Emilio Botín and Jenson Button present 100 Formula Santander scholarships to British university students

This morning in London the Chairman of Banco Santander, Emilio Botín, and the McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 racing driver, Jenson Button, gave out 100 Formula Santander international mobility scholarships worth 5,000 euros each, to coincide with the British Grand Prix week in the UK.

The recipients of these scholarships are selected by their universities, on the basis of their academic record, financial resources and knowledge of languages, among other things.

These scholarships are part of the "Formula Santander Scolarships" programme which is now in its fifth year. Every year we have been awarding 300 scholarships: 100 in Brazil, 100 in Spain and 100 in the UK so that by the end of 2014 we will have given out a total of 1,600 scholarships since the program began in 2010.

In addition to the Formula Santander Scholarships, the Bank, since 2007, develops others scholarships programs and professional internships in the UK through the Santander Universities Division. In this way, Emilio Botín announced greater support for British universities and explained that "exactly one year ago, during the same event, I announced an increase in aid from Santander to universities in the UK. This year, Banco Santander will do the same and will increase the number of scholarships and grants from 3,500 to 5,000".

Banco Santander pushes these academic initiatives forward through its Santander Universities Global Division (www.santander.com/universidades), which maintains collaborative agreements with more than 1,100 universities and research centres around the world, and with its sponsorship, in the month of July, it will back the 3rd Universia Meeting of Presidents to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which will bring together more than 1,100 vice-chancellors and presidents of universities in 46 countries.