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International Context

The Complutense has cooperation agreements with many universities abroad which allow students, teaching staff and researchers to participate in exchange programmes. Agreements have been signed with Europe, America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Australia. Further agreements on various issues have been reached with the numerous institutions collaborating with the Complutense University on international activities.

 

Complutense Centres and Institutions Abroad

The Real Colegio Complutense at Harvard (RCC)

The RCC is a non-profit institution with its own legal jurisdiction granted by the State of Massachusetts (USA). It was created in 1990 by the Complutense University of Madrid in collaboration with Harvard University, and is a joint venture aimed at promoting academic, intellectual and scientific exchanges between Harvard University, the Complutense University and other Spanish universities and institutions, both public and private.

To make the opportunities of the Real Colegio Complutense available to the greatest possible number of Spanish professors and researchers, the Complutense University has signed collaboration agreements with different Spanish universities. This means that professors who have the approval of their chancellors and co-financing from their universities can take advantage of the programmes the Real Colegio offers for Spanish researchers.

The Real Colegio Complutense at Harvard has a wide funding programme offering different kinds of research grants including: Advanced Research Group grants; Cátedra Garrigues awards; Social Committee grants; postgraduate grants; summer grants for students of Harvard University, as well as other research funding.

Programmes and courses offered during the academic year

During the academic year, the Real Colegio Complutense organises special courses (three to ten days), generally given by teaching staff from Harvard University, the Complutense University and other Spanish and American institutions.

In recent years, courses have been organised for teachers and specialists in Environmental Sciences, Business Administration, Commercial Law, and Economic Analysis of Law. Some courses have also been held for business executives and entrepreneurs, and new courses have been approved in the areas including Sociology and Academic Accounting.

Courses and lecture series in Spain

The RCC facilitates and promotes lectures and courses by teachers from Harvard University at the Complutense or other Spanish institutions in collaboration with the Complutense University.

Lecture series, symposia and other cultural activities at Harvard

The RCC holds annual series of lectures, open to the academic community, given primarily by Visiting Fellows.

The RCC also collaborates with Harvard departments to bring together world-renowned scientists, experts and professors, holding special activities, above all symposia on topics related to Spanish culture.

At 26 Trowbridge Street, the RCC sponsors and organises concerts, expositions, showings of Spanish cinema, and other cultural activities of an academic nature.

 

The Collège des Hautes Études Européennes “Miguel Servet”

This Hispano-French academic institution based in Paris, is a joint initiative of the Complutense University and the Université de Paris (Sorbonne).

Its aim is to contribute to the education of European professionals, especially from Southern Europe, in the fields of business, public services and higher education, from a European perspective.

Other participants along with the Complutense University in this project are: Université de Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne), Université de Paris VIII (Saint-Denis), Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), Académie des Universités de Paris, École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris; Università degli Studi di Milano; Universidade de Lisboa; Università di Bologna, Universidade de Coimbra; Universitat de Valencia and the Communauté des Universités Méditerranéennes.

The Collège "Miguel Servet" offers three types of course programmes in association with professional organizations, public services and universities:

Short courses

Seminars, workshops or study conferences, intended for professionals and management level executives from Southern Europe.

Medium courses

These are in-house courses leading to the DESUP (Diplôme d'Etudes Juridiques et Ëconomiques de l'Union Européenne) and are intended for upper management in public services and private enterprise.

Long courses

These are courses lasting several years resulting from direct, specific agreements between two or more member institutions of the Collège "Miguel Servet". These studies, which last a minimum of four years, are the equivalent to a "licenciatura" university degree in Spain and the "maîtrises" in France.

An agreement between the Université Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne) and the Complutense University of Madrid, through the Law Faculty, which has been given academic recognition as equivalent by the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain) and the Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale (France), establishes that on completion of four years of study (the first two in Madrid and the following two in Paris), the double degree will be awarded of "Maîtrise Intégrée en Droit Français et Espagnol" (France) and "Licenciatura en Derecho Hispano-Francés" (Spain), qualifications giving access to the selection process for the Civil Service in Spain and in France, and membership of the law societies in Madrid and Paris.

 

Exchange Programmes

The Complutense University is aware that the professional future of its students depends increasingly on the direct experience they acquire during their university studies and on their experience of the way of life in other countries.

Exchange programmes, which are the result of cooperation between universities in different countries, offer students the chance to broaden their academic experience in other countries (student exchange and joint degrees).

European Programmes

• LIFELONG LEARNING PROGRAMME (LLP). This is a new EU action programme established by the Decision of European Parliament and the Council for period 2007-2013. Its aim is to contribute to the development of an advanced knowledge society through permanent learning, and particularly to stimulate exchange, cooperation and mobility between the education and training systems within the EU.

• ERASMUS. The Erasmus Programme seeks to improve standards in higher education and to enhance the European dimension by encouraging transnational cooperation between universities, promoting mobility throughout Europe and improving the transparency and academic recognition of studies and qualifications in the heart of the European Union.

• LEONARDO DA VINCI. The objective of this programme is to improve quality, to promote innovation and to support the European dimension of professional education systems through transnational cooperation throughout Europe.

The Leonardo Da Vinci Programme has three main specific goals: to facilitate career placement, to improve the quality of and access to training, and to stimulate the contribution of training to innovation.

• TEMPUS. The Tempus IV Programme (2007-2013) supports the modernisation of higher education and creates an area of cooperation between the EU and the Western Balkans, Eastern Europe and Central Asia and the partner Mediterranean countries.

