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If you go through the automatic gates of the library in the Leonardo Campus and continue straight on, you might catch a glance of something in the corner of your eye just before the glass doors that separate the entrance hall from students studying intensely: there’s a doorway.

Casting your gaze the doorway, you can see a painting. It hangs on the other side of the wall, in a small, dedicated room. “Ettore e Andromaca” (“Hector and Andromache”), an oil painting on canvas measuring 82cm by 56cm, is stored there in a glass case. The canvas is signed in the bottom right-hand corner: Giorgio De Chirico, 1917. “Every so often students ask whether it’s real,”, we are told at the library reception. And the response is yes, it's an original De Chirico.

Federico Bucci, the Rector's Delegate for Cultural Policies and Vice Rector of the Mantua Campus of the Politecnico di Milano, explains its provenance:

“The work comes from a donor who asked to remain anonymous. He wanted to give it up on one condition: that the painting was to be enjoyed by the students specifically. So, we decided to position it in one of the passing places of the Campus, and in a passing place of thought. We’ve put it in particular place: there's the intriguing doorway, and once you enter the room there’s a bench on which to sit and fully appreciate the work. We wanted to create the same sense of tranquillity when you are looking at the painting, the same feeling as when you are sat in the library in front of a book, delving into the subject.”

The painting depicts the verses of theIliad in which Andromache begs Hector not to leave the walls of Troy in order to face Achilles in battle. In these verses Homer writes: Andromache...clasped his hand and spoke to him, saying: “Ah, my husband, this prowess of thine will be thy doom, neither hast thou any pity for thine infant child nor for hapless me...nevermore shall any comfort be mine.

A few steps away in the Sala Guernica there is a reproduction of Picasso’s Guernica, which was created in 1973 by “Movimento Studentesco” (“Student Movement”). Bucci recalls that period:

“They were years in which the students’ ideological commitment led them to replicate an anti-war piece, which is still relevant today. The reproduction of that Picasso work has a specific meaning: here you study, you work on a particular topic but then you lift your gaze and reflect on the future of society, on the goal of peace. Positioning this De Chirico here today has the same meaning.”

He then delved into a description of the scene: “it's a painting in an architectural setting, beginning with the central perspective of the floor, which has the same colouring as the two mannequins. The two figures are tailoring tools which cannot embrace one another, telling us that modern man needs heart, spirit and humanity. And it reminds us that while I am here and I am studying mathematical analysis or building science, while I am designing the future - because that’s what we do at the Poli, we lay the groundwork for the future - there, I am called back to humanity. It’s a way of reflecting that, of course you may become an architect, an engineer or designer, or maybe you aspire to become a Nobel Laureate in chemistry, but the important thing is to stay true to ourselvesTherefore, putting an artist here means sending a message first and foremost to say that yes, we have our profession, but we will never forget that we are people".

 “A WORK OF ART IN A LIBRARY REMINDS US THAT WHILE WE ARE STUDYING TO DESIGN FUTURES, WE ARE CALLED TO HUMANITY”

Andrea, a student of Electronic Engineering, stops in front of the painting and remarks: “Being in a place of knowledge, surrounded by icons, motivates me to study. It feels like being in a museum which is in some way only open for you.”. Gianluca, a student of Mechanical Engineering, adds: “Having a work of art like this gives personality to the library. The figures look like they could be studies of aerodynamics applied to the human form.”. Beatrice, a student of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering who chose History of Art as an optional course, said: “In an environment of technical minds, I see art as a form of freedom, an extra resource, a reminder that we can use our imagination. The fact that the painting almost needs to be discovered behind this doorway gives a sense of looking into things and gives the impression that the Poli is a place which is also connected to art”.

The Leonardo Campus library catalogue includes certain titles devoted specifically to De Chirico, such as the book by art historian Vincenzo Trione, “Giorgio De Chirico. The city of silence: architecture, memory, prophecy” (Skira). One student left a mark by underlining certain passages in pencil: “that which interests him is not solid reality, but the theatre of the space. He covers recovery and bleakness, playing with literal homages and disguises. He always bases his work on real figures which he then modifies, until they become almost unrecognisable, echoes of a dawning world.”

