The “Unipharma-Graduates” projects have been promoted by the Noopolis Foundation since 2003 within the European Union Programme “Leonardo da Vinci”, in cooperation with Sapienza University of Rome.
The 11 editions of the project have allowed 564 Italian Master’s degree graduates in pharmacy, chemistry, biology and biotechnologies to carry out a 6-month placement at about 40 leading European private and public Research Centres in different European countries.
In most cases both the trainees and their tutors were highly satisfied about the results. The trainees give their time and enthusiasm and get experience and memories for life in return. Most of them managed to enter selective PhD or job positions in Italy or abroad.
From 2015, the action continues within the framework of Erasmus +, the new European Programme for Education, Training, Youth and Sport launched by the European Commission.
Within the new programme, the Unipharma-Graduates projects are promoted by a Consortium coordinated by Sapienza University of Rome and including the Noopolis Foundation and 7 Italian Universities: University of Roma Tre, University of Rome Tor Vergata, University of Bologna, University of Catania, Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa, University of Milano-Bicocca, University of Padua.
The projects addresse Master’s Degree students and recent graduates in pharmacy, chemistry, biology and biotechnologies, enrolled in the last year of their graduate studies at one of the Italian partner universities. The selected candidates have the possibility to start a 6-months placement at one of the host partners before or after the completion of their Master’s Degree. A certain number of grants is also reserved to Doctoral students, who are given the possibility to find their host centre for the mobility period.
Applicants are selected through a competitive call open to the students of the partner universities, based on CV and English language skills. In order to maximize their motivation selected trainees are allowed to choose their host centre. On the other hand, the research centres are always free to request further information, to interview potential trainees on the telephone, to meet them and to reject all applications if not satisfied.
The aim of the projects is to provide an excellent scientific experience to some of the top students in the chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-technological field.
The final goal is to foster a new generation of excellent Italian scientists who will spend a significant portion of their career in other European countries and, also thanks to the use of English as a common language, will become real citizens of Europe.