Padua Hosts the 2025 FOCUS – Borsa del Placement

1 December 2025, Padua — From within the frescoes walls that line Padua’s historic Scuola della Carità, a question that has hovered over Italy’s research community for years finally emerged with new urgency: what will happen to the thousands of highly trained researchers when the wave of NRRP funding recedes?

Co-organized by Fondazione Emblema and the National Center for Gene Therapy & Drugs based on RNA Technology, and moderated by SkyTG24 journalist Franco Ferraro, the 2025 edition of Focus – Borsa del Placement served as an important moment of reflection on how to transform a temporary investment into a lasting competitive advantage for the country.

The event opened with remarks by Rosario Rizzuto, President of the National Center, followed by Tommaso Aiello, President of Fondazione Emblema, who presented the 2025 Placement Report. The report highlighted the results achieved across the seven NRRP projects that adopted the program, including the participation of more than 1,200 researchers and over 100 companies.

The Placement Program aims to guide young researchers toward a clearer understanding of their skills and the professional opportunities available to them. Activities ranged from in-person coaching sessions across Italy to Assessment Center simulations, direct meetings with companies, and a national Virtual Fair that enabled nearly 800 interviews. For those interested in entrepreneurship, the Contamination Lab and the Club Deal provided both theoretical preparation and direct exposure to potential investors.

Within this broader framework, the National Center played a central role, engaging a diverse community of PhD candidates, postdocs, research fellows, technologists, researchers, and students from the PharmaTech Academy. Their level of participation was consistently high across all phases of the program.

The round table, moderated by Franco Ferraro, brought together voices from sectors that rarely have the chance to speak directly to one another. Participants included Tommaso Aiello, Mariangela Amoroso (Sanofi), Margherita Bruno (Intesa Sanpaolo), Bruno Catalanotti (PharmaTech Academy), Fabio Graziosi (Fondazione Vitality and Rector of the University of L’Aquila), and Rosario Rizzuto. Despite their different perspectives, all emphasized a common need: Italy must establish a stable, long-term model for the placement of highly specialized researchers.

Contributions from Elena Quagliato (National Center Program Manager), Michele Detomaso (Italian Red Cross), Loredana Luzzi (MNESYS), Daniela Pinto (Giuliani Pharma), Marta Rapallini (FAIR Foundation), and Marco Romano (GRINS Foundation) clearly emphasized that the future of researcher placement depends on shared responsibility. Careers no longer originate from a single institution but from a network of entities capable of supporting a solid labor market and a research ecosystem oriented towards the public good.