General conditions of use

1. Purpose.

These General Conditions of Use (hereinafter, the "Conditions" or the "General Conditions") describe the terms applicable to the service provided by Universia Holding, S.L. with registered office at Ciudad Grupo Santander. Avda de Cantabria s/n, 28660 Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) with CIF B82976515 and accessible through this Contact Form (hereinafter "Universia"), makes available to internet users through the Santander Open Academy portal accessible via the domain https://www.santanderopenacademy.com (hereinafter, jointly or separately the "Portal").

The service provided through the Portal (hereinafter, the "Service") consists of offering a space that brings together universities and other educational institutions or entities that join the Portal (hereinafter, the "Institutions") and publish scholarship programs (hereinafter, the "Program" or "Programs"), or courses with limited places (hereinafter, "Courses with Limited Places"), and the actual users who register on the Portal to evaluate the Programs and Courses with Limited Places that interest them the most and enroll, manage, or coordinate them (hereinafter, the "Portal Users" or "User/s"), as well as to interact with the Institutions. The Service also includes making courses with unlimited places available to Users by Universia, which are aimed at enabling Users to access better opportunities for academic and professional development (hereinafter, "Courses with Unlimited Places"). Lastly, Universia may also offer content that facilitates learning or reinforces User's skills ("Contents"). All the functionalities of the Service are explained in more detail in section 2 of these General Conditions.

Any interested party who registers on the Portal or has subscribed to the newsletter, in any modality, "Student", "Teacher", "Researcher" indistinctly, will be recognised as a User. Professor" means any person on the payroll of an Institution who fulfils the requirements of the specific Programme or Courses with Limited Places.

Universities, education institutions, local units of the Santander Group, entities or companies can register on the Portal as an 'Institution' that promotes, as per the terms set out in these General Conditions, through the Portal, one or several Programs or, Courses with Limited Places.

These Conditions are drawn up in Spanish and will take effect when Users begin to use the Service, which will occur when they have completed the registration process and expressly accept these Conditions by clicking on the button concerned.

Users may consult a copy of these Terms at any time, as they will be available at all times in a link at the bottom of the web version of the Portal.

If users wish to know how we process their personal data to provide the Service, we advise them to consult our Privacy Policy, which is accessible in a link at the bottom of the Portal.

Universia clarifies that participation in the Programs and Courses with Limited Places also is subject to additional legal conditions of the Program or Course with Limited Places in question that is established by the respective Institution; these conditions must be read and accepted by the users in advance. Generally, Universia has nothing to do with the development of these Programs and Courses with Limited Places, so any incident or claim related to them should be addressed directly to the relevant Institution. Also, Institutions will process the users' personal data for the development of their Programs and Courses with Limited Places according to their specific privacy policy.

By accessing, using, or registering on the Portal, the User confirms and guarantees they are over 16 years old. Notwithstanding, certain Programs and Courses with Limited Places may require a higher minimum age.

2. Description of the service

The Service provided by Universia is composed of the following functions, all relating to the management of scholarship Programmes or intended to enable Users to compete more successfully in scholarship Programme selection processes.

2.1. Scholarship Programmes

The Portal is a global space to which Institutions from different countries adhere and is connected and adapted to the needs of each centre, in order to complete and strengthen Programmes and create an ecosystem to promote academic activity. Through the Portal, Institutions can create, publish and manage calls for Programmes, as well as monitor and control them, access and consult statistical analyses on the evolution of the Programmes, and invite third party collaborators to manage or participate in them (e.g., the evaluators).

In general, the Programs will consist of the provision, by the Institutions, of financial aid to pay for all or part of the expenses that Users have to bear when pursuing studies, developing a research project, or participating in a project, among others.

The selection process for certain Courses with Limited Places or their editions will include a voting system that will allow candidates to be voted on online through the Portal by viewing their public profile, with the aim of strengthening their candidacy.

In order to prevent fraud in the voting process, only users who are properly registered on the Portal will be allowed to vote. Each user who is properly registered on the Portal will be able to cast a maximum of one vote per candidate and can vote for as many candidates as they wish. The vote will not be limited to the voter's location, meaning the same voter can vote for as many candidates as they deem appropriate in any participating region. Voters will not be able to see the accumulated votes for the candidates.

In this regard, the Institutions' Programs may have been funded by third parties (hereinafter, the "Promoters"), with whom the Institution may jointly manage the Program or allow access to details about it because they have funded the Program. The Promoters may use the Portal or choose not to, but if they do, they must accept these Conditions, including the specific ones for the Institutions, and abide by them.