On the topic of students, Federico Bucci observes that “in the 1920s, a student at the Politecnico that knew about metaphysical painting probably stood in front of this painting himself. It is important that there is a recovery and an exchange between the young generations of then and now. In the library, we have also put up drawings from the archives which were created by students between the 19th and 20th centuries, precisely because we envision an art collection that is capable of interacting with our memories.”".

Meanwhile, a girl who has just passed through the library's entrance gates slows down. For a moment, before entering the study room, she looks at the doorway, intrigued.

Just getting a degree does not cut it anymore: lifelong learning is already the norm for most professionals. “The Politecnico has been offering lifelong learning and postgraduate programmes for some time now, especially through its consortia and departments which offer professional training courses, masters and business training,” explained professor Federico Caniato, the Rector's Delegate for lifelong learning. “However, in recent years, the need for a new type of education has emerged; one that is online, self-led but reliable, available in odd moments of spare time with a personalised approach, which also links to the topic of free learning.

The university’s response is Polimi Open Knowledge, a platform which gathers modular video lessons which are created by professors at the Politecnico on an ad hoc basis and complemented with study materials and assessment tests. This type of training is known as MOOC, massive open online courses, and is becoming increasingly popular across the world. The Poli's platform contains dozens of MOOCs dedicated to professionals; particularly for alumni that are keen to explore or brush up on wide-ranging subjects like soft skills, artificial intelligence, sustainable technologies, but also basic knowledge of topics such as professional project management. “The courses can be completed online independently and free of charge, with a view to democratising knowledge.”

EUROPEAN TRAINING

The Poli is also launching a new postgraduate teaching project in partnership with 4 other top technical universities: ETH, Aachen, Delft and Chalmers. “There has been an alliance with these European partners for many years called IDEA League, which is involved in many research, teaching and social responsibility initiatives. The Lifelong Learning project is also going in this direction. Alumni will be able to access the online training courses which will be structured with the support of a supervisor and technical content provided by each of the 5 universities.” The programme lasts approximately one year and costs €5,000. It will end with a week in person (the first edition will be held between Zurich and Milan) alongside professionals from various European countries who will meet the professors and develop a capstone project to conclude the course.

Long story short: if you thought you had closed your books for good, it is time to think again.

Credits home/header: https://www.pok4professionals.polimi.it/

The rate of employment of Politecnico di Milano graduates keeps growing. The employment rate of Italian Master's degree graduates rose by 2 percentage points, with 98% already in employment one year after graduation Employment is almost fully guaranteed for engineers (up from 98% to 99%), as well as architects and designers (respectively up from 93% to 97% and from 88% to 94%) , and employment rates five years after graduation were confirmed at 99%..

These are the data revealed by the employment survey published by the Politecnico di Milano, carried out with a dual time scale of one year and five years after graduation.
Almost all graduates (91%) have a job that is consistent with their degree , and a third of those interviewed had already found the job before graduation, thanks to careful observation of external dynamics and training that keeps pace with market demands. Permanent employment contracts are also on the rise, with 60% of graduates in permanent employment one year after graduation and 90% after five years.

After five years, 90% are employed in the private sector and 54% work for an SME, although contracts with large multinationals are on the rise; the main market is still Italy (83%).

Although salaries in Italy remain largely unchanged, Master's degree graduates from the Politecnico di Milano see salary increases five years after graduation to an average of €2,187, around €700 net more per month than the salary of a newly graduated employee; this growth goes hand in hand with a professional career and the assumption of positions of responsibility.
There was also a leap forward in the world of work (+7%) for foreign Master's degree graduates trained at the Politecnico, whose employment rate rose from 82% to 89% one year after graduation, rising to 95% after five years. They report being satisfied with the university and with the qualification because it is consistent with the work they do, but fewer than 50% remain in Italy to work.

Employment among Bachelor’s degree graduatesis also on the rise (+5%), with 92% in work one year after graduation, despite a slight drop in terms of remuneration, thus indicating that the investment in training tends to pay off.

“Record employment for our graduates. This is the benefit of training that keeps pace with the expectations of the private sector, where most of our new graduates find work, as well as the public sector, where the greatest efforts will be concentrated in the coming years for the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan," commented Ferruccio Resta, Rector of the Politecnico di Milano .- "The data collected also reconfirm, going against the national trend, one of the characteristics of the Politecnico di Milano: the consistency between the qualification obtained by our graduates and the job they do Last but not least is the data concerning foreign students. Trained at our university, only half of them work in Italy. This is a trend that needs to be reversed, in order to increase the innovation potential of our territories and the definition of long-term active policies."

