Introduction
The counter project consists of a part of the merit fund (about € 200,000 per semester) intended for supplementary activities not offered directly by Polimi that will be granted to deserving students, interested in expanding their "knowledge". These activities are designed to excel and improve one's personal attitudes, create relevant skills and abilities both culturally and humanly and professionally. The activities concern cultural insights in the humanities, scientific, artistic, musical, technological areas, promote the study of languages and stimulate social skills.
The counter activities are aimed at those students who have distinguished themselves over the academic years for the number of exams, average, and timing and want to expand their growth and training prospects, integrating the curricular path with other activities that are not already provided by the polytechnic or not reachable for cost reasons.
For no reason students who have already participated in competitions and received prize scholarships or are placed in a medium-high contribution range are not excluded.
STRUCTURE
The counter activities must be related to five macro-areas, divided according to logical and structural affinities.
- Languages.
- Culture.
- Technology and innovation.
- Soft-skills.
- Sport.
Below are brief descriptions for each macro-map with examples.
1-Languages
The languages macro-area includes all those activities-language courses, from English to Chinese, which can train the student with a high level of competence, issuing internationally recognized certificates.
The student can apply to participate in English courses of a very high level such as the CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English, fifth level in the Cambridge certification scale, can only be supported by those who are able to master the English language optimally. The candidate's ability is close to that of a native speaker. It is recognized by the majority of British universities and around the world, moreover, by the world's commercial and industrial companies as an indicator of high level of english proficiency) or TOEFL (required for access to master's degrees), of French such as the DALF (Diplome Approfondi de Langue Française, is divided, in several units and each unit corresponds to a different level of difficulty), of German as the Kleines Deutsches Sprachdiplom (which attests to an excellent command of the German language), of Spanish as the DELE (Diploma de Espagnol como Lengua Extranjera, attests to the knowledge of the Spanish language, for those who wish to enrich their curriculum with an official diploma) or of Chinese as the HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, Chinese Proficiency Test).
2-Culture
Multidisciplinarity is a very important aspect for the complete training of the engineer, architect and designer.
The macro-area of culture gathers all the cultural activities concerning the world of literature, entertainment and humanities in general. You can think of the participation of numerous conferences, courses in creative writing, journalism, business philosophy, painting and sculpture.
Enrolment in ethical and moral training courses, participation in music lessons and admission to museums and art exhibitions.
3-Technology and innovation
Technological skills are increasingly indispensable for a complete technical training and the achievement of certifications certainly offer a greater possibility of job opportunities.
You can therefore think, to enroll in professional courses of ADOBE CS5 (ILLUSTRATOR, INDESIGN, PHOTOSHOP, AFTER EFFECTS, DREAMWEAVER), professional courses of HTML programming and other languages of the web, the possibility of accessing conferences, meetings and fairs related to the field of technological innovation.
In addition, the offer could concern the participation in national and international competitions also giving the possibility of being able to take advantage of short stays abroad.
4-Soft skills
Companies require not only professional skills, but also social skills with the aim of obtaining a responsible and complete figure from all points of view.
The Soft skills macro-range can include all those courses that concern:
- Communication :the ability to start a conversation, both on a specific topic and on a free theme; mastery of the rules of communication is indispensable in areas where many people work together.
- Identification :Another important factor for the head of personnel is the identification of the candidate with the company; it is necessary, first of all, to inquire about the company in question and to look for links consistent with one's identity.
- Managerial skills :In a team, in fact, in addition to the players, you also need people who can give orders. They must know how to impose themselves and direct the other members even in difficult times.
- **Another very important aspect is the Team spirit: **In fact, the ability to work together with other people does not only serve to limit conflicts within a work team; in order for the various individual skills to combine, experts need to work together. Then all those courses that in one way or another will be able to train the student from all points of view will be included, so that technical and social skills are complementary to each other.
5-Sport
Mens sana in corpore sano. A complete man must develop both the intellect and the body hand in hand. That's why to complete its path the polytechnic can think of offering registration for competitions, yoga courses, international competitions, excursions and itinerant trips.
MODALITY
The counter activities, therefore, must be relevant to the five macro-areas described and can be identified in three different ways:
- through the student secretariats: a series of institutions affiliated with the Politecnico will be indicated, able to offer a list of activities, courses, participations, etc.
- through the CPS: in two separate CPS (first / second semester) the student representatives will provide a list of activities considered valid to supplement those identified by the secretariats.
- through students: if a student wants or has decided to undertake an activity outside those indicated in the two previous points, they may be left free to choose the activity deemed most suitable for him; this will necessarily involve a validation process by the Politecnico
Interested students must submit the application for participation through the poliself or through the competent offices. The Polytechnic for its part must require the candidate to fill out a form in which the student's wishes and the right motivations are highlighted. Once the application has been submitted, the competent offices will evaluate the declarations taking into account first the minimum parameters and then the reasons. The student will have a response within the established deadlines, and will be able to take advantage of a sum of money such as to allow the performance of the requested activities. In the event that the activities are found by the student himself, the Politecnico will pay the student directly, obviously after appropriate documentation and will verify the performance of the activity.
POLICY
Being an exclusive service aimed at deserving students, the criteria will have rather high admission thresholds.
As for the average, it must be greater than or equal to 27 and normalized, taking into account the grades of the individual schools.
The credits acquired for each semester must not be less than 25, in this case too the parameters relating to the schools to which they belong must be taken into account. The eligible student will be able to take advantage of the contribution for a sum not exceeding 800 euros per semester, and if the cost of an activity does not exceed the maximum established ceiling, the student may request further participation in activities until the maximum economic threshold allowed is reached.
ADDITIONAL PARAMETERS
For the purpose of awarding the contribution provided for the activities, additional requirements that characterize individual students will be taken into account.
In particular, for the evaluation commission will be appreciated experiences abroad, internship experiences, extracurricular activities such as sport at a competitive level, representation, associations and commitment to social activities.
Notes
The services provided may not in any way concern the purchase of teaching material (if it is not part of the course package), and participation in cultural activities organized and already financed by the Politecnico di Milano.
