Queen Sofía Fellowship announced

Exeter is delighted to announce that, during the visit of Queen Sofía of Spain to the College yesterday, an agreement was signed between Exeter College and Santander to secure and augment the academic post in Spanish at Exeter that is currently named for Her Majesty.

The Queen Sofía Junior Research Fellowship, which is currently held by Dr Daniela Omlor, was created in 1988 for junior academics at the start of their career. The Fellowship, usually held for three years at a time, allows young academics to focus on their research with some teaching duties. In recent years, the number of students at Exeter reading Spanish has increased and so too, therefore, has the demand for teaching.

This annual commitment of support from Santander means that the College will now be able to meet this increased demand by augmenting this post to a senior fellowship with a larger teaching component. From October, all of Exeter’s students reading Spanish will be taught by Exeter’s Queen Sofía Fellow. Furthermore, this Fellowship will be shared with Oriel College so that the Queen Sofía Fellow also teaches students from Oriel. This is a positive step forwards in collaboration between colleges, an initiative strongly promoted and supported by Santander.

Queen Sofía witnesses the signing of the agreement between Exeter College and Santander (© Casa de S.M. el Rey / Spanish Royal household)