Halloween Party
A large number of members of Volta have decided to dig deep for courage and meet the witches.
Preparation is nearly complete for the in house 2014 Volta Halloween Party of 31st October (9.00 pm - 1.00 am). Fancy dresses, frightening costumes, spooky treats and carved pumpkins are all featuring. Music and drinks will be available.
Further details from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., JCR President.
Central Bankers and the Financial Crisis. Sinners or Saviours ?
The seminar will take place in the College lecture theatre at 6.00 pm. The poster can be downloaded here. The second lecture of the Volta series on The Financial Crisis, originally scheduled for Monday the 27th of October, will be delivered instead on Tuesday, the 4th of November at 6.00 pm and will address the role that Central Banks have played in the management of the crisis.
The lecture will ask which were the monetary and financial drivers of the current Great Crisis? How to evaluate the ongoing strategies that the US Federal Reserve Bank and the European Central Bank are implementing today in order to avoid a Double Dip ? The lecture will discuss the relationship between the monetary and financial policies implemented in the US and in Europe on the one side and the Great Crisis on the other side. Next the lecture will address which role monetary policy and financial deregulation played in triggering the Crisis and whether subsequent reforms and policy strategies can be consideried effective devices in addressing and fixing the risks of a Great Stagnation.
Donato Masciandaro was born in Italy in 1961, he is a Full Professor of Economic from 2001 andfFrom 2005 he holds the Chair in Economics of Financial Regulation, at Bocconi University in Milan. F rom 2013 he is Head of the Department of Economics, a role he had already covered rom 2008 to 2010. From 2008 he is Director of the Paolo Baffi Centre on Central Banking and Financial Regulation. He is Member of the Management Board and Honorary Treasurer of SUERF ((Sociètè Universitarie Europèenne de Recherches Financières). From 2014 he is member of CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies) European Capital Markets Expert Group, as well as Research Associate of the European Research Centre for Economic and Financial Governance, Erasmus University Rotterdam. He served as Visiting Scholar at the IMF (International Monetary Fund) Institute as well as Consultant at the Inter-American Development Bank and at the United Nations. He is Associated Editor of the Journal of Financial Stability.
Central Bankers and the Financial Crisis.
The second lecture of the Volta series on The Financial Crisis, originally scheduled for Monday the 27th of October, will be delivered by Donato Masciandaro in College on Tuesday, the 4th of November at 6.00 pm and will address the role that Central Banks have played in the management of the crisis.
The role of Central Banks in the crisis is one of the most ontroversial aspects of the crisis and has impacted not only on the early stages (2008 and 2009) but also the current recovery - or lack of recovery - from the crisis itself. Donato Masciandaro, a distinguished scholar and an expert on Financial Regulation will tackle these issues upfront and offer College major insights in our understanding of the crisis.
Donato Masciandaro holds a degree in Economics and Social Sciences from Università Bocconi (Milan, Italy). He has been a visiting scholar at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the International Monetary Institute and the Nederlandsche Bank in Amsterdam. He has also acted as economic advisor for the United Nations, the Interamerican Development Bank and the World Bank. He is Professor of Political Economics at the Università Bocconi in Milan.
The poster of Donato Masicndaro's lecture can be downloaded here.
Supervisions 2014/15
Building on the major leap forward that Volta undergraduates and MSc students accomplished in their examination results in 2013/14, the College is strenghtening further in house teaching for 2014/15.
In the new academic year a strong line-up of Junior Tutors (typically College MSc students, in excpetional cases outstanding College undergraduates) will play an important role in ensuring that young College undergraduates and notabliy the large number of freshers who entered College in the last four weeks, will achieve or exceed the grades required by EdISU.
The main roles of Junior Tutors are to: (i) ensure attendance at the meetings with Director of Studies, (ii) ensure submission of study plans by November 7th or shortly after in those cases in which students await approval, (iii) ensure attendance of the College supervisions offered by Senior Tutors in selected subjects, (iv) meet the students regularly (at least fortnightly in semester 1) and discuss/propose study aids and a revision/examination schedule yielding the majority - or at the very least - half of the credits required for EdISU bursaries and confirmation of College placements by the end of semester 1 and, (iv) ensure that the examination dates and marks of semester 1 are submitted to the College Director by 6th March 2015.
Senior Tutors (College PhD students, medical postgraduates and post-doctoral fellows) will offer supervisions in a range of subjects. A full programme of topics, venues and dates of the College supervisions will be published on the College intranet early in November. Additional subjects may also be offered later in the year if additional PhD students or post docs will join the College later this term or early in 2015.
Supervisions constitute an informal, small group teaching activity in which key topics covered in formal lectures are re-addressed in College from a different point of view and their discussion is expanded; practical problems related to the topic are set and solved under the guidance of the senior tutor and the topic is put in context within the subject but also, where appropriate, in the broad scope of the Course. The students of Collegio Volta may wish to know that in Universities with a Collegiate system, supervisions are the single and most crucial determinant of examination grades, hence they are strongly encouraged to take full advantage of College teaching.