The Institution will be subject to the validation process foreseen by Universia for the purposes of publishing the first Program. During the creation of the Program, the Institution declares that it has fully complied with any applicable laws, regulations, and rules in the subject of the Program, and that it has not violated and will not violate any agreement to which the Institution is explicitly or implicitly bound.

The Institutions that publish the Programmes through the Portal are solely responsible for the management, organisation and development of such Programmes, as well as for guaranteeing the rights of Users as consumers, and Universia assumes no responsibility in this regard. In addition, the Institutions generally have the character of academic institutions, so that unless otherwise specifically indicated, Users are assisted by the rights of consumers in their relations with the Institutions. Likewise, the Institutions are solely responsible for complying with the obligations arising from the agreements they reach with Users in relation to the Scholarship Programmes, and Universia shall not be involved in any way whatsoever.

The registration, processing and development of any other management related to the Scholarship Programmes may be carried out exclusively on the web version of the Portal.

2.2. Courses

2.2.1 Courses with Limited Places

Like the scholarship programs, Institutions can create, publish, and manage courses with limited Places (“Courses with Limited Places”) through the Portal, as well as monitor and control them, access and consult statistical analyses related to the progress of the Courses with Limited Places, and invite third-party collaborators to manage or participate in them.

The Courses with Limited Places will primarily consist of the Institutions granting a free spot for participation in courses, the main subjects of which can be languages, skills, technology, sustainability, among others.

Likewise, the Institutions' Courses with Limited Places may have been funded by Promoters, with whom the Institution can jointly manage the Course with Limited Places or allow access to details about it, because they have funded the Course with Limited Places. The Promoters may choose to use the Portal or not, but if they do, they must accept these Conditions, including the specific ones for Institutions, and abide by them.

The Institution will adhere to the results of the validation process planned by Universia for the purposes of publishing the first Course with Limited Places. Upon creating the Course with Limited Places, the Institution declares that it has complied, in all aspects, with any applicable legislation, regulation, and norm and hasn't violated nor will violate any agreement in which the Institution is explicitly or implicitly bound.

The Institutions that publish the Courses with Limited Places through the Portal are the only ones in charge of their management, organization, and development, as well as guaranteeing the rights of Users as consumers, without Universia assuming any responsibility in this respect. Furthermore, the Institutions usually have the status of academic institutions, so unless specifically indicated otherwise, Users are assisted by consumer rights in their relationships with the Institutions. Also, the Institutions are the only ones responsible for fulfilling the obligations derived from the agreements they reach with Users in relation to the Courses with Limited Places, so Universia will not be involved in any way in this.

When indicated by the information related to the Limited Enrollment Course in question, according to the specific conditions applicable to it, the Institution may issue a personal and non-transferable certificate of completion identifying the User who has participated in it.

The registration, processing, and development of any other management related to the Courses with Limited Places can exclusively be done in the web version of the Portal.

2.2.2 Courses with Unlimited Places

Universia offers Users a catalogue of training courses with unlimited access (“Courses with Unlimited Places”) for free. The aim of these courses is to enhance Users' skills and complement their education, enabling them to access better opportunities for academic and professional development. The main subjects of the Courses with Unlimited Places could be languages, business, finance, technology, sustainability, among others.

The Courses with Unlimited Places will be accessible to all Users who have registered on the Portal, at those times when they are available. The Courses with Unlimited Places are composed of theoretical content, video format content, and other items of interest, which they can consult as many times as they need. Also, once Users complete and view all the contents that make up the Course with Unlimited Places, they will have a test-type self-assessment at their disposal. In the event of successful completion, when indicated by the information related to the Course with Unlimited Places in question, the Portal could issue a personal and non-transferable certificate of completion identifying the User who has participated in it.

Universia reserves the right to disable the ability to start the Courses with Unlimited Places during certain periods, at its discretion. In any case, the time period will always be indicated in the publication of the Course with Unlimited Places. Therefore, this information will be available before Users sign up for the Course. However, once a Course has been started, the User can access it, develop it, and complete it whenever they wish, regardless of whether Universia has disabled the possibility of starting a Course. In other words, the fact that Universia temporarily disables the possibility to start a Course will not affect Users who have already begun one, who can still complete it.

Users who register on the Portal will be able to access the Programs, Courses with Limited Places, and Courses with Unlimited Places, as well as search, track, and register for calls to Programs and Courses with Limited Places that may be of interest to them. When Users search for Programs or Courses with Limited Places using the search engine, the order or classification will be determined according to the parameters described later in these General Conditions. On the other hand, in the User's private area (Profile), they can check the status of their calls (both followed and applied), and access notifications about them.

