Philip A. Paddack, Head of Clients, Corporate & Investment Banking Europe presented the BBVA Scholarship 2015 to Caroline GRAY, PhD in Politics University of Liverpool Title: Regional Financing and Nationalist Politics: The impact of fiscal decentralization models in Spain on the territorial agendas of the mainstream Basque and Catalan nationalist parties since 1980. PROFILE: - BA in Modern Languages at University of Oxford (2007) – first class - MSt in Spanish at University of Oxford (2010) – distinction. - PhD Candidate in Politics at University of Liverpool (2013). - Visiting PhD student in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at Pompeu Fabra Univeristy (2015) and University of the Basque Country (2014). - Awarded an ESRC doctoral studentship at University of Liverpool. - Political and Economic Officer at the British Embassy in Madrid (2010-2011). She holds a recommendation letter by Giles Paxman, British Ambassador to Spain, who highlights her hard work, excellent results and her significant contribution towards an understanding of the intricacies of the Spanish economic system. - Financial reporter and analyst covering Spain at Debtwire, part of the Financial Times Group. PROJECT: This PhD research investigates the impact of the regional financing models in Spain (regimen foral and régimen común) on the evolution of the territorial agendas of the mainstream Basque and Catalan nationalist parties (PNV and CiU). The project lies at the interface between two usually distinct areas of study in economics and political science–fiscal federalism and nationalist movements, respectively – and aims to increase understanding of what forms of fiscal decentralization can best help to accommodate peripheral nationalisms within a wider state at the same time as promoting good practices in fiscal management. Spain offers the opportunity to compare the evolution of two different models of fiscal decentralisation – one based on revenue sharing arrangements (the regimen común) and the other based on substantial fiscal autonomy (the regimen foral)–in relation to two different nationalist movements (Catalan and Basque, respectively) within a wider state of seventeen autonomous communities with complex centre periphery and inter regional dynamics.

The Ferrovial Scholarship 2015 was presented to Lucia CERRADA, Mphil/PhD. Planning Studies University College London TITLE: Anatomy of the In‐between city: urban form and infrastructure cost. PROFILE: - BA in Architecture at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. - Lived and studied one year at Lund Tekniska Högskola – Sweden and Universidad Politécnica de Barcelona. - Her final project was awarded with the maximum distinction due to its careful relation and integration with the territory. - She has professional experience in Spain, Switzerland and UK. - Recent project architect for Stirling Prize winning Maccreanor Lavington Architects – London. - Actively involved in a number of research projects evaluating the design impact of built projects on residents. PROJECT: U.N. has estimated the world urban population will increase by 84% by 2050. Most of them won´t live in cities but on their peripheries, what some researchers call the in-between city. These low dense, fragmented and dispersed settlements are highly inefficient due to the high cost to provide services and infrastructure. One route to improve their efficiency, not previously studied, is to transform the population´s demand on these services through interventions on the urban form and service structure. The objective of my research focuses on exploring which morphologies are more successful and suggest retrofitting strategies for the least sustainable ones.