The "STEM 4 Women @Gruppo 24 ORE" Scholarship has been awarded by Gruppo 24 ORE to Valeria Pantè, a student on the Laurea Magistrale (equivalent to Master of Science) programme in Engineering of Computing Systems at the Politecnico di Milano.

The scholarship is aimed at young women on engineering courses at the Politecnico di Milano with the idea of supporting women on STEM degree programmes, subjects which are still studied by fewer female students in Italy. Suffice to say that, although more than half of graduates from Italian universities are women (58.7% of the total in 2020), only 16 out of every 100 have a STEM qualification, compared to 35 men (Istat, 2021).

This scholarship is part of the initiatives - also in synergy with companies and Alumni - of the Politecnico that aim to encourage the presence of women in engineering courses where women are below 35%:

The charter for the National Centre for Sustainable Mobility: has been signed: 25 universities, with their research centres, and 24 large companies operating in mobility and infrastructure sectors joined forces with the aim of supporting the green and digital transition in a sustainable perspective, ensuring industrial transition and helping local institutions to implement modern, sustainable and inclusive solutions.

It is an ambitious project: it will involve 696 researchers from the partner institutions, together with 574 new recruits, and is intended to be a real tool of growth and development in a key sector such as mobility, which is estimated to reach a total national value of 220 billion euro in 2030, employing 12% of the workforce; the investment for the first 3 years (2023-2025) amounts to €394 million.

The activities of the National Centre for Sustainable Mobility will focus on five technological areas of greater interest: air mobility; sustainable road vehicles; waterborne transport; rail transport; light vehicles and active mobility, aiming to make the mobility system 'greener' as a whole and more 'digital' in its management.

According to the “Hub&Spoke” model, there will be a central “hub” in Milan and 14 “spoke” research facilities distributed throughout the country, to ensure the territorial rebalancing that is one of the priorities of the NRPP.

The National Mobility Centre responds to one of the key missions of the NRPP: to promote extended collaboration between the worlds of research and industry intended as part of a supply chain. Its strengths will be projects of high technological maturity with the precise intention of providing a concrete response to the country's needs in a long-term perspective that goes beyond the 2026 deadline. This is our commitment. This is the opportunity to implement structural reforms. A game that we are willing to play to the end

commented Ferruccio Resta, Rector of the Politecnico di Milano, the proposing institution of the Centre for Sustainable Mobility.

The National Centre for Sustainable Mobility is the first to start among the five National Centres planned in the NRPP - National Recovery and Resilience Plan: they are widespread networks of universities, public research bodies and other public and private parties engaged in research activities that are recognised as being highly qualified in the development of infrastructure, projects and solutions that can be of immediate use for the entire social context. The areas in which the Research Centres will operate are in line with the priorities of the EU Research Agenda and the contents of the Italian National Research Program (NRP) 2021-27: High-performance simulations, calculations and data analysis; Agricultural Technologies (Agritech); Development of medicines with RNA technology and gene therapy; Sustainable mobility; Biodiversity.

Parties involved in the National Centre for Sustainable Mobility:

Organising research bodies

Politecnico di Milano, Cnr, Politecnico di Torino, Politecnico di Bari, Università di Bergamo, Università di Parma, Università di Torino, Università di Palermo, Università di Bologna, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Università di Cagliari, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Università di Salerno, Università Napoli Parthenope, Università del Salento, Università di Padova, Università di Pisa

Supporting research bodies

Università Bicocca, Università di Brescia, Università di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale, Università di Firenze, Università di Genova, Università di Reggio Calabria, Università Politecnica delle Marche

Founders

A2A, Almaviva, Angelo Holding, Autostrade per l'Italia, Eni, Ferrari, Fincantieri, Fnm, Fs, Intesa Sanpaolo, Iveco Group, Leonardo, Pirelli, Poste Italiane, UnipolSai, Snam

Participants

Accenture, Atos, Avio Aero, Brembo, Hitachi Rail, Teoresi Group, Thales Alenia Spazio Italia Spa, Stellantis – crf

Leggi anche: https://www.polimi.it/it/dettaglio-apertura/article/10/pnrr-nasce-il-centro-nazionale-per-la-mobilita-sostenibile-10402/