The University of Oviedo and the Santander Bank, through its Global Division Santander Universities, have renewed their collaboration, framed in the Campus of International Excellence of the academic institution. The agreement was signed by Vicente Gotor, Rector of the University of Oviedo, and Emilio Botín, President of the Santander Bank.

The initiatives include the establishment of the Cluster of Biomedicine and Health of the ICE of the University of Oviedo, which promotes excellence in five lines of research: genomics (related to cancer and aging); development and degeneration of the brain; regenerative medicine, transplants and implants; development of drugs, and research in the production of food and food technology.

The bank, through Santander Universities Spain, will also support the establishment of the Marine Observatory of Asturias, which will gather all the scientific research pertaining the sea, promoting the institutional collaboration in matters related to marine biodiversity; invading species; climate change, and technology applied to the marine environment. And it will also continue to support the activities of the International Center for Postgraduate Studies and Ad Futurm, the project of the Campus of International Excellence of the University of Oviedo.

The number of grants for small and medium enterprises will double, reaching 200 university students, and the pre-doctoral grants will also increase

The Rector and the President of the Santander Group also announced that the number of Santander Grants for Internships at Small and Medium Enterprises of the University of Oviedo will double, reaching 200 grants. Moreover, teachers and researchers from the academic institution will benefit from pre-doctoral research grants, with 3-month stays at universities from all around the world. The Asturian academic institution will continue to participate in other programs, such as the Fórmula Santander Grants or the Latin America Grants for Undergraduate Students.

The participation of visiting lecturers -both Spanish and foreign- in Master's Degrees and PhD Programmes managed by the International Center for Postgraduate Studies will be promoted. The goal is to establish Double Postgraduate Degrees with prestigious foreign universities, promoting the participation of professionals coming from the world of business in both practical and theoretical teaching.

New information technologies and communications applied to teaching will be promoted. And the Intelligente University Card (IUC) will be offered to the university community, providing them with different services, such as the management of library loans; wallet cards; ID; access management, etc. The President of the Santander Bank gave the first card to the Rector during the signing of the agreement.

Representing the University of Oviedo, the Rector and his team were present during the ceremony, and from the Santander Bank, José Antonio Villasante, General Director and Director of the Global Division of Santander Universities; Enrique García Candelas, General Director of Santander Spain; Víctor García López, Territorial Director for Asturias; Pedro Alonso Gil, Director of Santander Universities Spain, and Alfredo Albáizar, Associate Director of Santander Universities Spain.

The Santander Bank, through Santander Universities, has been collaborating with the University of Oviedo since 2005 and maintains more than 1,100 collaboration agreements with universities and research centers throughout the globe. Since 1996, Santander Universities has invested more than 1 billion Euros in different university activities and projects.

In 2014, the Santander Bank will back up with its patronage the 3rd International Meeting of Rectors Universia that will gather in July in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, more than 1,100 Rectors and Presidents of universities from all around the world.