Tempus finances two types of actions:

Joint projects are based on multilateral partnerships between higher education institutions in the EU and the partner countries above. Their aim is to develop, modernize and disseminate new curricula, teaching methods or materials, boost a quality assurance culture and modernise the management and governance of higher education institutions.

Structural measures contribute to the development and reform of higher education institutions and other education systems in partner countries, to enhance their quality and relevance and increase their convergence with the EU developments.

• ERASMUS MUNDUS 2009-2013. This programme is implemented through three different actions:

Action1. Joint Masters and Doctorate programmes which include mobility of students and academics. The aim is to establish joint programmes of outstanding academic quality designed and implemented by a consortium of European universities from at least 3 different countries. awarding a double, multiple or joint degree. Consortia may also include universities from other parts of the world and are open to higher education institutions and research centres in Europe and non-European countries.   

Action 2. Support for the formation of consortia between European and Third country higher education institutions. These consortia are divided into different geographical targeted groups defined by the European Commission. The aim is to boost academic partnership and mobility of students, teachers and researchers, contributing to the socio-economic development of participating targeted non-EU countries. Special attention will be paid to underprivileged and vulnerable population groups. Higher education institutions and research centres in EU and non-EU countries may participate.  

Action 3. This action supports projects which promote European higher education, enhancing the attraction, profile, image and global visibility of European higher education institutions. The activities must be related to the international dimension of aspects of higher education such as promotion, accessibility, quality assurance, credit recognition, mutual recognition of qualifications, curriculum development and mobility.  Higher education institutions and research centres in EU and non-EU countries may take part as well as organizations active in the field of higher education.

• JEAN MONNET PROGRAMME. The activities of this programme are focused on studies of European integration, with the aim of stimulating teaching and research excellence and reflection on European integration in higher education centres, and promoting an informed understanding and awareness among academic experts and the European public in general in support of the European institutions dealing with integration related matters.

American Programmes

• ALFA PROGRAMME. (América Latina Formación Académica), was introduced by the European Commission in 1994. Phase III (2008-2012), is currently being developed with the main aim of the reform, modernization and quality of higher education institutions; to foster progress towards the creation of a joint higher education area in Latin America and exploit its synergies with the EU, to promote cooperation and links between higher education institutions in both areas.

• ALBAN PROGRAMME. Is a programme of high-level European Union grants for Latin America that allows students and professors from Latin America, future academics, and leaders of government and industry to benefit from an experience of excellence in the area of higher education in the European Union. Erasmus Mundus will take its place.

• DOCTORAL PROGRAMMES AND UCM QUALIFICATIONS OFFERED at Latin American universities. The possibility of studying for doctorates and Complutense qualifications at Latin American universities is one of the most notable signs of the growing presence of the Complutense University in Latin America. This work is channelled through the doctoral programmes taught by UCM professors at Latin American universities, with the aim of contributing to the training of professors/doctors in Latin America.

• The ISEP or International Exchange Program. This was the initiative of a consortium of prestigious North American universities and its aim is to carry out student exchanges with European universities.

The Programme offers UCM students the opportunity to pursue studies during the academic year in the United States at an ISEP member university. The ISEP Programme intends to broaden students' educational experience and improve their knowledge of the world of the American university. For their part, a group of American students spend an academic year studying at the Complutense University.

• INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT EDUCATION (IES). The IES has established an agreement with the Complutense University by which students from North America attending one of the associated or affiliated universities can undertake studies at the UCM as visiting foreign students. In return, the IES offers two scholarship programmes for Complutense students.

• COMPLUTENSE "DEL AMO" GRANTS. Established by the Fundación del Amo, these are grants available to Complutense University of Madrid Ph.D. professors interested in conducting research projects at a California public university. The grants provide assistance for stays of between two and twelve months.

• UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA GRANTS. The creation of the University of California Center at the Complutense University of Madrid paved the way for the establishment of a scholarship programme for Complutense University doctoral students at the University of California. The programme encompasses all academic areas except the Medical Sciences, Business and Law.

• "FLORES VALLES" GRANTS. These grants are intended for UCM PhDs. in the fields of Physics, Pharmacy and Chemistry. The objective is specialization and development of research projects in a foreign university.

Finally, the European Union has cooperation programmes for higher education and vocational training, with the United States (EU-US programme for higher education), Canada (EU-Canada programme for higher education and MAUI-Utrecht Network), Asia (Vulcanus) and Australia (EU-Australia programme for higher education and AEN-Utrecht Network).

The UCM also participates in other associations such as ESN (Erasmus Student Network), EAIE (European Association for International Education), Utrecht Network, Europaeum, and UNICA.

 

International Programmes in collaboration with other Spanish Institutions

• INTER-UNIVERSITY COOPERATION PROGRAMME (PCI). The AECI (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional) runs a Programme of Scientific Cooperation and Inter-university Research.

The programme is subdivided into two parts:

PCI Iberoamérica: coordinates the cooperation between Spain and Latin-America and includes aid for the execution of joint research projects, teaching projects and complementary actions.

PCI Mediterráneo: coordinates the cooperation between Spain and Morocco and between Spain and Tunisia and includes aid for carrying out joint research projects and complementary actions.

• MAEC GRANTS. The Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperación (Ministry for Foreign Affairs) and the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (AECI) (Spanish Aid and Development Agency) invite applications each year for different grant programmes for Spanish and foreign citizens.

 

The Complutense Institute for International Studies

Its main objective is to serve as an instrument for the projection of the academic and scientific activities carried out at the Complutense University in the field of international studies.