Giulia Cecchettin was a 22-year-old university student.
She was born in Vigonovo, in the Italian province of Venice, and was studying Biomedical Engineering at the University of Padua. On the night of 11 November 2023, Giulia was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend. She would have obtained her degree on 16 November.
Giulia’s death deeply shocked the entire country and from this originated a general reflection on gender-based violence. People spontaneously made Giulia a symbol of the need to react against all femicides, and many initiatives were organized in her memory on 25 November.
On that same day, the Italian Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, announced that he wanted to dedicate to the memory of the young woman several scholarships for foreign students
“who want to study in Italy and who dream what Giulia dreamt for herself”.
Therefore, the “Invest Your Talent in Italy” program has been dedicated to Giulia’s memory.
In order for this decision to be impactful, all the IYT grantees from the academic year 2023-2024 on, will attend a seminar or a course on the enhancing of gender equality and on fighting violence and abuse against women, as part of their academic path at the University of their choice.
