Bringing young people closer to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers has been for years one of the challenges that the global education and academic system needs to address [1]. Among the various initiatives that can be implemented, orientation initiatives organized by universities and research institutions can play a very decisive role, as they increase participants’ awareness of their educational and career perspectives.

Many efforts are focused on proposing inbound orientation projects, which are dedicated to secondary school students and are focused on introducing them to STEM faculties and their potential and prospects. On the other hand, outbound orientation initiatives support graduates in entering the world of work and are thus equally important, but to some extent less widespread and capillary; in fact, their realization requires strong synergy between academia and research with companies and the territory.

For this reason, the INFN Frascati National Laboratory held in March 2024 a Job Placement Day within the Rome Technopole project*[2]. Rome Technopole aggregates all Lazio Region public and private universities, national research centers, the Lazio Region, the City of Rome, regional chambers of commerce, Unindustria and dozens of innovative companies, thus representing Lazio’s innovation ecosystem. The Job Placement event thus represented a unique showcase for the various project partners and gave participants – university students - the opportunity to come into direct contact with the research carried out by Rome Technopole and with the companies that are part of it.

In this contribution, we will discuss the organization and implementation of the Rome Technopole Job Placement Day, analyzing its strengths and weaknesses. As the event not only allowed university students learn about the participating companies, but also strengthened the link between companies and academia, we believe it could represent a good practice to be exported in similar contexts.

Acknowledgement:
*ECS 0000024 Rome Technopole Project, - CUP B83C22002820006, PNRR Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.5, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU

References:
[1] Gago, J.M. et al. Europe Needs More Scientists: Increasing Human Resources for Science and Technology in Europe. In Report by the High Level Expert Group on Human Resources for Science and Technology in Europe; European Commission: Brussel, Belgium, 2005.
[2] https://www.rometechnopole.it/en/

Keywords: Placement initiatives, orientation activities, outbound orientation initiatives.