Clubs and Societies
The College is delighted with the level of interest expressed by freshers and higher year undergraduates for the Volta Clubs and Societies (62% of College undergraduates thus far have enrolled in one or more Club or Society). The level of interest expressed by College graduates has been lower (33%) but it should be kept in mind that the graduate section of Volta also include a number of short term visitors.
The flyers of the Volta Tennis Club and of the Volta Society for Economics were not printed for the College Assembly. These flyers have been left on the porter’s desk and all students interested in playing tennis or joining the activities of the Volta Society for Economics are asked to sign in before Friday the 18th of October.
College is very busy next week (Oct 13th - Oct 18th) with meetings between students and Directors of Studies and with the election of the students’ Committees. It is suggested however that the following week the following meetings of students who have signed for Clubs & Societies should take place in the College lecture theatre:
Wednesday 22th October, 6.00 pm
Arts Society, Drama Society, Literary Society, Music Society and Cine Club
Thursday 23rd October, 6.00 pm
Cross Country Club, Football Club, Footgolf Club, Rowing Club, Rugby Club, Volleyball Club and Garden Club
Wednesday 29th October, 6.00 pm
African Society, Political Society and Society for Economics
Monday 3rd November, 6.00 pm
Science Society
Tuesday 4th November, 6.00 pm
Medical Society
College hopes that all students who have signed in will attend these meetings in order to discuss and plan the work of Clubs & Societies for the academic year.
Library Support
The College would like to thank the many students who expressed an interest in offering Library Support for the academic year 2014/15 and wishes to inform all College members that throughtour the academic year 2013/14 support will be offered by the following students:
Semester 1 (13 October 2014 - 13 March 2015): FR Tonlieu (Dental Medicine, yr 5) and R Verrillo (MSc in Construction Engineering, yr 3)
Semester 2 (16 March 2015- 30 September 2015): L Biondo (Pharmaceutical Sciences, yr 6) and C Francioso (Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, yr 4)
Students offering Library Support will be available for enquiries and loans from 6.00 pm to 7.00 pm Monday to Friday in the small Library office adjacent the Director's office. New rules concerning book loans will come into place from October 2014.
Volta Volleyball Club (VVBC)
Volleyball has proved a popular sport at Volta among boys and girls alike. It is one of the sports that College wishes to encourage and a volleyball court is being considered as one of the components of the Sports Centre that Volta hopes to build on College grounds. In October 2014 more than 20 College students expressed an interest in playing volleyball or support this sport otherwise, A volleyball club therefore has been instituted.
The following students have enrolled in the VVBC for the academic year 2021/22. Andrea Trabacca and Giulia Bonasegale have agreed to act as Club Secretaries for the Boy's and Girl's teams respectively.
Amina Amer
Leonardo Beretta
Rania El Bouadli
Giorgia Fontana
Martina Forlani
Federico Ghirelli
Giulia Gossetti
Maral Kazemian
Nicola Loizzo
Veronica Maresca
Irene Nicosia
Jessica Oliva
Dario Pulito
Ester Rizzo
Angelica Scarpellini
Arber Selimi
Ines Shopi
Andrea Trabacca
Agnese Zambinelli
Annalisa Barone
Giulia Bonasegale
Andrea Caiulo
Diego Riva
Students' Committees
The following rules apply to the election of students' College Committees for 2014/15.
1. The College will appoint an ad hoc election Committee composed of 6 students from different nationalities (visitors are excluded). The election Commitee will agree final election procedures and dates with the College Director and ensure correct proceedings.
2. College students will elect a VSU executive consisting of 8 members: 4 members (a JCR subcommittee) will be elected by College undergraduates, 4 (an MCR subcommitee) will be elected by College graduates. Students whose enrolment into MSc Courses is pending, subject to successful completion of the undergraduate Course, are treated by College as postgraduate students for the sake of election of students' representative. These new arrangements supersede the ones that College used in previous years (a general VSU Committee and additional Library, Sports and House Committees). Under the new arrangements there will be no formal Library, Sports and House Committees as these are absorbed by the enlarged VSU Committee (8 members strong, in line with general EdISU Rules and Regulations). The JCR and the MCR subcommittees will nominate a President and members responsible for Library, Sports and House respectively. Thus, an undergraduate student interested in contributing to College policy in the Sports area, for example, should seek election in the JCR subcommittee explaining that s/he would be specially interested in contributing to Sports. A postgraduate member of the College interested in developing College libraries should seek election in the MCR subcommittee and indicate that s/he is keen to contribute to the development of the College library, etc.
