Propuestas de microcredenciales

The School of Lifelong Learningl is responsible for authorizing and organizing continuous training activities linked to employment and professional development.

The University Departments and Institutes and their teaching staff, and the Carlos III University Foundation may propose to the School of Continuing Training the carrying out of training activities under the terms and in accordance with the requirements established in the applicable regulation.

The School of Lifelong Learning provides administrative support in the academic and economic processes necessary for the delivery of training activities. Enrolled students may carry out internships in companies and institutions with which the Carlos III University of Madrid has signed Educational Cooperation Agreements in the terms provided in the applicable regulations.

Las propuestas de microcredencales universitarias (menos de 15 ECTS) se tramitarán a través del formulario electrónico correspondiente, que deberá incluir el presupuesto de la actividad de acuerdo con la normativa presupuestaria.

• Formulario propuesta
• Presupuesto (Descargar el archivo del presupuesto antes de cumplimentarlo. Solo cuentas corporativas dominio UC3M)

The Vice-Rectorate for Lifelong Learning and Employability has just launched the new: 

Call for Microcredential Course Proposals: Santander Scholarships.

Through the "Santander Scholarships. Microcredentials 2026" program, Banco Santander will finance tuition fees for microcredential studies during the year 2026.

The objective of this call is to receive proposals for microcredential courses whose students can benefit from the scholarships offered by Banco Santander. In this phase, courses will be selected and assigned up to 18 scholarships, with funding of 300 euros per student.

For more information on what a microcredential is, please consult the following link: UC3M - Diplomas and Courses.

         Characteristics of the proposed microcredential courses

• Tuition: Equal to or greater than 300 euros.
• Recommended duration: A load of 2 ECTS (between 16 and 20 teaching hours) is advised, in line with the 300 euro grant. However, courses with an academic load of less than 15 ECTS are also welcome.
• Organization: The course Director must be a full-time UC3M professor. External professors may participate in teaching. Courses requiring a contractual agreement with other institutions are not eligible.
• Delivery period:
  Between February 15 and June 30.
  From July 1 to December 15.
  Each course must be delivered entirely within one of the two periods.
• Modality: In-person, online synchronous, or hybrid.
• Language: Spanish or English.
• Target audience: Students over 18 years of age.
• Content: Course proposals in all areas of knowledge are welcome. The content must adhere to the UC3M Code of Ethics and take into consideration the III UC3M Equality Plan.
• Number of students: A minimum of 10 enrolled students is required one week before the course start date.
• Admission requirements: May be aimed at both graduates and non-graduates.

Proposals may be submitted also for courses that have been taught previously, including those that have already received aid from Banco Santander in the 2025 calls. 

Application Procedure

Proposals must be submitted by December 5 at 23:59 via the:

• Course proposal form, which must include the budget completed in accordance with the continuing education regulations. This template is based on a 2 ECTS course model that can be used or modified if the number of credits varies.
• Course proposals must be accompanied by the approval document (Visto Bueno) from the proposing body.
• Courses proposed in the 2025 calls must be re-submitted in order to be considered for 2026.

Financial Considerations

In a 2 ECTS course (equivalent to 16 teaching hours), the enrollment of 18 students guarantees the course's budgetary autonomy, and applying the Continuing Education regulations it covers: i) a remuneration for teaching hours, ii) an allowance of 550 euros for coordination, and iii) indirect costs for the university. For a number of students between 10 and 17, the budget will be adjusted proportionally, subject to the approval of the course director. If the number of students exceeds 18, the budget will be adjusted following the budgetary rules for the year 2026.

Selection, Dates, and Communication of the Course List

Applications will be evaluated by the Vice-Rector´s Office for Continuing Education and Employability, according to the following criteria and in compliance with current regulations.

Course Selection Criteria

• Quality of internal faculty: Scores obtained by the course professors in the UC3M call for teaching incentives will be considered. The proposal must specify the number of teaching hours for each professor, a detail that will be binding for both course delivery and corresponding payments.
• Quality and suitability of external faculty: CV of the professors involved in relation to the course topic.
• Diversity of areas: Efforts will be made to ensure the final selection of courses covers different areas of knowledge.
• Balance in modality: An effort will be made to ensure the offering includes both in-person and online courses.
• Student outreach: Course proposals will include a plan for diffusion and student recruitment. For courses taught previously, the number of students in previous editions and the report from the course's Internal Quality Assurance System will also be taken into account.
• Microcredentials that improve student employability will be viewed favorably.

For each selected course, up to 18 subsidized enrollments will be offered, with funding of 300 euros per student.

Additionally, the courses will be open to enrollment for students who do not receive the subsidy, who may enroll by paying the corresponding fee, provided that places are available up to the planned capacity for each course.

The final list of selected courses will be communicated to the proponents on December 15, 2025.

For any questions related to the call, please contact formacioncontinua@postgrado.uc3m.es