2.3. Contents

Universia may offer Users free content in various formats (text, audio, video, etc.) aimed at enhancing Users' skills and completing their training (the "Content"). The purpose of this variety of content is to enable Users to increase their capabilities and skills, so they can access better opportunities for academic and professional development.

3. Information from Institutions and Users

The information that the Users and/or Institution voluntarily share through the Portal in relation to the Programs and Courses with Limited Places to which the Users enroll are collectively defined as the "Information" of the Users and/or Institution. The Users and the Institution are solely responsible for the Information they have shared on the Portal due to a call for a Program or a Course with Limited Places in particular, holding Universia harmless from any claim (judicial or extrajudicial) that arises or could arise from such Information.

Similarly, in certain Programs and Courses with Limited Places, the Institution will share information about Users enrolled in these programs with various entities or professionals in order to complete the selection process established in each case (e.g., evaluators). Additionally, the selection process for some Courses with Limited Places will include a voting system, as described in section 2.2.1, making it necessary to publish the public profile of enrolled users. Therefore, the sharing of any type of information or content with them will be at their own responsibility, so the User should first evaluate what information or content they will share, its value to them, and the context in which they will share it.

In particular, the Institution is responsible for immediately informing Universia if the Information shared by the Users in the corresponding Program or Course with Limited Places promoted by it is illegal or constitutes defamation or slander for any person, company, and/or association, or contains prohibited elements, such as viruses or spam, or links to them.

The Users' and/or Institution's Information will be subject to these Conditions. Given the international nature of the Portal, these Conditions may be subject to the applicable law in the country where the User resides and/or the Institution that publishes the Program or the Course with Limited Places is domiciled.

The User and/or Institution's Information must be truthful. To this end, the User and/or Institution guarantees the authenticity of all the Information shared on the Portal, with Universia assuming no responsibility in this regard.

Users can report any information to Universia that they believe to be infringing upon the rights of third parties by using the contact information provided in these Terms and Conditions. To do so, the user wishing to report certain information must provide justification as to why they believe it to be infringing upon the rights of others.

4. Acceptance of these Conditions

Provision of the Service will always be subject to acceptance by the User and by the Institution of the Privacy Policy and of these General Conditions.

To access the Service, both the User and the Institution must register on the Portal through the registration process enabled for this purpose.

The initial registration and subsequent access to the Service may be carried out through Universia's own system or through third party authentication systems or social connectors that Universia offers at any given time, such as Google Sign-In or Facebook Login. In the event that the User registers or accesses the Service from one of these third-party authentication systems, the User agrees to comply with the applicable regulations and the specific terms that regulate the use thereof. In particular, if the User uses Google's authentication system called Google Sign-In, the User must comply with the Google APIs Terms of Service, while if it uses Facebook Login, it must comply with the Meta Platform Terms. In particular, when you are an Institution, you may not use the data of other Users for any purpose that breaches such Meta Platform Terms.

Universia will grant access to the Service as soon as the User successfully completes the registration process on the Portal. Universia reserves the right to deny at any time, without right to compensation, access to the Portal to those Users and that Institution that do not comply with these Terms and Conditions or the applicable regulations. If Universia has reasonable grounds to believe that use has been made in violation of these Terms and Conditions, it shall be entitled to remove the Profile of the offending User and Institution with prior notice.

5. Registration and access to the Service

The registered User/Institution's e-mail and password are mandatory for access to and use of the Service. The User/Institution must select the identifier (ID or login) and any password they wish, with an undertaking to keep and use it with all due care.

Use of the password is personal and non-transferable, and may not be made available to third parties, even on a temporary basis. In this regard, the User/Institution must take the necessary steps to ensure the safe custody of their chosen password and to prevent third parties from using their password. Consequently, the User/Institution will be solely responsible for any use made of their passwords. If the User/Institution becomes aware or suspects that their password is being used by third parties, they must notify this circumstance to Universia as soon as possible.

Registration on the Portal is of a personal nature. The User/Institution guarantees to keep all information provided to Universia permanently updated so that it corresponds, at all times, to the real situation of the User. In any case, the User/Institution shall be solely responsible for any false or inaccurate statements made and for any damage caused to Universia or to third parties as a result of the information provided.

6. Specific conditions

6.1 Specific conditions for Users The conditions detailed in the following paragraphs of this section are applicable only to Users.

Users agree to use the Service lawfully and honestly. Any type of fraudulent use of the service is prohibited, including but not limited to:

Falsifying information related to the User and any of its characteristics during registration in the Service or in attendance or participation in Programs or Courses.
Multiple registrations in the Service or enrollments in Programs and Courses by the same person.
Impersonating other persons than the User in the use of the Service or participation in Programs and Courses.
Fraud in participating in Courses, altering the results (grades, evaluations, certifications, etc.) attributable to the User's participation.