3. The College Director aims to finalise procedures with the election Committee on Wednesday 8th of October. Nominations should be received by the 13th of October and elections should be completed by Monday 20th of October. The first meeting of the new VSU executive will take place on Tuesday 21st at 6.00 pm.
4. College wishes to remind its members that 61% of College strudents are women, 27% are foreigners and 66% are freshers. A VSU Committee that distorts these figures in a major way will not be deemed as representative and will be rejected. The College thus encourages female members, foreign members and young undergraduates (1st and 2nd year students) to take an active role in the election process and stand up for election.
Library Support
The College wishes to appoint four College students to the role of Library Support. Duties involve checking arrival and arranging display of regular magazines, classifying new books, entering magazines and books in the library database and supervising the loan system. The students appointed are expected to dedicate 2 and half hours a week to the service and will work from a small office adjacent the Director's one. In exchange for the service, College will offer a partial rebate on the College fees (details on application).
Students who wish to be considered for the role of Library Support.should send an email to the College Director (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) to this effect. Students who were in residence in 2013/14 need not to submit an accompanying cv because the College already holds academic records.. New students interested in the position of Library Support, however, need to submit a full cv because College does not hold academic record for freshers.
The deadline for applications is midnight on Thursday 9th October. Appointments will be announced on Friday 10th. Service will begin on Monday 13th at 6.00 pm.
Freshers week
The Volta 2014/15 Freshers week has finally arrived. A strong academic programme will set off with the General College Assembly on Monday 6th at 6.00 pm. The Assembly will addressed by P Benazzo, EdISU President, to mark the opening of the new North wing of the College building, due to become the graduate section of Volta. During the Assembly College takes stock of the work of the previous academic year and outlines goals and procedures for 2014/15. The discussion will touch all aspects of College life including teaching, assessment, extra-curricular activities, social life and sport, representation and students Committees, etc. From Tuesday the 7th of October Volta freshers will meet their respective Directors of Studies who will outline the features of all major undergraduate and MSc Courses.
There will also be a compulsory Health and Safety session on Monday 13th at 5.00 pm with EdISU staff. All students must attend this event because Collegio Volta attaches great importance to Health & Safety issues.
Finally, there will be a social programme that involves a cocktail party and a tour of the city for College freshers organised by F Ruberto, secretary of the Volta Society for International Students (VSIS) and drinks and nibbles after the General College Assembly.
The poster of the College Assembly can be downloaded here. The poster of Freshers week can be downloaded here.
C Regalbuto
Top College athlete - and medical undergraduate - Corrado Regalbuto led the Italian light weigth cox-less four to second place in the University World Rowing Championship in Gravelines (France) in mid September. After finding themselves in 5th place halfway in the race, the Italian boat led by Corrado gained three places and finished second ahead of the British boat.
This is not the first time that Corrado Regalbuto makes the headlines and the College is delighted to celebrate once more this remarkable sportsman, young academic and member of Volta. The College is also keen to see other students following into Corrado’s steps and taking up rowing at University. The first Collerge rowing machine was acquired in July 2014 and the purchase of a second during the academic year 2014/15 will be discussed shortly.
The four athletes of the Italian 2nd place cox-less four in Gravelines were: Corrado Regalbuto, Marcello Nicoletti, Stefano Oppo and Piero Sfiligoi.
Welcome to Pavia
Fabio Rugge (University Chancellor), Paolo Benazzo (EdISU President) and Maria Assunta Zanetti (COR President) will meet University freshmen on October 1st at 6.00 pm in the main University lecture theatre (Aula Magna dell' Universita' in 65 Strada Nuova). The meeting will be followed by drinks in the beautiful 'Cortile delle Magnolie', one of the courtyards of the main University site.
The University of Pavia has a wealth of historical buildings, musea and libraries and it is highly appropriate that University Heads remind freshmen about the distinctive features of this University and the general organisation of students' life in Pavia before freshmen get down to serious academic work.
All Volta students, and particularly freshmen, are strongly encouraged to join the Welcome to Pavia event. The poster of the event can be downloaded here.
(Edisu is a University/local government agency promoting access and education at the University of Pavia; COR is the Univerrisy students' office).