The list of College Junior Tutors for 2014/15 can be found here. The list of College Senior Tutors can be found here. Although College teaching is directed primarily at undergraduate students, the College believes that MSc students (students of so-called Lauree Magistrali), especially yr 1 MSc students may benefit from interacting with both Junior and Senior Tutors and attending supervisions. These students should feel free to contact Tutors directly and enrol in the programme of supervisions available in the College intranet pages from early November.
Who is Who at Volta
The list of College members on display in the entrance hall has been updated and now llists students in residence on 3rd November 2014.
Approximately 130 of the current members of Volta are freshers. The process of College admissions has been momentuous because on 1st of October 2014 College capacity expanded from the previous 120 placements to the current figure of 202 as a result of the completion of the new North wing. The list contains the names of 195 students as several prospective College members are still to finally confirm arrival as a result of late University selection procedures, including examinations for PhD studentships.
In 2013/14 EdISU had initiated a major review process of College admission procedures. Collegio Volta will submit a full report to EdiSU about the September/October 2014 admission statistics. The report will highlight the need for further changes and streamlining in admission policies and Voilta hopes that the process of reform will both move forward and accellerate.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The second film of the Volta Cine Club series on Reality and Illusion will take place on a new date and time, namely on Monday the 27th of October at 7.30 pm in the College lecture theatre.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an acclaimed work of Michel Gondry (France/USA, 2004). Written by C Kaufman, M Gondry and P Bismuth, it stars Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst and Mark Ruffalo. The film narrates the dramatic unfolding and the major sense of loss that a couple experiences having decided to erase each other from their memories.
All College students are welcome to participate. The revised calendar of the Reality and Illusion series can be downloaded here.
VSU Committees
The College is pleased to annoucne that members of Volta have elected S Soriano (Medicine, yr 3), G Badessi (Medicine, yr 4), D Farzin (Pharmaceutica Sciences, yr 2), G Dipinto (Sports Sciences, yr3) and H Wa Katolo (Medicine, yr 1) to the JRC Committee. They have also elected G Sicliano (MSc student in Electronic Engineering, yr 2), F Ruberto (PhD student in Economics, yr 2), G Bonaretti (MSc student in Economics, Politics and International Studies, yr 2) and A Rida (MSc student in Civil Engineering, yr 2) to the MCR Committee. F Soriano and g Sicliano will serve as Presidents of the JCR and MCR). G Dipinto and H Wa Katolo will serve one semester each in the JCR having secured an equal number of votes.
The College would also like to express its warmest thanks to C Neidhoefer, R Collotta and F Tchaptchet for standing for the JCR and to L Biondo, C Neidhoefer, J-P Haugh, GA Ochakowski, C Tiwa Kanou and A Rida for serving as Elections Committee.
Finally, the College would like to thank wholeheartedly College students for the strong display of democracy and participation Volta: 73% percent of Volta undergraduates voted for the JCR and 47% of postgraduates voted for the MCR.
Understanding the Financial Crisis
The seminar will take place in the College lecture theatre at 6.00 pm. The poster can be downloaded here.
Martin Ellison is Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford where he also holds a Professorial Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford. He studied Economics at the University of Liverpool (BA, 1990) and Oxford (MPhil, 1997) and did his PhD at the European University Institute in Florence. His has broad interests in Economics that have led him to contribute to a variety of key areas including business cycles, unemployment and market size and monetary policies. He is ideally placed for ‘Understanding the Financial Crisis’ and for opening the Volta series.
Memento
Christopher Nolan’s modern classic will open on Monday the 20th of October at 9.00 pm the first 2014/15 series of the Volta Cine Club addressing Reality and Illusion. The film features two distinctive sets of scenes: a series in black-and-white scenes shown in forward (chronological) order, and a series of colour scenes shown in reverse order. The two sequences "meet" at the end of the film, producing one single story.
Memento is a profound and compelling piece of work and a fitting start to the Volta series on Reality and Illusion. All College students are warmly invited to participate.
The poster of the Volta series on Reality and Illusion can be downloaded here.
The Financial Crisis
Martin Ellison, Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford, will open the Volta series on the Financial Crisis on Tuesday the 21st of October at 6.00 pm in the College lecture theatre with a broad lecture in which he will discuss the root causes and the complex processes that have led in 2008 to a large, worldwide financial crisis that has impacted negatively on the life of billions of people.
The Volta series on the Financial Crisis is not addressed (only) to College students reading Economics. The crisis has impacted on the majority of people and it is important that members of Volta understand and debate the factors that led to the crisis and the policies needed in order to get out of the crisis.
The poster of the seminar can be downloaded here.