Any type of fraudulent use of the Service or fraudulent conduct constitutes a breach of these Conditions, which may lead to the actions and measures outlined therein (e.g., the deactivation of the involved user account).

6.2 Specific conditions for Institutions

The conditions set out in the following paragraphs of this section are applicable to Institutions only.

These General Conditions provide that the Institutions are strictly forbidden to request any kind of additional information in the fields offered directly by Universia to the Institutions at the time a Programme or Courses with Limited Places is created.

In particular, any Institution that includes in the registration forms and/or in the free text or configuration spaces enabled on the Portal for any of the Programs or Courses with Limited Places, a request for information about sensitive data, such as racial or ethnic origin and/or, among others, health data, will have to provide Universia with the regulations that enable it to collect this type of data prior to the publication of the corresponding Program or Course with Limited Places. If requested by Universia, the Institution will have to provide the reference to this regulation in the Program or Course basis with Limited Places informing about the reason for the request of that data.

The Institution will use all means at its disposal for the proper dissemination and promotion of the use of the Portal and the Programs or Courses with Limited Places published on it.

The Institution's website will show the logo of the Portal and/or a connection link to the Portal.

During the process of creating a Program or Course with Limited Places, the Portal allows the Institution to insert images that accompany it, in such a way that these Programs or Courses with Limited Places can be more illustrative. In this sense, and without prejudice to what is contemplated in these Conditions, the Institution declares and guarantees, as necessary, that it is the holder or has sufficient title, for the commercial exploitation of all the rights of their respective names, logos, brands and any other work/good protected by current laws on intellectual and industrial property, that appears in any of the images of the Programs or Courses with Limited Places created by the Institution.

The Institution acknowledges that only those who have sufficient authorisation or who have been duly granted a representative mandate to represent and bind the Institution within the context of the Service may use the Service in its name and on its behalf, including registration of the Institution in the Service. The Institution guarantees that it will only allow people who meet these requirements to use the Service and gain access to the Portal.

Personal data protection

The Institution, since it receives data from Users, will be obliged to comply with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation 679/2016 (RGPD), or of any other data protection regulations that may apply, as the data controller. Specifically, pursuant to these Conditions, the Institution undertakes to:

Comply with the obligations under the RGPD for a Data Controller as a result of acquiring this status following the disclosure of data governed by the Institution's adherence to the portal and to these Conditions.
Provide its privacy policy to Users in relation to the Programmes or Courses with Limited Places.
Allow data subjects to exercise their rights of access to and rectification, erasure and portability of their data and to restriction of and objection to processing by providing them with an address for these purposes.
Ensure the application of appropriate technical and organisational measures so that the level of security is in accord with risk exposure.
Abide by the confidentiality of the data obtained by reason of the membership of the Institution of this Portal, and not disclose such data or make it available to third parties unless so required by a court or supervisory authority.

Universia also declares the lawful origin of the personal data to be communicated to the Institution, guaranteeing that they have been obtained in compliance with the requirements established in the RGPD. In this regard, Universia declares that it has obtained the informed, free, specific and unequivocal consent of the users or that it has an adequate legal basis for the transfer of their data to the Institution, as well as having complied with the other requirements established by current Data Protection regulations.

Data processor

In relation to any arrangements made by the Institution to complete the procedures for its Programmes or Courses with Limited Places on the Portal, Universia will act as the data processor, as the entity providing the Portal. Solely in connection with the foregoing, Universia is subject to compliance with the following obligations:

