Promote and strengthen the presence of women in STEM disciplines - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics - to offer professional and development opportunities, in order to overcome the competitive gap that separates Italy from other European regions: this is the objective of the European Project Erasmus+ SECOVE, of which CIOFS-FP, a professional training body, is a partner, together with the Region.

SECOVE is a four-year project focused on updating and strengthening professional training courses in the field of sustainable energy. It involves the opening of a COVE, Center of Professional Excellence to connect the world of training and education with that of entrepreneurship and research. 21 partners from five European nations are participating in the project, including the La Sapienza University of Rome and Rielco for Italy.

The project has completed the first two years, and in the next two years, among other actions, the Sardinian Innovation Hub with which CIOFS-FP has a strategic partnership will be strengthened. International exchanges will be promoted between institution staff, trainers and students, innovative pilot courses on sustainable energy will be created using the Internet of Things (IOT), artificial intelligence and augmented reality.

The topic of STEM disciplines and the gender gap is a highly topical issue, also given the merciless 2023 Eurostat statistics on the percentage of women employed in STEM in Europe which shows Italy in the black, with less than 49% of women employed, while Spain, France, Greece and Portugal are better placed, compared to the European average of 52.3% and some Eastern European nations where it reaches 58% and above.

This is why the Summer Academy tool takes on particular importance, a specialized training for female students which will start in Cagliari on 8 July 2024 and will end on 19 July at the CIOFS-FP Sardinia headquarters. Similar initiatives will take place simultaneously in the partner countries, Portugal, Greece, Spain and Slovakia.

THE SUMMER ACADEMY IN CAGLIARI

A 50-hour "full immersion", reserved for 25 girls from high schools in Cagliari and the surrounding area, based on strengthening skills in the field of STEM disciplines: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics: this is the structure of the first "Summer Academy " Sardinian, which will see the participation of 25 students from the BR Motzo high schools of Quartu Sant'Elena and Foiso Fois of Cagliari, from the Higher Education Institutes Spano Bacaredda and De Sanctis Deledda of Cagliari and finally from the CIOFS-FP of Cagliari.

The activities will take place through laboratories, guided tours, field experiences and scientific experiments involving professors from the Universities of Cagliari and Genoa, some research and development centres, regional agencies such as Sardegna Ricerche, and then Sardinian companies and associations including Science Society Science which has been organizing the Science Festival in Sardinia for years.

There will be around thirty freelancers, entrepreneurs, university professors, researchers taking turns in the classrooms. 70% of the teaching will be held by female teachers, a strong sign of rebalancing the gender gap and promoting equality, even in the field of STEM disciplines, and of "empowerment" for the students of the Summer Academy.

For the occasion, an evocative exhibition on women scientists in history will also be set up, curated by the Scienza Società Scienza association.

THE ORGANIZATION

The Summer Academy will take place in Cagliari for 10 mornings, from 8 to 19 July. On Monday 8 July, the inauguration will be attended by, among others, the President of CIOFS-FP Sardinia Agnese Agostina Melis and Federica Ruggiero who coordinates the SECOVE project for Italy, Corrado Ballocco of the regional Department of Labour, Professional Training, Cooperation and Security social, Luca Contini of Sardegna Ricerche and Carla Romagnino, past president of the Cagliari Science Festival.

Over the course of the ten days the girls will learn some principles of chemistry and physics while having fun with the laboratories of Dr. Alessia Zurru, of the Science Laboratory Association.

Some guided tours and workshops will be carried out, for example at the Planetarium, where the director, Dr. Manuel Floris will teach how to orient yourself among the stars and planets of the summer sky. Prof. Nicoletta Cao and her team of trainers will hold a workshop on "Women in the STEM world", within their EFT Sardinia project, funded by the PNRR.

There will be orientation moments, organized by the CIOFS-FP Sardinia employment services office. We will talk about Energy Sustainability with the CRS4 H2020 SENDER Project at the Pirri headquarters.

There will be a laboratory on Artificial Intelligence, where the writer and journalist Claudio Simbula will teach girls to use the main AI tools currently available with awareness and smart.

Lessons and workshops will be held by Davide Peddis, President of the Cagliari Science Festival, professor of the University of Genoa, prof. Viviana Fanti and Giuliano Malloci of the University of Cagliari, and the Sardinian fellows from CERN in Geneva Federica Fabiano and Camilla de Angelis. There will be meetings with some testimonials, women successfully engaged in STEM, such as Dr. Katiuscia Zedda of the well-known company Abinsula, Prof. Chiara Garau and Dr. Giulia Rubiu of the University of Cagliari.

At the end of the Summer Academy on 19 July, among the guests will be the physicist Andrea Mameli, as a scientific journalist who will present the group work of the students while the President Agnese Agostina Melis and Patrizia Giorri, Director of the CIOFS-FP of Cagliari will offer their greetings closing, followed by Porta1918 refreshments based on local gastronomic excellence.

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