PCTO and IT skills: the experience of the INGV Milan Section

Abstract

For about two decades, starting from the 2015-2016 academic year, a teaching strategy based on alternating school-work has been introduced into the Italian Education System, forming an integral part of educational pathways. Over the years, this teaching method has undergone several changes and is known as"Paths for Transversal Skills and Orientation (PCTO)"(from 2025, School-Work Training [FSL]).
PCTO activities are aimed at students in the final three years of high school and are carried out using a teaching methodology that introduces and engages them with the job environment, thereby preparing them for it.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), like other public research institutions, has been carrying out PCTO activities since its inception. Since 2024, the INGV Milan Section (INGV-MI) has also entered into an agreement with a technical institute specialized in computer science within the PCTO program and it is seeking to offer internships primarily focused on cybersecurity, information technology, and computer science applied to data processing in the Earth sciences.
This paper describes the Milan Section's experience with the PCTO program. The feedback from professors and students, as well as the results of an evaluation questionnaire administered to students in the second year of the agreement, confirmed that the program has proven constructive and beneficial for both parties: for the students, who have been able to explore a world previously unknown to them and address real, rather than purely academic, work-related issues, and for the Section, which has been able to test itself in a new environment and engage with young minds.