When it acts as data processor, to only access Users' data to allow the Institution to use the Portal as a tool which the Institution uses to complete the selection processes concerning its Programmes or Courses with Limited Places.
- In particular, you will be able to access the following categories of users: User/University user.
- In particular, it may access the following types of personal data of the data subjects indicated above: (i) Data of an identifying nature; (ii) Data relating to personal characteristics; (iii) Data relating to personality; (iv) Academic and professional data; (v) Data relating to employment; (vi) Data relating to the person's personal data; (vii) Data relating to the person's personal data; (viii) Data relating to the person's personal data.
Carry out only the following processing activities: collection, registration, structuring, amendment, conservation, extraction, consultation, comparison and access.
Ensure that people who can access users' data have undertaken confidentiality commitments in relation to any personal data that may be processed.
When any User or Data Subject exercises their right of access and right to rectification and erasure, restriction of processing, and data portability, and the right not to be the subject of automated individual decision-making, in relation to Universia, manage the response to these rights, always restricted to processing carried out directly on the Portal.
Assist the Institution in performing impact assessments and preliminary consultations, whenever this is mandatory in accordance with data protection regulations.
Use only those subcontractors that have accepted the obligations stipulated in this section, and ensure, if international transfers are to be made to these subcontractors, that they are based on proper safeguards such as an adequacy decision or the signature of standard contractual clauses (applying additional measures, if necessary), or on binding corporate rules.
Provide the Institution with additional information, if requested, concerning the identity of the subcontractors and of the international transfers made.
Permit and assist with audits or inspections. This obligation will be considered to have been met when Universia provides the Institution with an audit report draw up by Universia or by third parties tasked by it.
Notify the Institution of any security breaches in relation to its Programmes or Courses with Limited Places affecting the personal data of Users enrolled on them.
Adopt the security measures described in these General Conditions of Use.
Destroy data on management of the Programmes on termination of the General Conditions of Use, without prejudice to subsequently retaining the data as necessary to prepare, lodge or defend against any claims, where permitted by applicable legislation, or provide the data for judges and courts, the Public Prosecutor's Office or public administrations.
The duration of this processing assignment will be that agreed with the Institution in order to manage the call for applications for the scholarships in question, as well as the subsequent period required by the Institution for the management of the procedures following the call for applications.

If a claim is brought against Universia and it has to respond to any kind of administrative or compensatory liability in respect of processing activities concerning the Institution, Universia may exercise a line of recourse to claim against the Institution, which must hold Universia harmless with respect to the damage and loss incurred.

Any concepts used in this clause will be interpreted in accordance with the definitions laid down in General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679.

7. Intellectual property

7.1 Licence granted to Users or Institutions

The copy, designs, images, databases, videos, audios, contents, logos, structure, brands and other items in the Portal are protected by international laws and treaties on intellectual and industrial property.

All rights over the Portal, its related documentation, and all updates, modifications, improvements, expansions, or corrections of the Portal, including all evaluation options that incorporate, the Service, the Contents, and any of the elements or content that make them up are the exclusive property of Universia and third parties (the "Material(s)"), notwithstanding the provisions of these Conditions regarding the Information of Users or Institutions. Universia or the corresponding third party will exclusively maintain all rights over the Materials.

Users also accept and recognise that all content available on the Portal are protected under the sui generis rights over databases provided for in Royal Legislative Decree 1/1996 of 12 April, which enacts the restated text of the Intellectual Property Law, and consequently, said content may not be extracted or reused in full or a substantial part, or non-substantial part insofar as this goes against the normal use of said content and causes unjustified harm to Universia's legitimate interests.

Users and Institutions only have a licence to view and use the Content that is necessary to enjoy the Service, in its executable version, non-transferable, without territorial limit, limited in time to the duration of the existing contractual relationship for the provision of the Service and for the sole purpose and to the extent necessary for you to use the Service in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. This licence shall not include the right to download the Content onto the Users' devices and shall terminate automatically upon termination of the contractual relationship governed by these Terms, without prejudice to Universia's right to remove any Content at any time, without prior notice.

7.2 Licence granted by the Users or Institutions

These Conditions do not constitute an assignment, transfer, or waiver of the rights pertaining to the Institution or to the User in respect of the assets regulated by applicable intellectual or industrial property law. Accordingly, the parties will retain the rights over their respective names, logos, trademarks, databases, and any other asset afforded protection under applicable intellectual and industrial property law.

The User/Institution will retain all their intellectual property rights over the Information that they have shared on the Portal, both moral and financial. The publication of any Information on the Portal will in no case imply a transfer from its owner to the other Users/Institution of any rights related to them.

Users/the Institution transferring such rights by virtue of these Conditions represent and warrant that:

They are the sole owner or are wholly entitled and authorised to make full use of all rights in respect of user information and to grant rights and licences in relation to any third-party material and/or content that appears or is included in the same, or that they have secured express written authorisation from all owners and rights holders of this third-party material and/or content as necessary for granting the rights and licences mentioned here.
The Information of Users/the Institution shared by any User on the Portal does not constitute an infringement of any patent, intellectual property right, registered trademark, trade secret or any other rights of third parties.
When creating the User/Institution Information, it states that: (a) the User/Institution has complied in all aspects with any legislation, regulations (including, without restriction, these General Conditions and the Legal Notice on the Portal) and applicable regulations; and (b) it has not infringed and will not infringe any agreements by virtue of which the User/Institution is explicitly or implicitly bound.
It does not constitute defamation or slander against any person, company and/or association. It does not contain any prohibited items such as viruses or spam, or any links to same.

Consequently, the Institution or the User are solely responsible for the Information, and hold Universia harmless against any claims (judicial or extrajudicial) that arise or may arise as a result of utilisation of same.

