The Chairman of "la Caixa" Foundation, Isidro Fainé, met today with the 50 fellows from the 2022 call for the Foundation's Bachelor fellowships, in an event to acknowledge these excellent students with limited economic resources, many of whom have now reached the halfway point in their studies.
Family photo of the undergraduate scholars selected in the 2022 call of the "la Caixa" Foundation.
"la Caixa" Foundation's Bachelor fellowship programme, first set up in 2021, aims to promote equal opportunities in accessing university education. In its first four years, these grants have enabled 200 young people to go to university.
"With the Bachelor fellowship programme, we support excellent young people from vulnerable situations so they can focus on their university studies and go as far as they want in life. We're committed to them, to their talent, their hard work and dedication because we're convinced they'll make the most of this opportunity and will be an example to follow", explained Isidro Fainé during the gathering.
The Bachelor fellowship provides the fellows with a monthly payment of 600 euros, enabling them to study full-time. They also receive grants to purchase computer equipment and materials, as well as complementary allowances for visits abroad, language courses and a programme of support and training in multidisciplinary skills.
The fellowship also fosters networking through face-to-face and virtual meetings. At the end of the second year of their degrees, a face-to-face meet-up takes place in Barcelona, this year during the third week in July. Over the course of four days, the fellows had the chance to share ideas, strengthen ties and acquire new knowledge through different activities, cultural visits and sessions with the programme's counsellors.
This meet-up in Barcelona culminated with the aforementioned ceremony to acknowledge the fellows, held at the headquarters of "la Caixa" Foundation and attended by the Chairman of "la Caixa" Foundation, Isidro Fainé.
At the same time, this year "la Caixa" Foundation has awarded 50 new Bachelor fellowships in the 2024 call, after receiving 979 applications. These new fellows will begin their degrees or higher studies in art this September.
The 50 fellows selected come from 13 of Spain's autonomous communities: Andalusia (13), Asturias (3), Canary Islands (5), Cantabria (2), Castilla-La Mancha (2), Castilla y León (1), Catalonia (9), Valencian Community (3), Extremadura (4), Galicia (1), Madrid (2), Basque Country (1) and the Region of Murcia (4).
In this fourth call in 2024, the most coveted disciplines were Medicine (9), Mathematics and Physics (5), Law and Business Administration (4) and Political Science and International Relations (4).
The centres that will receive the most fellows are the University of Barcelona (4), the Complutense University of Madrid (4), the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (3), the Pompeu Fabra University (3), the University of Granada (3), the University of Murcia (3) and the University of Salamanca (3).
"la Caixa" Foundation's Fellowship programme was set up in 1982 with the aim of encouraging international mobility and promoting excellent training and research at the best universities and research centres in the world, by means of its programme of postgraduate fellowships abroad. Subsequently, with the doctoral and post-doctoral programmes in Spain and Portugal, the aim was to attract and retain the best Spanish and international research talent and to promote cutting-edge research in the Iberian Peninsula. During these 40-plus years, more than 6,000 students and researchers have benefitted from one of these fellowships.
Since 2021, thanks to the Bachelor fellowship programme, "la Caixa" Foundation now covers all stages of education, from undergraduate to post-doctoral, whilst also enhancing the programme by combining, for the first time, the academic excellence that characterises these fellowships with the promotion of social equity.
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