Euros, have already been given out to more than a hundred students.
It is a grant that can be applied for by university students who are members of the Alumni group of former students and friends of the university, or who meet a series of requirements. The requirements include the academic record of the applicant, their financial and family situation (large families, unemployed families, people with disabilities, orphans, etc). Through this grant, UIC Barcelona works towards ensuring the wellbeing of its students, beyond mere academic learning.
The event, presided over the rector of the university, Dr Xavier Gil, was attended by the Vice-Rector for the University Community, Belén Zárate, Luis Herrero, General Assistant Director of Banco Santander, and Territorial Director for Catalonia, as well as José Ignacio Parellada, the Alumni President.
Débora Zaragoza spoke on behalf of student grantholders. She is a student on the Bachelor’s degree in Nursing programme, and she thanked the university and the bank for the “opportunity which you are offering us and which has allowed us to study at the university we have chosen, without which everything we are learning would not be possible, not only theoretical and practical knowledge, but also human values which help us to grow as individuals”. The grantholders are represented throughout the majority of the university’s degree programmes, which demonstrates they were spread widely around the university.
Since 2004, Banco Santander has provided support for these grants and other initiatives at UIC Barcelona such as the Chair for Studies on Intergenerational Solidarity in the Family, as well as the issue of an University Smart Cards.
This bank is the company which invests the most in education around the world (Varkey/UNESCO – Fortune 500 Report). The initiative is supported by Santander Universidades, which holds 1.200 cooperation agreements with universities and institutions around the world (www.santander.com/universidades).