The Institution or the User will continue to be the full owners of any intellectual or industrial property rights they may have over the Information. Universia and the rest of the Users or Institutions are merely granted a license, as necessary for the development of the Service, for viewing and free use, worldwide, non-exclusive and limited to the exploitation rights that are necessary for the Service, for the entire period of validity of the General Conditions.

Lastly, we remind you that not all documents and information are susceptible to protection through the different intellectual property regimes. Therefore, Universia recommends to the Users and Institutions to assess the need to upload to the Portal documents, information, or unprotected or protectable assets. Universia will not be responsible for the use that Institutions or Users make of the information uploaded by other Institutions or Users, nor for the damages or harm that this may cause as a result of possible breaches of the use license on it granted in accordance with this clause.

8. Liability of Universia

Universia shall be liable in accordance with the applicable regulations for any damage or harm caused to Users or Institutions by intent or gross negligence, as well as for any damage caused by negligence resulting in injury to the life or health of persons.

Universia provides Users with the opportunity to register and participate in Programs or Courses with Limited Places, not being responsible for everything related to them. For illustrative and by no means limiting purposes, Universia will not be held responsible for: (i) matters relating to the management of the Programs or Courses with Limited Places that is the responsibility of the Institution; (ii) the Institution's misuse of User Information; (iii) any action contrary to these General Conditions and the purpose and objective of the Portal carried out by any of the Users.

In this regard, the Programs and Courses with Limited Places will be regulated by their corresponding rules, which must be read and accepted beforehand by the Users who apply to that Program or Course with Limited Places.

Universia, in accordance with the provisions of Law 34/2002, of July 11, on Services of the Information Society and Electronic Commerce ('LSSI') and Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 19, 2022, relating to a single market for digital services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC ("Digital Services Regulation"), will not be responsible for Information from Users or Institutions, unless it has effective knowledge of its illegality, provided that it promptly removes or blocks access to it. If any person believes that inappropriate Information has been shared by Users, or that it constitutes defamation or slander for any person, company and/or association and/or contains prohibited elements, such as viruses or spam, or links to them, they will be responsible for immediately communicating this to Banco Santander and Universia through the Contact Form, without this communication in any case implying the obligation to remove the corresponding Information.

9. Liability of the User/Institution

Users and Institutions will be liable in accordance with the regulations applicable for any damages occasioned to Universia due to deception or gross negligence, and for any damage caused by negligence that inflicts harm on a person's life or health.

The User/Institution undertakes to use the Service in accordance with the legislation in force, these Conditions, the principles of good faith and generally accepted usages, and to refrain from breaching public order by actions via the Portal. Thus, any use for unlawful purposes is forbidden, as is any use that may adversely affect or prevent, damage and/or overload, in any way, the utilisation and normal functioning of the Portal, or which directly or indirectly adversely affects any of the Users or any third party.

Any infringement of these General Conditions may give rise to civil or criminal extrajudicial or judicial proceedings against the User/Institution, which must hold Universia harmless in respect of any claims, lawsuits or damages that may be incurred as a result of the aforementioned infringement.

10. Digital Services Regulation: Illegal posts, harmful posts for minors and improper uses

10.1 Illegal Publications

It is strictly forbidden for Users or Institutions to carry out any illegal activity or share illegal Information on the Portal, or for Institutions to publish Programs or Courses with Limited Places that are illegal on the Portal. In this regard, any activity, Information, Program, Course with Limited Places or content shared on the Portal that is contrary to applicable regulations, including European Union law or the local law of any Member State thereof (hereinafter, "Illegal Posting(s)") is illegal. For illustrative but not exhaustive purposes, content that may fall into the following categories, among others, will be illegal: consumer infringements, privacy or data protection infringements, hate speech or incitement, intellectual property or trademark infringements, fraudulent or deceptive content, animal welfare regulation infringements, content with negative effects on electoral or civic processes, criminal content, content against national security, misinformation, defamation, incitement or threat of violence, promotion of criminal activities that may cause harm to people, animals or properties, illegal goods or services, activities related to sexual exploitation and gender violence.

In the event that any User, Institution or other person believes that an Illegal Posting has been shared, they may immediately notify Universia through the Illegal Content Report Form (hereinafter, the "Illegal Content Report Form"). The aforementioned Form is permanently available through the previous link or on the specific page dedicated to DSA compliance, accessible at all times at the link intended for General Conditions at the bottom of the portal, and within it, in the "Digital Services Law (DSA)" section.

The Illegal Content Report Form has several fields that must be filled out providing the necessary information, mainly so that Universia can identify the Illegal Posting and understand why it is considered to be an Illegal Posting. For better case management, Universia recommends filling out all the available fields in as much detail as possible.

