The winners of the XVIII edition of the scholarship program of the Francisco de Vitoria University in Santander Europe have been announced. These are the 50 brightest high school students out of more than 4,000 who took part in this call. To apply for the program, students must be in the 1st grade of high school in a Spanish school and have an excellent GPA. With those who comply with this edition, 950 scholarships have already been awarded under this program, which is the result of a long collaboration between Banco Santander and the University of Madrid.

This year’s winners are in high school at schools and institutes of the 11 autonomous communities: Andalusia (12 students), Madrid (10), Valencian Community (5), Aragon (4), Castile and León (3), Catalonia (3), Cantabria (3), Extremadura (2), Galicia (2), Canary Islands (2), Murcia (1), Navarre (1), Basque Country (1) and Castile-La Mancha (1).

famous route

The program develops for each edition a tour of some of the most important European universities and the most important institutions of the cities, which are visited over a period of almost twenty days. This year, from 2 to 19 July, the winning students will visit the Universities of Alcala de Henares, Salamanca, Cambridge, London, Heidelberg and Santiago de Compostela.

The winning students will visit the Universities of Alcala, Salamanca, Cambridge, London, Heidelberg and Santiago.

Along this illustrious route, students will be able to learn first hand the origins of the University, the importance of its commitment to society, the definition of its professional ethics or the need for its integrity as future leaders, in addition to understanding Europe as a continent. To do this, they will have the opportunity to attend meetings with top professionals in their field, attend conferences and host entertainment and educational events with authorities in the political, academic and research fields. As the culmination of an unforgettable journey, young people will be welcomed by the King and Queen of Spain.

Journey into the depths of history

“Our goal is to reward and promote the talents of the best pre-university students in Spain,” explains the organizers of the European Scholarships, which have been a unique initiative on the university scene for 18 years.

But everything has its own story. In June 1933, the Ciudad de Cadiz, chartered by the Faculty of Philosophy of the Complutense University of Madrid, left the port of Barcelona. About 200 professors and students from different Spanish universities went on board to visit and study some of the places that are directly related to the historical, philosophical and artistic roots of European civilization. The relevance of this adventure, unprecedented in the cultural life of that time, lies not only in the innovation of the project, but also in the number of notable figures of our culture who came together, such as Ortega y Gasset, Julian Marias, Fernando Chueca, Gregorio Maranon, Valle Inclan or Vicens Vivesamong others.

Seventy years later, convinced of the need to revive the concern that initiated this project, Banco Santander and the University of Francisco de Vitoria decided to revive the heritage of this university cruise ship.

The young people participating in the program, all between the ages of 16 and 18, are a real promise to society today. Their concerns, their knowledge, their values, their vision of the world and their abilities make them candidates to become part of the network of leading students in Europe and in the near future to become professionals capable of playing an appropriate role in society.

Bet on education

Banco Santander maintains a strong commitment to progress and inclusive and sustainable growth, with a pioneering and consolidated commitment to education, entrepreneurship and employability that it has carried through Santander’s universities for over 26 years and sets it apart from the rest of the financial institutions in the world. Since its launch, the bank has allocated more than 2,100 million euros and supported more than 790,000 students, professionals and entrepreneurial projects through agreements with nearly 1,000 universities and institutions in 15 countries.

Cooperation between the Universities of Santander and the University of Francisco de Vitoria is not limited to the European Scholarship Programme. The winners, as well as the last 200 candidates who did not receive the final prize, are also given the opportunity to take part in the competition. School of College Leadership (ELU), a four-year program of study that runs in parallel with the degree each student chooses to pursue. The goal is to help them learn leadership and improve each of their talents and abilities so they can serve the community in the future.