MILAN (ITALPRESS) – The Intesa Sanpaolo Foundation philanthropic entity handed over the scholarships that the foundation has been providing for eight years for doctoral projects in the humanities at the Gallerie d’Italia – Milan, in the usual annual event dedicated to universities. This edition, which confirmed the total amount of 375,000 euros, awarded the Universities of Venice Cà Foscari, Messina, Genoa, Bari “Aldo Moro” and Basilicata. The scholarships provide three-year research paths aimed at enhancing, promoting and disseminating knowledge of Italy’s cultural heritage, with particular attention to topical issues such as language and cyberbullying, social inclusion of the disadvantaged, new scenarios in education, and the protection and/or enhancement of historical, artistic and cultural heritage.
At the same time, remembering the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3, five prizes were awarded for master’s theses of experimental research for the improvement of the living conditions of persons with disabilities, particularly when related to work, job placement, and digitization as a compensatory tool, for a total value of 15 thousand euros. The winning projects of this second edition came from the Universities of Turin, Palermo and Milan Polytechnic and considered methodological and applicative studies on the theme of disability in different fields, including Design, Management, Architecture, Law and Urban Planning. The initiative has been confirmed for next year as well.
The meeting was also an opportunity to take stock of the Foundation’s activities, which seventeen years after its inception has deliberated nearly 36 million euros in favor of Intesa Sanpaolo’s people in difficult circumstances, university scholarships for deserving young people, support for organizations and projects dedicated to solidarity with people in need and in favor of canteens and dormitories. Of these, more than 11 million euros were provided for the right to study and higher education to more than 3,780 deserving students with low ISEE in more than 130 initiatives in collaboration with 50 Italian universities.
“The Fondazione Intesa Sanpaolo ente filantropico, established in 2008, is one of the pillars of the Group’s integrated welfare system and is focused on the right to study and on solidarity projects towards those in a difficult situation,” said the Chairman of the Fondazione Intesa Sanpaolo ente filantropico, Claudio Angelo Graziano. This year we wanted to further characterize the initiatives, tying them to a container theme, “Beauty,” as a means that can improve ourselves and society, preparing the ground for a more interactive, aware and inclusive future.
With this new support for PhDs in the humanities, the Foundation wants to focus attention toward the richness of our culture, which, in addition to being a great legacy, can also be an important opportunity for future professional growth and development for young people. We have also confirmed our interest in the topic of disability to promote studies and research on the subject at state universities with the aim of raising sensitivity and cultural awareness on this important issue.” With reference to the area of disability, in 2024 the Foundation focused its efforts on supporting the projects of Third Sector entities dedicated to the employment of people with disabilities, contributing 560,000 euros to the implementation of 15 projects, the total value of which exceeds 1 million euros. This support has made it possible to cover the costs of training, strategic collaborations, and ongoing evaluations of the experience, which are key elements in the creation of a more inclusive and accessible environment in which each person can fully express his or her potential. During 2024, the Foundation approved interventions related to institutional activities for more than 3.4 million euros, including more than 800,000 euros for employees, retirees and their family members in disadvantaged situations and for a specific extraordinary initiative dedicated to employees who were victims of the November 2023 flooding in Tuscany; nearly 900,000 euros for university scholarships and doctoral projects; and more than 1.7 million euros for solidarity interventions – such as canteens and dormitories – and projects for the most needy.
Here are the topics, universities, names and winning projects for doctoral scholarships in the humanities.
University of Venice Cà Foscari – Serena De Filippi, The Innovative Role of Beauty in the Time of Artificial Intelligence; University of Messina – Fabiola Amadore, Inclusivity AI: Artificial Intelligence for the Promotion of Social Equity; University of Genoa – Elena Mannino, Inclusive Contexts for Neurodiversity; University of Bari “Aldo Moro” – Ilaria Fiore, The Beauty of Imperfection: the dark side of positivity and being competent. An analysis of the phenomenon in the ‘good vibes only’ era of social network sites (SNS); University of Basilicata – Chiara Banedetto, Migrants, rituals, organizations: international cultural and religious associationism in southern Italy.
Here are the universities, names and titles of the winning master’s theses on the topic of disability: University of Turin – Chiara Biscotti, Master’s Degree in Management and Economics, Thesis “I function like this, period. The job placement of people with Autism Spectrum Disorders: operational proposals and analysis of the Auticon case”; Politecnico di Milano – Greta Musumeci, master’s degree in Design, Thesis “Mind the Gap: A toolkit to evaluate autism accessibility to public transport services”; Politecnico di Milano – Luca Attinà, master’s degree in Architecture, Thesis “Schools Beyond the Walls”; University of Palermo – Miryam Denise Innati, master’s degree in Law, Thesis “The Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the National and Supranational Dimension”; Politecnico di Milano – Xu Zhou, master’s degree in Architecture Urban Planning Construction Engineering, Thesis “Innovative Collaboration: Educational Campus in Quarenghi Street – Uruguay Metro sr., Milan.”
– Intesa Sanpaolo press office photo –
(ITALPRESS).
