The Carolina Foundation, promoting unity and understanding with Latin America

Since its creation in 2000, this public-private institution has run several programmes to promote educational, cultural and scientific cooperation between Spain and the countries of the Iberian-American Commonwealth. Through its activities, always responding to the specific educational needs of each country and to the principle of excellence when choosing the recipients of its grants, it has garnered an international reputation both for its investment in human capital and its role in Spanish public diplomacy and in strengthening the global presence of culture in Spanish. Do you want to know more about this Foundation?

In the Carolina Foundation's first period (2000-2004) it already had the support of major companies and financial corporations to offer a broad programme of grants of different kinds to students and teachers, focusing on three lines of action:
 
The programme of grants for higher professional study and doctoral teacher training.
 
The international visitors programme, aimed at promoting Spain's relations with the rest of the world.
 
The Centre for Hispanic and Latin American Studies (CEHI), aimed at promoting la Hispanic culture and its influence in the world.


The project was consolidated in the period of 2004-2011, when the Carolina Foundation organised activities related to commemorating the bicentenaries of the Constitution of Cádiz and the independence of the Latin American republics, and played an important role in supporting relations between Europe and Latin America during the rotating EU presidency held by the Spanish government in 2010.
 

Training Programme
 
This is one of the Foundation’s flagship programmes, aimed at facilitating the extension of university graduate studies, specialisation and refresher courses for postgraduates, teachers, researchers, artists and professionals from member countries of the Iberian-American Commonwealth and Portugal.
 
Thus, if you are interested in coming to study in Spain, the Foundation's grants may be a very good option. In the 2013-2014 academic year (grants are announced and awarded annually), there are three types of grant: postgraduate grants, doctoral and short postdoctoral visiting grants and Brazilian teacher mobility grants. The programmes cover disciplines including biotechnology, renewable energy and communications...
 
The Carolina Foundation's Training Programme has worked to promote increased participation of universities and academic institutions and towards balance in the different areas of study and in geographic terms.
 
This Programme's training has also been adapted to the European Higher Education Area. In addition, it has incorporated the National Agency of Assessment, Quality and Certification (ANECA), the Spanish University Rectors Conference (CRUE) and the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) on its Advisory Board as endorsing scientific institutions.
 
In terms of numbers, by 2012 over 14,000 grants and financial awards had been made to researchers in all the Latin American countries. This has contributed greatly to the internationalisation of Spanish universities. Now it may be your turn.

This Programme, the only one of its kind in Spain, is aimed at people of relevance, with promise for the future, who wish to visit Spain to make contacts with managers in their professional field and to learn about the country's current situation. There are two types of visit, individual and group, which have brought more than 2,000 respected figures and emerging leaders to Spain. The most important initiatives carried out between 2004 and 2011 include:
    
Young Latin American Leaders, bringing together each year those with the best university records in Latin American.
    
Hispanic Leaders in the United States, organised as an initiative of the Spanish Embassy in Washington DC in collaboration with Fundación Consejo España-Estados Unidos.
    
Young Latin American Politicians, which invited current young parliamentarians from Latin American countries.
 
The Journalists Summit, which, together with the Ibero-American General Secretariat, invited journalists in advance of the Ibero-American Summits.
 
The Brazilian Civil Society, which invited young representative of Brazilian civil society to learn about the situation in Spain.
 
Latin American Women Leaders.
 
Today, this programme is of enormous strategic value in Spain's external activity and is clearly global in character, with its visitors coming from all the continents.

Designed for maintaining contacts between the Carolina Foundation and its users and programme recipients, as well as among these, with contributions from alumni associations, leadership communities, promotion spaces, researcher networks, etc. It is a way to maintain links and encourage cooperation on the web.
 
Carolina Net also manages the www.fundacioncarolina.es domain and Carolina Net's website www.redcarolina.net and administrates the Foundation's official profiles in the social networks.
 
There are also “Carolina Associations” throughout most of Latin America.

This Programme aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the situation in Spain through constant attention to visitors during their stay. This attention takes the form of welcome days, conferences, seminars, visits to museums, sports and cultural events, weekend trips, etc.


The Carolina Foundation has thus become irreplaceable in its contribution to higher education in Latin America, to strengthening personal and institutional links in this region and to promoting Spain's image abroad. In short, it represents a clear commitment to education of which you can be the beneficiary.

http://www.fundacioncarolina.es  This is the Carolina Foundation's official website, where you can find how to apply for a grant and what documentation is required of you, and where you can consult publications and find the exact content of each programme.
 
http://www.redcarolina.net/. Here you can get the latest news and events from Carolina Net. There is also a private platform of services with functionality including social networking, virtual library, forums, etc.
 
https://www.facebook.com/fundacioncarolina
 
https://twitter.com/Red_Carolina
 
http://www.youtube.com/user/redcarolina1?feature=mhw5
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/redcarolina/