Scholarships, research and universities

Foundation scholarships

Postgraduate scholarships to study at universities or research institutions of the awardee's choice in the United States, Canada or Europe (outside Spain).

The 2008 scholarship programme featured:

• 125 new scholarships offered.
• 67 scholarships renewed for a second year of study.
• Subject areas: social and legal sciences, biosanitary sciences, technical sciences and music.
• Full coverage of tuition costs.
• Minimum monthly stipend of €1,200 and maximum of €1,500, depending on the host country.
• One-off payment of €1,000 euros for settling-in expenses.
• Round-trip air fare.
• Insurance covering accidents and overseas assistance.

The ceremony at which students were given their scholarship credentials was presided by His and Her Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Asturias.

Joint scholarships

These are scholarships schemes run in collaboration with eminent institutions like the Spanish Academy in Rome, Fundación Josep Carreras, Fundación Colegios del Mundo Unido, the Centro de Estudios Monetarios y Financieros Internacionales (CEMFI), Universidad de Comillas, the Spanish National Youth Orchestra (JONDE) and the Fundación Ortega y Gasset.

Research

• Collaboration with the National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), running since 1998, for the conduct of cancer research projects. The programme was renewed in 2008 and will implement a Programme of Research Excellence in Clinical Oncology.
• Cataloguing of one of the main collections in the Simancas General Archive: the “Registro General del Sello de Castilla”, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and the University of Valladolid.
• Collaboration with Fundación Severo Ochoa for the hiring of Spanish and international researchers with postgraduate studies and relevant experience in the National Molecular Biology Centre of the same name.
• Fundación Caja Madrid maintained its status as sole sponsor (since 2007) of the archaeological excavation and restoration works at the tomb of Djehuty in Luxor (Egypt), in collaboration with the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC).
• Collaboration in the archaeological probe to be carried out in the Doñana marshlands in Huelva, to test the hypothesis of the existence of major pre-Roman archaeological remains there.

Universities

• Collaboration with public universities in the Madrid Region.
• Erasmus – Fundación Caja Madrid scholarships: with a total budget of €2.2 million divided into packages of 500 euros/month (4,400 monthly payments), this scheme, now into its fourth year, benefited 541 students from Madrid's six public universities. Stays at the European universities chosen by students averaged around eight months.