Unict, the Foundation for studying and working in Sicily is born

From manufacturing to agri-food, from energy to healthcare, from publishing to aeronautics: more than twenty companies have joined the project of the Fondazione Siciliae Studium Generale UNICT 1434, the participation foundation promoted by the University of Catania with the declared objective of making it possible to 'study and work in Sicily'.

Leading the new foundation, by proxy of the rector Enrico Foti, is Elita Schillaci, lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Business Planning, who immediately defines its strategic horizon: 'This is not an identity slogan, but a pivotal objective of territorial development. We want to create the conditions so that studying in Sicily also means being able to work there. We do not intend to prevent our young people from gaining experience elsewhere - comparison is always an asset - but we must reverse the trend of the structural flight of skills. Our ambition is to build an ecosystem in which the university, businesses and the territory establish a stable dialogue, generating qualified and lasting professional opportunities'.

Elita Schillaci, presidente della neonata Fondazione Siciliae Studium Generale UNICT 1434

The list of adherents already recounts the strategic direction of the project: for the time being, some twenty companies have joined and include industrial and multinational realities such as the Americans from Vishay Semiconductors, Maire, and the Syracuse-based Irem. Then there is SAC, which manages Catania Airport, together with large regional agri-food and distribution groups such as the Arena Group (Deco), Dolfin, up to innovation and hitech operators such as Etna Hitech/GreenWaver, Netith, AC2, Electric Power, as well as health and biomedical realities such as Humanitas, IOM, Medivis, FIDIA. There is no shortage of the construction world with Cosedil, nor the publishing world with Gruppo Editoriale La Sicilia.

The legal structure chosen is that of the participation foundation, a hybrid formula that combines the patrimonial stability typical of foundations with the flexibility and plural involvement of its members. It is not a simple support structure, but an autonomous, non-profit organisation with its own assets intended exclusively for the pursuit of its statutory purposes. The model aims at guaranteeing two key elements: on the one hand, the scientific supervision and academic quality of the courses; on the other, the ability to dialogue directly with the production system. Companies are not mere sponsors, but subjects involved in the life of the institution, with rights and obligations defined by the statute, and with the possibility of contributing to the definition of strategic lines.

The operational heart will be the Corporate Academy, with tailor-made courses for companies, executive lectures by managers and entrepreneurs, real project work and the issuing of experiential certifications. This is where, according to Schillaci, the most concrete challenge lies: 'The Foundation was created to concretely reduce the mismatch between demand and supply of skills. Today's markets evolve faster than traditional academic times. We want to anticipate professional needs, designing just-in-time training courses together with companies. Not just theory, but applied skills, real project work, experiential certifications. Training must become an immediately productive tool, capable of transforming talent into employability and competitiveness for the territory'.