Annual report 2009 - Santander

49Banco Santander has a unique andlong-term strategic alliance withuniversities throughout the worldSantander Universitiesglobal divisionThe Santander Universities global division, with a team ofprofessionals in 20 countries, coordinates and managesBanco Santander’s commitment to higher education.Banco Santander, in its support for universities, foments projectsto improve education, internationalisation, innovation and thetransfer of knowledge to society.Of note among its activities are:• Integral co-operation agreements, which have enabled 3,340academic, financial and technology projects to be developedwith universities, such as programmes of scholarships,teaching and research projects, fostering the use of newtechnologies in university campuses and encouraging relationsbetween the academic and business worlds.• Support for international co-operation programmes betweenuniversities, such as programmes for national and internationaltravel of students and teachers and those which promote theLatin American Knowledge Web, strengthen the relationbetween students and teachers in Asia, Europe and the USand enable university students and researchers to exchangeexperiences.• Fomenting co-operation with international academicnetworks, such as the Latin American University Network forthe Incubation of Companies (Red Emprendia).• Supporting global projects, such as Universia, the largestonline network of university co-operation in the Spanish andPortuguese-speaking world, and the Miguel de CervantesVirtual Library, the portal with the largest digitalisation ofHispanic culture and which in 2009 celebrates its 10thanniversary.Santander Universities in figures833co-operation agreements with universities in 20 countrieson 4 continents3,959,000intelligent university cards in 201 universities1,169universities grouped in Universia14,456scholarships and aid for study granted in 2009176,985new employees via UniversiaAnnual Report 2009