10.2 Publications harmful to minors

In addition, all Users and Institutions are obliged not to carry out any activity or share any content that may be harmful to minors. This includes, for illustrative but not exhaustive purposes: pornographic content, violence, content that could encourage the consumption of tobacco or alcohol, drugs or regulated substances, abuse, intimidation, dangerous activities for minors or exposure to topics that do not correspond to them or to dangerous challenges or activities.

Any user can inform Universia of the existence of harmful posts on the Portal, referred to in the previous paragraph, through the Illegal Content Report Form (mentioned in clause 10.1), within the category "Content contrary to the rights of minors".

10.3 Management of Illegal Publications and other harmful publications

When the person who notifies the alleged illegality or harmful nature of a content has provided an electronic contact address, Universia will acknowledge receipt of the notification and process it.

Once processed, Universia will inform both the User or /Institution who made the notification and the User or Institution who shared or posted the reported content of the decision taken in this regard. Both may file a complaint against this decision through Universia's internal claims management system. For more information about this system, you can consult the "Digital Services Law (DSA)" page dedicated to DSA compliance, in the "Appeal of resolutions: Internal Claims System" section (see here).

Both notifications sent through the Illegal Content Report Form and possible subsequent claims submitted through the internal claims management system will be reviewed manually. No automated decisions will be made nor will algorithms be used in the decision-making process.

10.4 Misuses

When, on a frequent basis, a User, Institution or any other person makes Illegal Posts, other harmful posts or uses the Illegal Content Report Form without any legal basis (hereinafter, "Misuses"), Universia may suspend their account and, thus, the enjoyment of the Service.

In any case, the following will be considered Misuses of the Service: (i) making, at least, two (2) Illegal Posts or other harmful posts in a period of six (6) months or (ii) notifying without legal basis at least two (2) contents in a period of two (2) months. In such cases, Universia may suspend the account of the User or Institution in question and/or restrict access to the Service for a period of between five (5) days and one (1) month, depending on the particularities of the corresponding Misuse. After the first Illegal Post or other harmful post is made or the first unjustified notification is made, Universia will warn the User, Institution or person in question that a new Illegal Post or other harmful post or a new unjustified notification, as appropriate, could result in the temporary suspension of the Service.

Also, the commission of Misuses on a repeated basis may result in permanent suspension, i.e., termination of the Service.

11. Ranking or Presentation Parameters of Programs, Courses and Contents

If you wonder how we order or rank the offer of Scholarship Programs, Courses with Limited Places, Courses with Unlimited Places and Contents that are published on our Portal, you will find relevant information about the recommendation systems we use below.

11.1 Top 10

This section consists of a selection that includes the main Scholarship Programs, Courses with Limited Places, and Courses with Unlimited Places. The specific criteria for appearing in this section are (in order of importance): User’s country (prioritizing Scholarship Programs, Courses with Limited Places, and Courses with Unlimited Places for the country, based on the IP), publication date (from most to least recent), and greater number of available places (from greater to fewer).

In the Content and News section, the offer is ordered from most to least recent, based on its publication date.

11.2 Specific Pages of the Services

Regarding the landing pages of Scholarship Programs, Courses with Limited Places and Courses with Unlimited Places, the offer is ordered taking into account the following parameters (ordered from highest to lowest importance): date of publication (from most to least recent) and highest number of places available (from highest to lowest number of places).

On the Content landing page, the offer is ordered from most to least recent, based on its publication date. These listings are updated monthly.

11.3 Search engine

By default, the search engine includes all our offerings of Scholarship Programs, Courses with Limited Places, Courses with Unlimited Places, and Content sorted by the following parameters (in order of importance): status (available, upcoming, or closed), User’s country (prioritizing specific offers for the country, based on the IP), publication date (from most to least recent), and greater number of available places (from greater to fewer).

If you wish, you can use different filters to narrow down the results, as described in the following clause..

11.4 Filtering options

If you prefer not to order the search results by default, you can refine the search and filtering of Scholarship Programs and Courses with Limited Places to make them match your interests. For this purpose, the search engine includes, among others, the following fields:

Keyword/s: These words are used to filter by name or organizing institution of the Scholarship Program and Course with Limited Places.
Categories: Allows to filter Scholarship Program and Course with Limited Places by category (Languages, skills, tools, business, etc.).
Status: Allows to filter Scholarship Program and Course with Limited Places by registration period ("Coming Soon" means they have not yet started, "Open" means the application submission period is open, "Evaluating" means the registration period has closed and applications are being evaluated, "Finished" means it has completely closed and places have been assigned/communicated).
Mode: Allows to filter by Scholarship Program and Course with Limited Places that can be done online, blended or face-to-face.
Other attributes: Allows to filter by Scholarship Program and Course with Limited Places that have certain specific criteria (for example, only for women).
Country of residence: Allows to filter by Scholarship Program and Course with Limited Places that only allow registrations for certain users whose country of residence matches the chosen value.

