Guidance, third residential internship of the Me.Mo project aimed at 120 students from vulnerable socio-economic backgrounds

The key concepts are always the same four: Amaze, Explore, Motivate, Orient. To imagine a new future. From Tuesday, September 9 to Thursday, September 11, the third residential internship of 2025 of the Me.Mo (Merit and Social Mobility) project is scheduled, promoted by the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies and aimed at 120 students in their fourth year of high school, selected on the basis of merit and coming from contexts of possible economic and social fragility. The goal of Me.Mo., a completely free orientation program launched in 2013 and funded through PNRR resources via the MERITA – La rete per il talento (MERITA – The Talent Network) project, and supported by the Fondazione Il Talento all'Opera (The Talent at Work Foundation) and the Laviosa Foundation, is to support deserving students from fragile socio-economic backgrounds (first generation students) in making a more informed choice of university.

Thanks to the MERITA network, which brings together some of the most important centers of excellence in Italian higher education (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Collegio Superiore dell'Università di Bologna, Scuola Galileiana di Studi Superiori dell'Università di Padova, Scuola Superiore di Studi Avanzati della Sapienza Università di Roma), the Me.Mo. project has grown significantly in the 2024/2025 edition and now involves 610 participants from all Italian regions, selected for their family and socio-economic background, and not only for their academic performance.

An immersive experience on the university campus

The three-day residential program has been designed to offer participatory lessons, laboratory experiences, mock university entrance exams, and opportunities for open exchange with teachers, influencers, and prominent figures, with the dual objective of sharing current issues and talking about their own study and work paths. An important step towards achieving greater awareness of career paths and choices is also the opportunity to see the university environment up close, experience college life, and meet researchers and students, including during social events.

The three-day program

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 9, at 12 noon, with the arrival and registration of participants. At 3 p.m., in the Aula Magna of the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, there will be institutional greetings with Edoardo Bressanelli, Vice Rector for Orientation and Social Mobility, Paola Tognini, Rector's Delegate for the MeMo project, Luca Gori, Il Talento all'Opera Foundation, a philanthropic organization, and Olimpia Laviosa, Laviosa Foundation. This will be followed by a meeting with Lamberto Giannini, professor and philosopher, on ‘Youth nihilism as an opportunity’. At 4:30 p.m., ‘The MeMo Project, instructions for use’ with Letizia Bertoli, administrative representative for the MeMo project representative. At 5:30 p.m., first appointment with the research of the Sant'Anna School with a conference by Angela Durante, researcher at the Health Science Center, ‘From the siren that saves to the one that inspires’.

On Wednesday, September 10, Me.Mo. students will move to Pontedera to the laboratories of the Institute of BioRobotics, where they will be welcomed by Professor Simona Crea and will be able to visit some of the Institute's leading research activities in the areas of Artificial Hands, Soft Robotics, Microrobotics, and Artificial Intelligence.

In the afternoon, they will return to Pisa for a series of meetings and initiatives scheduled at the headquarters: the talk ‘Accessing university: tools and pathways’ organized by CISIA; the round table discussion ‘Africa Connect: the Sant'Anna School's commitment in Africa’ with Giuseppe Vergaro, professor at the Health Science Center, Amerigo Ferrari, collaborator at the Management and Health Laboratory, Yonas Muanenda, researcher at the Mechanical Intelligence Institute, and with the participation of students who took part in trips to Ethiopia, Cameroon, and Tanzania. At 5 p.m., a meeting with magistrate and writer Fabrizio Bartelloni: ‘That's where the difference began: walking along the paths less traveled’.

The last day, Thursday, September 11, begins at 9:30 a.m. with a meeting with former world champion volleyball player Andrea Zorzi, with a talk entitled ‘May the best man win, but who is the best?’. At 11:15 a.m., ‘Knowing your potential to make more informed choices’ with psychologist Ornella Bucci. The last event at 12:30 p.m. is ‘What will we do when we grow up?’ by Sara Barsanti, representative of the Merita project.