The eighth edition of the School of Excellence ended with the second week, promoted by the University of Messina and the Peloritana Academy of the Pericolanti with the patronage of the South Gazzetta publishing company of the South Journal of Sicily.
“There is all a job behind almost a year, not only from an administrative point of view, but also from a technical point of view – said the director of the school prof. Giovanni Cupaiuolo – And I want to emphasize that the Administration, starting with the magnificent rector Giovanna Spatari, with the vicar proreor Giuseppe Giordano and the general manager Pietro Nuccio, has always been of great closeness and has enthusiastically supported any request “.
The success of the 2025 edition is testified by the numbers: 18 the projects presented by the teachers of the unique and by the members of the Academy, belonging to the three macroareas of life sciences, sciences and formal and experimental technologies and that of human, political and social sciences. There were also many students and students who meet the requirements, about 500, and 350 those who decided to support the selection interview. To accompany the 79 participants, with the guide of the Management Committee (coordinated by the director Prof. Cupaiuolo, and made up of the teachers Unime Filippo Benedetto, Elena Caliri, Francesco Ciraolo and Fortunato Neri) was the organizational secretariat (Manuela Catanese, Letizia Gambino) together with the tutors.
The in -depth projects in the first week concerned the use of cannabinoids, from recreational to therapeutic (the teachers Nicola Cicero and Angela Bitto responsible); “Smart Thinking: ideas, tools and visions to innovate” (responsible for the teachers Antonio Cappuccio, Giacomo Risitano and Marina Trimarchi) and “between politics and economics: the crisis of democratic capitalism and the risks of authoritarian capitalism” (responsible for the teachers Giovanni Moschella and Pietro Navarra). For the second week, the Focus was on: Diabetes 1 in the pediatric age (the teachers Giuseppina Salzano and Mariella Valenzise), on mathematical models in economics (professors Giuseppe Cartai and Mariano Ferrara) and on the AI between psychology and territorial development (prof. Carmelo Vicario).
The days, between Villa Amalia and Papardo’s pole, have also been enriched by numerous interdisciplinary seminars who have explored crucial issues, granting girls and boys to be able to dialogue with professionals and experts. The young participants were able to live two exciting experiences: the visit to the SES publishing center, with the editorial offices and the press center that produces ten newspapers every day, and the participation in the ceremony of delivery of the degree diplomas at the Antico Theater in Taormina. At the end of the two weeks, as per tradition, the “Friendship dinner” was organized, with the participation of the Spatari Rent and the Gordan Vicar Proreor, an opportunity during which the certificates of the school participants were delivered, retracing the most intense moments of the two weeks. “The school of excellence – he remarked Cupaiuolo – from the beginning has distinguished itself not only to be a place of in -depth analysis, but even more a way to build friendship and sharing”.
The illustrious collaborations and the seminars during the two weeks
The seminars and round tables on more general themes were particularly engaging, promoted in the context of the two weeks projects: Visualizing and analyzing date from Across the Solar System (Simone Pirrotta, Italian Space Agency; Brian Day, NASA); The return of the breed. The roots of a large contemporary political problem (Andrea Graziosi, University of Naples Federico II) and the crisis of representative democracy (Nadia Urbinati, Columbia University); Between politics and economics: the crisis of democratic capitalism and the risks of authoritarian capitalism (Luciano Capone, the sheet; Luciano Ghelfi, Tg2 Rai; Barbara Millucci, Corriere della Sera; Lino Morgante, president Ses; Nino Rizzo Nervo, director of the Gazzetta del Sud); Multidisciplinary approach of the crime scene (Filippo Cucinotta, Unime; Daniela Sapienza, Unime, Cristina Mondello, Unime, Fabio Salmeri, Unime); Origin of life (Angela Lo Giudice, Cnr; Franz Saija, Cnr; Marco Saitta, Paris Sorbonne; Esther Tellone, Unime); The challenges of sustainability and their media representation (Marco Centorrino, Unime; Donatella Restuccia, Rome Sapienza).
The School of Excellence was able to achieve once again its objectives thanks to the commitment of the teachers of Unime and the members of the Peloritana Academy, who involved in this ambitious project estimated teachers of various Italian offices (Bari, Bologna, Milan Bocconi, Milan Iulm, Naples Federico II, Palermo, Reggio Calabria, Rome Sapienza, Rome Tre, Rome Tor Vergata, Salerno, Sassari, Turin, Varese) and foreigners. Graz, Lisboa, New York, Nice, Paris Sorbonne, Columbia University) and internationally renowned experts operating in public and private entities and structures (Hospital of the Marche region, Bosch, Diabetes Italy Associative Network, Ducati Motor Holding, Ferrari Spa, GCM Consulting, Finance Guard, Innode, Catania island, Village, Schneider Electric, Sicindustria Palermo): in the two weeks the students and the students confronted each other with about a hundred established professionals, who had words of praise for the preparation of young people and for the higher training initiative.