Simon Bray, Director of Santander Universities Global Division presented the Santander Universities Scholarships 2015 to Enrique GALLEGO PhD. Medicine Imperial College London and Diego RUBIO PhD. History/Hispanic Studies University of Oxford SANTANDER MEDICINA: Enrique GALLEGO PhD. Medicine Imperial College London TITLE: Mending broken hearts: IGF-1 gene therapy improves cardiac function and recovery after myocardial infarction. PROFILE: - BSc Biology at Universidad de Barcelona. - MSc in Biotechnology at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. -He was awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Astrazeceneca Foundation for his MSc research project performed at the CNIC. - Marie Curie Fellowship for PhD students awarded in 2012. - Very active collaborator at SRUK. - Imperial College of London is considering a patent on his gene therapy approach to translate his findings into clinical practice. PROJECT:  The escalating incidence of acute cardiovascular disease leading to heart failure underscores the increasingly urgent need for improved therapeutic strategies to limit cardiac tissue damage and to improve functional outcomes in a translational setting. Insulin growth factor splicing variant “X” (IGF1--‐SV) is a powerful enhancer of cardiac muscle growth and regeneration, also blocking age--‐related atrophy and beneficial in multiple skeletal muscle diseases. Our preclinical studies addresses the therapeutic potential of IGF1--‐SV gene transfer to the heart and the positive effects to ameliorate adverse ventricular remodeling after ischemia/reperfusion (myocardial infarction) using a cardiotropic adeno--‐associated viral vector (AAV9) carrying the IGF1--‐SV gene. British--‐Spanish link: This study is being conducted at the Imperial Centre for Translational research, Heart and Lung Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London in close collaboration with Dr. Enrique Lara--‐Pezzi’s group (elara@cnic.es) at the Spanish Centre of Cardiovascular research (CNIC), Madrid, Spain. The CNIC was chosen because it holds one the most advance preclinical research imaging units in Europe.   SANTANDER HUMANIDADES: Diego RUBIO PhD. History/Hispanic Studies University of Oxford TITLE: The Culture of Information and Secrecy in Early Modern Europe: The case of the British and Hispanic Empires . PROFILE: - BA History at Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. He obtained the highest GPA of 2012 in the whole of Spain and has received the First National Award for Excellence in Academic Performance (2014). - MA at the École Normale Supérieure de LHS (France). Chosen as one of the ten students from over one thousand international applicants. - DPhil in Early Modern History at University of Oxford (2012) . - Visiting Scholar at the universities of Paris Sorbonne (2007) and Columbia New York (2014). - Currently lecturing at University of Oxford on a broad array of topics: Spanish Civil War and Francoism, historical context and literary production of main authors of the Golden Age and prose translation and Spanish culture. - Founder of La Facultad Invisible, an educational think tank of Spanish scholars working towards the improvement of Higher Education in Spain. - Fluent in Spanish, English, French and Italian. He can also read Portuguese and Latin PROJECT: My doctoral research adopts an historical approach for solving one of the major dilemmas that Western society is facing today: should governments always tell the truth to their citizens? Or, conversely, is informational opacity lawful when it benefits the common good? I analyze more than 200 moral and political treaties written by both British and Spanish authors in the Early Modern period. These texts, produced following the birth of the Modern State, contain valuable ideas theories, today virtually forgotten, that can help us formulate a new ethic of information sharing and reconcile apparently conflicting principles such us the national security and the right to privacy.

The Telefónica Scholarship 2015 was presented to Juan BARAHONA , Artist Diploma in Piano Performance by Royal College of Music   TITLE: Isaac Albeniz beyond “Suite Iberia”: La vega and Azulejos.   PROFILE: - Graduated from Oviedo’s conservatory with the highest qualification – 2012 - Reina Sofía Music School – 2010-2012 - Postgraduate at Royal College of Music– 2013– ongoing -Awards: • He came first at a national piano competition and second in an international competition in 2005. • First prize at Barcelona Piano Competition (2007). • Outstanding Piano Student Award (2010 and 2012) awarded by HM Queen Sofía. • Best Quartet with piano (2011) awarded by HM Queen Sofía. - He has performed internationally with many different orchestras. -Resident pianist at the International Summer Academy Collegium-Musicum in Pommersfelden, Germany (2011 and 2014). - Invited to participate in Salzburg Mozarteum Sommerakademie as Model-Student for Master Dimitri Bashkirov (2013). PROJECT: Isaac Albeniz stands as the best and most relevant composer in the entire Spanish piano repertoire. His masterpiece “Suite Iberia” is well known and regularly performed in the entire world. However, beyond the greatness of “Iberia”, there are more compositions in Albeniz’s repertoire which unfortunately, remain practically unknown outside Spain. They can definitely match the “Suite Iberia” in terms of quality and musical richness. This is the case of “La Vega”, one of his previous and most influent works on “Iberia”; and “Azulejos”, his last composition. This project focuses on: research, personal study, collaboration with teachers, artists and institutions; performances and recordings with the will of spreading the knowledge of these hidden gems of the Spanish art.