In brief
Currently, I am PhD student in Learning and Innovation in Social Contexts and Organizations at the University of Siena (Italy).
I studied Psychology of Groups, Communities and Organizations at the University “G. d’Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara.
My research interests are mainly related to social psychology themes such as group processes and intergroup relations, social identity, social Influence, morality, prosocial behavior, and activism.
Convincedly European and Europeanist, since 2014 I have been volunteer of the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), I was President of ESN Italy (2020-2021).
I am interested in everything related to social and organizational psychology, volunteering and active citizenship, education and international mobility, non-formal education, and project management. In my free time I like to read book, watch tv series and follow football (I am a Juventus fan).
I lived in Italy, Finland and Belgium.
I consider myself a person who is always open to new challenges.
My story
I was born on 22nd April 1993 in Potenza (a small town in the south of Italy) and I lived there until 2012, when I got my high school diploma.
In October 2012, I moved to the Chieti and Pescara area, where I started to study psychology at the University “Gabriele d’Annunzio”.
In January 2014, I moved to Finland for my Erasmus exchange at the University of Helsinki, where I had the opportunity to improve my knowledge of the English language and to concentrate on the study of social psychology, focusing on group processes and intergroup relations and social representations.
During my Erasmus I got in touch with the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), a student organization that aims to promote internationalization in higher education and help international students by promoting their integration in their host university and local community. Once back in Italy, I joined ESN Chieti Pescara, the local section of ESN that operates in the homonymous provinces, of which I became Vice President in April 2015.
In September 2015, I gained my bachelor with a thesis in occupational psychology titled “Adolescent-Parent Career Congruence Scale: parental influences in career choices” (supervisor: prof. Michela Cortini) and shortly after I started my master’s degree in psychology the University “Gabriele d’Annunzio”, with “psychology of groups, communities and organizations” as major.
In parallel with my university career, I continued to carry out voluntary work at ESN Chieti Pescara: from October 2016 to October 2018 I was President of the local section. In the meantime, I also began to get involved in the national and international levels of ESN, holding numerous positions and organizing numerous national and international events. In July 2017, I was appointed as member of the research team “ESNsurvey 2017/2018” titled “Mapping the challenges and enablers of international mobility for students with disabilities”.
In September 2018, I finished my master in Psychology with a vote of 110/110 cum laude, discussing a thesis in work and organizational psychology titled “Organizational Support and Engagement in Non-Profit Organizations: The case of ESN Italy” (supervisor: Prof. Michela Cortini; co-supervisor: Prof. Adele Bianco).
In January 2019, I started to work as a Civil Service Volunteer at the Volunteer Services Center of the Province of Chieti, having the opportunity to deepen my knowledge of the world of volunteering and continuing to be part of the local board of ESN Chieti Pescara and several national committees and working groups of ESN Italy.
In July 2019, I started to work for ANPAL Servizi Spa, a state executive agency in charge of implementing employment policies and in October 2019 I moved to Verona, where I collaborated with the Employment Centers in the province of Verona.
In November 2019, I started an executive master in HR management at MeliusForm Business School, in Padua. I finished my master online due to the Covid19 pandemic in June 2020.
In December 2019, I was elected President of ESN Italia for the year 2020. I stayed in office for 2 mandates, 2020 and 2021, making sure that the organization stayed operational during the Covid19 pandemic and working on many projects, such as the establishment of the Secretatiat of the organization in Rome.
In November 2020, I enrolled in a 1-year master “Project management and European funds management” at the Almamater Studiorum – University of Bologna, I graduated in November 2021.
At the end of 2020, I was appointed as coordinator of the ESNsurvey 2021/2022, titled “ESNsurvey – XIV Edition: Understanding the Experience and Needs of International Students in the Pandemic and its Aftermath”.
In March 2021, I moved to Brussels to start my internship as BlueBook Trainee at the European Commission, where I worked for five months in the Research, Innovation and Test Development Unit of the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), mostly doing research on social inclusion topics.
In August 2021, I moved to Bologna to finish my master and start an internship in a consulting company that dealt with management of European and public funds.
In December 2021, I moved to Arezzo, in Tuscany, where I started my PhD at the local campus of the University of Siena, in the Department of Social, Political and Cognitive Sciences, under the supervision of Prof. Marika Rullo. Since September 2022 I am also cooperating with the Morality & Group Processes Lab of the University “G. d’Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara, directed by Prof. Stefano Pagliaro.