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TED @ Volta
The first TED event in Pavia coinciding with the TEDGlobal 2014 Conference South! in Rio de Janeiro, on October 8th has been organised at Volta by PhD student in Economics Francesco Ruberto and proved to be an outstanding success. The event saw the participation of nearly 150 students and lecturers lasted from midday well into the night and offered live streaming of Sessions 4 to 8 of the Conference (see below) as well several talks by local academics and industrialist including Stefano Denicolai and Davide Romano.
The so-called South part of the World that still faces major social, economic, environmental and medical challenges but is rapidly changing and with it the complex relationship with the developed world. The TEDGlobal Conference addressed a wide range of issues and topics in remarkable and proved to be an eye-opener for many young College and other University students. The full programme of TEDGlobal Conference South! cn be found here. The poster of the event in Pavia can be found here.
The list of participants in Sessions 4 to 8 is:
Session 4: Field Work
with contributions from O Yakobovich (human-rights activist), S Autessere (peace and conflict researcher), D Khoury (grassroots peace worker), Charmian Gooch (anti-corruption activist), Circle of Sound (world music duo), A Gurib-Fakim (biodiversity scientist)
Session 5: Urban Canvas
with contributions from R Muggah (megacities expert), J wheeler (social change advocate), S Yunsheng (urban planner), G Amoros (interdisciplinary artist), NB do Passinho (h=funk dancers) and Haas&Hahn (favela painters)
Session 6: Empowering Tech
featuring R Baggio (digital inclusionist), B Torturra (livestreaming activist), S Song (telecommunications activist), S Karim (internet datacaster), A Tijoux (singer & songwriter) and M Nicolelis (neuroscientist).
Session 7: Blueprints
T Azevedo (forester and sustainability activist), I Szabo’ de Carvahlo (policy reformer), M Fleming (voice for refugees), M Green (social progress expert) and Casuarina (samba band)
Session 8: Lenses
featuring W Freedman (astronomer), J Soto (cancer technologist), V Moon (filmmaker), N Vasconcelos (music icon), E Pisani (author) and J Nelson (last tribes photogrpapher)
F Ruberto, the organiser of the local TEDx event is reachable at <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. In addition to working at the Department of Economics as a yr 2 PhD student, Francesco id secretary of the Volta Society for Viisting Students (VSIS) and the Volta Society for Economics (VSEC). The contacts for TEDx Pavia are: email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , twitter: @TEDxPavia. facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/499172466894501/
Job Requests
Students of Collegio Volta have access to an online system for submitting non-urgent requests for small repairs and maintenance (in contrast to urgent requests that require immediate action and carry an element of danger to people and/or property and that must be submitted by phone to the College office - extensions 701 or 702 - or the Porter’s Desk - extension 511). Less urgent requests for maintenance and repairs are submitted via the College intranet area accessed from the College home page (http://www.collegiovolta.org/) according to the following procedure:
1. Request a College Intranet Account by entering a suitable username and password on the College home page. This account will give you general access to the intranet area. Once you have created the intranet account you will receive a confirmation email containing a link that you need to follow in order to validate your registration (this step is necessary in order for the account to be activated).
2. After logging into the intranet area, you will see an expanded home page with additional icons at the top including Job Requests.
3. Click on Job Requests and set up a dedicated Repairs/Maintenance Account. Once you have done done so, you will have access to a form in which you can enter your name and surname, room and details of the job that you require. The form is automatically forwarded to the College office which will acknowledge your request and send you a reply confirming the ticket number and informing you whether the job will be carried out by the College keeper or whether the request will be forwarded to central EdISU offices and carried out by an external contractor. You can monitor the progress of your request at any subsequent time by logging into your repair/maintenance account and opening the relevant ticket.
4. The College is aiming to simplify the above procedure by enabling the general intranet account to access directly repairs/maintenance, thus avoiding the need for the dedicated repairs/maintenance account. College members will be promptly notified when the simplified system will be operational but for the time being students are asked to use the procedure detailed above in order to submit their job requests.
Career Advice
Collegio Valla is organising an interesting discussion at 6.30 pm on Tuesday the 14th of October about graduate career prospects in the service economy, a large sector of the economy of post-industrail societies and an important growth sector of several emerging economies as well. The venue is Collegio Valla and the poster of the event can be downloaded here. Interested students of Collegio Volta are welcome to attend.
Volta freshers interested in participating at this event and who are unclear about the location of Collegio Valla should seek advice from the porter on duty.
Health and Safety
This is a remiinder that the Health & Safety presentation/induction by EdISU officers will take place on Monday at 5.00 pm in the College lecture theatre. The talk will be given by C Grignani (Director General of EdISU), A Cremaschi (Head of Technical Support at EdISU) and F Collamati (EdISU Health and Safety consultant).
All members of Volta are encouraged to attend for an update on H & S matters.. Attendance by freshers is compulsory because Health and Safety induction is requested by law and will be monitored by the College.
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