The Bank has renewed an existing agreement with the university, enhancing its support scholarships for students and academics' research, signed through its Santander Universities Global Division.

Emilio Botín, Chairman of Santander, visited the University of Warwick today (29 May) to renew the original agreement signed in November 2008. The Chairman met with Vice-Chancellor Professor Nigel Thrift and other members of the university in the Arts Centre.

The agreement has seen a substantial increase in funds which will be channelled into scholarships, national and international mobility grants, support for a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Institute of Advanced Study, support for the establishment of Hispanic Studies at Warwick, funding for entrepreneurial and volunteering activities. In addition, Santander will support master classes, workshops at Brazilian universities, music and literary events during the tour of the Coull Quartet in Brazil.

Professor Nigel Thrift said: "I am delighted that Santander Universities has renewed and enhanced its commitment to a long-term partnership with the University of Warwick. The renewed partnership has enormous potential for Warwick, enabling us to offer new opportunities to students and to build exciting research programmes within the University."

Emilio Botin said: “With such an impressive curriculum Warwick was one of the most prominent candidates to collaborate with Santander Universities when we first arrived in the UK in 2007. Since then, our support has been growing and in this agreement every year and we hope to continue this successful collaboration for many years to come.”

The Bank has given 30 scholarships and 36 mobility awards since the signing of the first agreement as well as funded entrepreneurial and volunteering activities.

Santander Universities Global Division has been supporting higher education since 1996. Since then, nearly 1,000 universities in America, Asia and Europe have signed partnership agreements with the Bank. In the UK, 59 universities are part of the network.

Mr. Botín also took this opportunity to visit the university branch on campus. The branch opened its doors in July 2010 and since then it has become a valuable member of the university community. As well as providing the usual banking services, there are also exclusive products for students and staff.

About the University of Warwick

The University of Warwick is consistently ranked in the top ten in the UK in all three of the University league tables published by UK national newspapers (Times , Sunday Times and Guardian). In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, Warwick was ranked seventh overall in the UK, with 65% of the University’s research rated as 3* (internationally excellent) or 4* (world-leading). Among departments achieving very high ranking in their units of assessment were Film Studies (1st), Warwick HRI (1st), History (2nd), Pure Mathematics (2nd), French (2nd), Economics (3rd), and Italian (3rd).

Warwick is one of the top ten UK universities most targeted by graduate employers for graduate recruitment programmes.

About Santander Universities

Through its Santander Universities Global Division, Santander has collaborated with universities for more than 15 years on a unique global initiative which distinguishes it from other national and international banks and financial institutions. The bank supports the Higher Education sector in such areas as teaching and research, international cooperation, knowledge and technology transfer, entrepreneurial initiatives, student mobility and innovation.

Santander Universities Global Division maintains a stable alliance with nearly 1,000 academic institutions in America, Asia and Europe. This is a network where universities from all over the world can meet and engage in dialogue.

‘Santander Universities’ was introduced in the UK in 2007 and the bank is already collaborating with fifty-nine British Universities and Higher Education Institutions, with agreements focused in promoting international exchange, entrepreneurial activities and the mobility of students and researchers within the network.

For more information please contact Carlos Leira, Marketing and Communications, Santander Universities UK, carlos.leira@santander.co.uk