11.5 Personalized recommendations

The Portal also arranges the offer in a personalized way in a specific case: when you specifically access a Scholarship Program, Course with Limited Places, Course with Unlimited Places or other relevant Content of the Portal, other Scholarship Programs, Courses with Limited Places, Courses with Unlimited Places or Contents are also shown next to it. For more information on personalized recommendations, please consult the following link.

12. Queries, complaints and claims

Any User/Institution that has any queries concerning these Conditions or in relation to the Service offered on the Portal or wishes to lodge a complaint, claim or suggestion may do so by using the Contact Form.

13. Security

The Portal has security measures in place to protect the Service, in accordance with market standards. Users and Institutions may request detailed information about these measures using the contact details set out in these Conditions.

14. Conformity, Functionality, Compatibility and Interoperability of the Service

The Service shall be in accordance with the provisions of these Terms and Conditions. If a User notifies Universia of any non-conformity, Universia undertakes to use reasonable efforts to bring the Service into conformity again, unless the effort required is impossible or disproportionate. In the event that it is not possible to bring the Service into conformity again, Users have in any case the possibility to unsubscribe from the Portal at any time. Universia shall also update the Service from time to time in order to improve it and to correct malfunctions.

The Service may be used exclusively for the functions described in these General Terms and Conditions and shall be compatible with the equipment or software normally used for similar services. In particular, we aim to be compatible with most web browsers on the market, provided they are properly updated, as well as with iOS 11 or Android 4.4 and later mobile operating systems. We also aim to make the Portal available 95% of the time in annual periods. However, Universia does not guarantee any kind of interoperability of the Service with devices or programmes other than those normally used to access similar services, which implies the impossibility of exchanging information with these other devices or programmes. In the event that Users have any doubts about the operation of the Service, they may raise them using this Contact Form.

Moreover, initial access to Courses with Unlimited Places may be disabled at the discretion of Universia at certain times, as described in section 2.2.2.

15. Changes to the Conditions

Any substantial modification of the Service and/or these Terms and Conditions will be notified to Users and Institutions prior to its publication and effective application, with reasonable notice. We will assume that you accept the new version of the Conditions if you continue to use the Service. If you do not agree, you may stop using the Service.

The amendments will not take retroactive effect.

The reasons for which we may modify the Service and/or these Terms are, in particular, changes in regulations or jurisprudence, changes in the organisational structure of Universia or of the business group to which Universia belongs, or changes in the characteristics of the Service.

16. Subcontracting

Universia may have third parties to help it with any task relating to the management, development and maintenance of the Service, in addition to all of its elements, links, tabs, sections, sub-sections and similar.

17. Duration, cancellation and termination

These General Terms and Conditions shall begin to apply from the moment Users or Institutions register on the Portal and shall terminate (i) when they unsubscribe from the Portal (which they may do at any time and without giving any reason through the web version of the Portal) or (ii) when we are obliged to unsubscribe them, which could happen in the event that you fail to comply with the obligations assumed in accordance with these Terms and Conditions or any provision of the applicable regulations and, upon prior notification by us, persist in your non-compliance after thirty (30) days from the date of notification, or (iii) when Users or Institutions repeatedly commit Misuses.

Furthermore, Universia does not guarantee access to the Service for any specific or minimum period of time. Universia may also terminate the General Terms and Conditions that bind us to Users and Institutions, which in practice means that we terminate the 'user', if we decide to stop providing the Service or to modify it substantially, although in such a case we will give reasonable notice.

18. Jurisdiction, applicable law and extrajudicial resolution

These General Conditions will be governed by Spanish law. Any dispute arising from access to or use of the Portal is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Madrid capital, Spain.

The foregoing provision will only be applicable if it is not contrary to the mandatory regulations applicable.

In addition, Users are informed that the European Commission has also launched an extrajudicial conflict-resolution platform which they can access via the following URL: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. However, Universia is under no obligation to resolve any conflicts that may arise via this channel.

Finally, Users and Institutions are informed that they also have the right to choose any duly certified extrajudicial dispute resolution body to resolve disputes related to the decisions issued within the framework of the claims system described in clause 10. However, Universia will not be bound by the decisions taken by these bodies.

Last modification date: 26/09/2024