Examinations 2013/14
The College has now collected full details of the examination results of undergraduate and MSc students (lauree magistrali). The figures demonstrate outdstanding progress across the field. 94% of the undergraduate population of Collegio Volta are students of Science and Maths, Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Medicine. The number of students reaching or exceeding the EdISU requirements for College placements was 67% for Science and Maths (up 27% from 40% in 2012/13), 80% for Engineering (up 47% from 33% in 2012/13), 80% in Pharmaceutical Sciences (up 5% from 75% in 2012/13) and 100% in Medicine (up 20% from 80% in 2012/13).
"This is an extraordinary leap forward that College has accomplished in a very short period of time - said College Master Ermanno Gherardi - and credit is due first of all to the students for the hard work that they have put in during this latest academic year and also to College for developing undergraduate supervisions and a strong learning environment. It is also major recognition for EdISU and the reforms that EdISU embraced over the last few months in order to modernise and strengthen the Collegiate system of the University of Pavia. The work at Volta, however, will not stop until all undergraduate students will reach or exceed EdISU requirements, a result that this year has only been achieved for Medicine".
More details of the 2013/14 examination results can be found in the page Examinations 2013/14 under Academic Life.
Cameroonians
On Saturday afternoon the 19th of July the Cameroonian community of Collegio Volta organised a summer barbecue party in College open to African students of other Colleges in Pavia as well as to students of other nationalities.
The party proved a great success. The meat was grilled in African cooking style. African music was played and traditional African dances were on display. The College welcomed the event and hopes that the large Volta Cameroonian community will finally launch into action the much awaited Volta African Society in October/November 2014.
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Traineeships
Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lombardia is offering 25 traineeships to young people wishing to undertake a work experience in Italy or abroad. The traineeships are not confined to applicant holding a degree but young graduates are obviously eligible and encouraged to apply.
This is a valuable opportunity offering financial support toward travel and subsistence for work experience in companies, agencies, research organisations, etc for up to 6 months. It may constitute a true cornerstone in a young person’s career path and College members are strongly encouraged to consider the scheme and apply in order to broaden their horizon, strenghten their know-how and build a strong foundation to their future career.
Applications are online and may be completed from June 16th 2014; the final deadline is 14th November 2014.
Questionnaire
The College wishes to understand the major problems with Courses, exams, training periods, etc that cause delays in their studies to the students of the University of Pavia and in particular to College students. The scope is to inform EdISU and promote action with the University through a joint University/College Committee that may address key bottlenecks and improve, teaching across the Departments, student’s performance and the overall standing of the University.
Questionnaires should be completed by College undergraduates (Corsi di laurea di primo livello) and MSc students (Corsi di laurea magistrale). They will be distributed on Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th of June to individual College flats and additional copies will be placed in the breakfast room and at the porter's desk. Completed questionnaires should be left in a box on the porter's desk by Friday 20th.
ES2ROS
F Svelto, Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Technology Transfer, is holding a seminar in College at 2.30 pm on June 12th with several Directors (F La Tour, G Riggi and F Mastromauro) of Astra Zeneca, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies worldwide. The seminar programme can be downloaded here.
The purpose of the seminar is to introduce ES2ROS to the academic community in Pavia (University and research Institutes).ES2ROS (Externally Sponsored Scientific Research Operations System) is a new research scheme launched recently by Astra Zeneca and aimed at strengthening the links and interactions with academic researchers. The scheme is eminently suited for promoting clinical research involving Astra Zeneca discoveries but perhaps will extend to pre-clinical research and this point will most certainly be addressed at the seminar. A few additional details of the scheme can be found at this AstraZeneca/MedImmune page.
College students, in particular students of Biology, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Medicine are strongly advised to participate.
Looking at genetic modification with a 'big picture' lens.
The seminar will take place in the College lecture theatre at 6.00 pm. The poster can be downloaded here.
Consider the following policy question: should genetic modified organisms (GMOs) be used in food production? In different countries, and among jurisdictions within countries, different answers have been generated to the same policy questions: in the EU, most GMOs are banned but in the US, they are fairly common including in the food supply. This seminar explores alternative tools that bioethics can bring to the evaluation and critique of policy responses beyond typical philosophical theory, with a focus on the processes for policymaking and how legitimate policy can be generated. It uses the case of GMOs to emphasize the need to explore the ‘big picture’—including the diverse historical, cultural, and social contexts in which policy is generated—particularly in cases of contentious and emerging issues and technologies.
Rachel Ankeny is at the School of History and Politics of the University of Adelaide in Australia.
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