In 2024, the Foundation has continued to support the Bank in its mission to facilitate access to quality education and to ensure the future employment of university students.

Fundación Banco Santander and Fundación Universidad Villanueva implemented a scholarship programme based on academic excellence to help students who want to enrol at this university to cover the cost of higher education. The university offers a wide range of single and dual undergraduate degrees with specialisms.

Scholarships are awarded based on the candidates’ classification in upper secondary school or equivalent vocational programme, and discounts on academic fees are calculated according to their performance in these pre-university stages of education. 

Fundación Banco Santander and its parent bank sponsored grants to facilitate access to the ESIC business school.

The Santander International Mobility Grants are awarded to fifteen Latin American students who want to take one of the master’s courses in business administration and management that ESIC offers in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.

Candidates may come from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru or Venezuela. The grant money covers a percentage of the tuition and part of the cost of getting settled in Spain.

Fundación Banco Santander partnered with the National Distance Learning University (UNED) on several programmes that offer aid to students and graduates in the areas of education, job placement and entrepreneurship.

Educational initiatives included the mentor classmate prize, the Supera Santander scholarships to help students continue their undergraduate courses, athletic scholarships, mobility grants for PhD candidates, and reduced-mobility grants.

Awards for the transfer, research and publication of scientific information, predoctoral contracts, and financial aid for off-campus work experience and research work were granted with the aim of facilitating access to the job market.

Additionally, 2024 witnessed the conclusion of the eleventh edition of the startup programme for UNED students and graduates interested in getting an entrepreneurial project off the ground. 

In 2024, Fundación Banco Santander signed a partnership agreement with the University of Salamanca to support several of its initiatives related to student training, entrepreneurship and employability.

Under the terms of this agreement, the foundation sponsored three international scholarship programmes for young Ibero-American students interested in pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree or doctorate at this university.

A predoctoral contrct programme was also introduced with a view to making PhD candidates more employable, and various activities, grants and prizes were offered to promote entrepreneurship and business development.

Fundación Banco Santander partnered with the University of Valladolid on several initiatives to facilitate access to education and employment for its students and researchers.

Three scholarship programmes were offered for the 2024/2025 school year, for Asian and Ibero-American students interested in doing a master’s course at this university, bachelor’s or master’s-level students with the best academic records, students with socio-economic difficulties, and women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.     

Other initiatives provided training and job opportunities for research staff by awarding predoctoral study and mobility scholarships to research institutes associated with the University of Valladolid. 

With the foundation’s support, the University of Santiago de Compostela launched several programmes to promote education, employability and entrepreneurship among its students.

To facilitate access to higher education, scholarships were awarded to master’s students in research groups and to researchers working towards a PhD. Scholarships were also awarded to students enrolled at the university to promote the practice of sports.

To improve their chances of finding work, the university offered grants to help bachelor’s and master’s-level students acquire complementary skills, as well as a talent acquisition and retention programme for post-doctoral researchers.

Additionally, it launched a patent valuation plan, offered entrepreneurial training, and supported different technology-based business initiatives to help students and researchers hone their entrepreneurial skills. 

Fundación Banco Santander supports the University of Cantabria’s various research initiatives. This public institution is home to 173 research, development and innovation groups associated with thirty-seven different university institutes and departments.

One of its primary focuses is the partnership between the business world and institutions of higher learning. The University of Cantabria is associated with different companies that require solutions to their R&D+i needs.

It also has a Technological Development Centre that facilitates the creation of tech startups in the region, encourages R&D+i groups to share their findings with businesses, and promotes innovation in Cantabria’s services and industry. 

In 2024, Fundación Banco Santander supported several initiatives carried out by this public entity, a joint endeavour of the universities of Córdoba, Almería, Cádiz, Huelva and Jaén, which works with the Andalusian Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training (IFAPA).

Its programmes attempt to address the agrifood challenges of the twenty-first century, strengthen ties between the university and business communities, train qualified professionals, and support the industry’s transformation and transition to a more sustainable model.

Some of the most relevant are the grants for professionals who teach in the master’s course offered by the campus, courses for young researchers and entrepreneurs with tech companies, work experiences for graduates, and the competition of ideas and projects for new agrifood businesses.

Fundación Banco Santander and this foundation associated with the University of Oxford have an agreement that enables them to work together on different international initiatives for entrepreneurs.

In 2024, this partnership invited scaleups and startups in eleven countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and the United States) to submit proposals to the Santander X Global Challenge in three different categories: Innovation in Healthcare; Education, Employability and Entrepreneurship; and the New Era of Customer Experience. 

The companies participating in each had to propose innovative solutions for improving healthcare services, boosting education, employability and entrepreneurship, and perfecting the customer experience.

The winners received funding to implement their plan, access to a network of contacts and opportunities to collaborate with other companies via the Santander X community and Banco Santander’s open innovation team, and visibility on its social media and official channels. 

Fundación Banco Santander partners with Fundación UCEIF on the launch of Santander X Explorer Training, a programme that offers training and advice to entrepreneurs from twelve different countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and the United States).

Two calls are issued every year, and applicants must present innovative business ideas in the pre-incubation phase that are related to the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations.

Over the course of twelve weeks, selected candidates receive training in how to start and run a business, acquire social skills and are introduced to key players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem (investors, agents, model entrepreneurs, etc.).

At the end, they are given a certificate of completion and access to a global community of young innovators. 

Fundación Banco Santander partners with Fundación UCEIF on the launch of Santander X Explorer Training, a programme that offers training and advice to entrepreneurs from twelve different countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and the United States).

Two calls are issued every year, and applicants must present innovative business ideas in the pre-incubation phase that are related to the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations.

Over the course of twelve weeks, selected candidates receive training in how to start and run a business, acquire social skills and are introduced to key players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem (investors, agents, model entrepreneurs, etc.).

At the end, they are given a certificate of completion and access to a global community of young innovators. 

Fundación Banco Santander partners with Fundación Universia on MetaRed, an initiative that seeks the improvement of higher education institutions in which more than one thousand centres are currently participating. This cooperate inter-university ecosystem focuses on three major challenges: digital transformation (MetaRed TIC), university entrepreneurship (MetaRed X), and social responsibility and sustainability (MetaRed ESG).

MetaRed TIC aims to help universities achieve digital transformation by offering training, implementing best practices and seeking joint solutions to shared problems.

MetaRed X fosters entrepreneurial activity in the university ecosystem by creating international working groups and pursuing various strategies to create quality jobs.

Finally, MetaRed ESG aspires to ensure that the university community complies with the principles of good governance and sustainable development goals. 

Thanks to an agreement signed in 2024, Fundación Banco Santander and Mujeres por África made a commitment to support the political, financial and academic empowerment of African women by pursuing different projects with universities. The primary areas of activity are entrepreneurship and sustainability; peace and security; education and research; health; and culture.

The partnership between the two organisations sought to identify high-impact initiatives that can contribute to the advancement of women; work with academic partners to implement programmes that also benefit their communities; and design a plan of action that will allow these women to pass on the education and training they receive in their places of origin. 

Fundación Carolina promotes cultural relations and cooperation in the fields of education and science between Spain and the rest of the world, especially the countries of Ibero-America.

To achieve this goal, it offers training, specialisation and knowledge refreshing activities and an international visitors’ programme, which invites relevant figures to visit Spain and interact with other professionals in their field.

Fundación Banco Santander supported the nineteenth edition of Young Ibero-American Leaders, an activity organised as part of the international visitors’ programme to promote entrepreneurship, and scholarships for young professionals who want to do a master’s course in the areas of social science, law, energy, environment, sustainability or infrastructure at a Spanish university.