Located in Western Europe, covers most of the Iberian Peninsula, and has two archipelagos (the Balearic Islands and the Canary islands) and two autonomous cities in North Africa - Ceuta and Melilla. Spain is divided into 17 autonomous regions and 2 autonomous cities.
The form of Government is a Parliamentary monarchy. Is a country member of the European Union and a non-confessional state, where Catholicism is the main religion.
Spain is the 13th largest economy in the world, 5th largest in the European Union and 2nd largest investor in Latin America, after the USA. Similarly, Spain ranks 10th world's scientific power in 2013 and main research areas where Spain has a large science base are health, ICT, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Energy, Material Sciences and Social Sciences.
Spanish companies are internationally recognized for their leadership in clean technologies, health and biotechnology, engineering infrastructure, ICT, manufacturing technologies, financial services and tourism, amongst others.
Academic excellence, international recognition and research capacity of Spanish Universities: 9 Spanish Universities in the top 400 HIE ranking (Times Higher Education 2014); 7 Spanish Universities in the top 100 under 50 HIE (Times Higher Education 2014). Spanish universities contribute to 2/3 to the total scientific production of Spain with international visibility.
Worldwide leading MBA Schools IESE, Instituto de Empresa and ESADE: in the top 20 Global MBA School (Financial Times 2015) and top 10 European Business Schools ranking (Financial Times 2014).
Value of Spanish as language: Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese, and the primary, official or co-official language of 21 countries.
Recognition of Spanish University titles in more than 30 member countries of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA): this facilitates as well the approval and recognition of Spanish qualifications in other countries outside Europe, like the USA, Asia and Latin America.
Spanish university entrance exam no longer required for foreign students.
Preferred destination for postgraduate students and researchers from Latin America as well as top notch destination for European university students under the Erasmus Programme.
Tuition fees and cost of living are lower compared to other European countries
Master's Programs: The prices of enrolment in the Master's Programs and the Doctorate Programs in public universities are within a fixed rate of 17 and 65 Euros per credit.
Official Master's and Doctoral Degrees fee ranges from 995 to 1,920 Euros per academic year.
Fees at private universities are established by the university itself.
Living Expense for a year: 900 - 1,100 Euros a month, depending on the city
A student can work on a part time basis during the study program. However, the student has to ensure that the work does not affect his/her studies or research hours.
EU / NATIONAL & REGIONAL LEVEL
Erasmus Plus Programme
European Research Council funding schemes (open to top researchers funding schemes are open to top researchers of any nationality or age who wish to carry out their frontier research in the 28 EU Member States or associated countries).
Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, Spain
Spanish Agency for International Co-operation and Aid - AECID (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Spain)
M+VISION COFUND: supporting career development of researchers on bioimaging
TALENTIA POSTDOC FELLOWSHIPS (2 year fellowship co-financed by the Marie Curie Programme of the European Union, to experienced researchers).
UNIVERSITIES / INSTITUTIONS
PEIN Research Excellence Programme USC - India India (Universidad Santiago de
Compostela).
NCBS-inStem (India) - CRG (Spain) POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS
Bachelor's Degree - In order to study for the Spanish Grado (equivalent of a Bachelor's degree) the student must decide whether they want to start their studies from the begining (starting their studies in Spain) or if they would like to continue their Grado studies (Bachelor's degree) that they have already initiated in their own countries.
Starting University Studies in Spain:
a) Students who hold a pre-university degree equivalent to the Spanish one, or students who have completed pre-university studies in countries of the European Union (EU), Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Liechenstein or China should use their corresponding title and follow the admission procedure determined by the university where they would like to study
b) Students who have not completed secondary education in a member state of the European Union, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Liechenstein or China, or students from the rest of the world with recognized foreign qualifications should obtain official recognition of equivalence to Spanish Bachiller certificate on academic credentials and follow the admission procedure determined by the university where they would like to study.
University studies that have already been initiated: students who have started university studies in another country and who wish to continue their studies in Spain, or Spaniards that, having finished their university studies abroad, have not obtained recognized qualification and want to continue their studies in a Spanish university should get in contact with the Spanish university where they would like to continue their undergraduate studies.
Postgraduate (Master and Doctoral Studies):
Foreign students interested in carrying out master's or doctoral studies in Spain should apply directly to the Spanish university where they would like to study.
a) Master - to be admitted on a master's program, students must meet one of these requirements: 1 - be in possession of a bachelor's degree obtained at a university in Spain or in a country of the European Higher Education Area; or 2 - be in possession of a bachelor's degree obtained at a university in a country other than those indicated above. The Spanish university must be satisfied with the level of the studies leading to this degree is equivalent to that required by obtaining a bachelor's degree in Spain.
b) Doctorate - In general, in order to access an official doctorate program, it is necessary to have a bachelor's degree or the Spanish equivalent and an official Master's degree (RD 99/2011).
ADMISSION TO NON-OFFICIAL DEGREES
Non-official degrees have diverse program lengths, names and requirements. Considering that these programs are approved by the same issuing university., the requirements vary according to the university that is offering the degree. They may be Bachelor's or Master's studies and therefore, generally require, for either case, that students send their official degree and grades of any studies initiated already.
In order to be admitted into a Spanish university, It is not necessary for international students with a university degree to obtain official recognition. When a foreign student with university studies wants to enrol in a Spanish university in order to obtain a Bachelor's, Master's or Doctorate degree, they must follow the procedure established in the Spanish university. Although it is not necessary to obtain official recognition of an international university degree, when a foreign student wants to do postgraduate studies, the university will validate their degree allowing the student access to the Spanish university.
