With protests and strikes against the prospected changes in Italian science funding and career progression, there’s hardly a single day gone un-noticed in the Bel Paese.
Today, at the inauguration of the New Academic Year at the University La Sapienza, in Rome, Rector Luigi Frati was forced to run away from the Aula Magna when a crowd of angry students (hundreds, the press reports) broke in the room demanding for his resignations. Further outside, students claimed, fellow students had been left out of the protest, as gates had been locked, as an emergency measure.
Oh boy. Back to work.
I know this is a sad subject, but I could not help smiling at the image conjoured in my mind when reading your post.
Well I guess picturing the man running away from upset students must be funny…
Massimo, what is your reaction to the nominating committee composition mentioned in this article? It seems to me like the gesture is in the right direction, if the appointment is competent, the other presumably impartial national scientists will judge so, and the candidate will pass?
Hi Heather,
thank you for pointing this out. Based on my perception, the new rules to appoint University staff do not change the nature of the concorso very much.
the other members can still act in a way not to interfere with the local politics, just to borrow a couple of words from the Nature article, and merely follow the internal professor’s will. My feeling is that, in Italy, it takes more than a change of rules to change the way candidates are selected. Whatever the rules, there are always weak points to exploit to one’s advantage in these selections.