Giulia Cecchettin was a 22-year-old student of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Padua. She was born in Vigonovo, in the Italian province of Venice. 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. The murder originated a general reflection on gender-based violence. People spontaneously made Giulia a symbol of the need to react against all gender crimes, 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 several scholarships shall be dedicated to the her memory, for 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.
With the aim of impacting on global consciousness and behavior, from the academic year 2023-2024 on all the IYT grantees shall attend a seminar or a course on the enhancing of gender equality and the fight against gender-based violence, as part of their academic path at the University of their choice.
