Dear Partner,
We hope this email finds you well.
We are pleased to contact you with an update on our current situation and plans for the 20/21 academic year in light of the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In Italy, the situation has improved significantly and activities are gradually going back to normal. However, social distancing and strict sanitary measures will continue to be enforced in compliance with international and national recommendations until the end of the year.
Under the aforementioned circumstances, Politecnico di Torino is partially resuming on-campus research, educational and administrative activities in September. However, please be aware that some relevant restrictions on access to university classrooms and laboratories will be in place due to the public health emergency. Thus, the new academic year will start with blended teaching and learning formats by which students will only be allowed to attend some in-person classes (to this end, students will have to book their access to the campus a few days in advance).
At the same time, Politecnico di Torino confirms that all courses will also be offered entirely on-line to offer international students the possibility of attending them from their home countries.
Therefore, while we are pleased to welcome incoming mobility students and staff in the first semester, we fully understand if there is the wish to postpone mobility periods to the second semester due to concerns for international travel, border and health regulations – all subject to change without prior notice with the surge of new outbreaks. Particularly in the case of yearly mobility periods or in the case of Double Degree programs, students may wish to attend remotely during the first semester and then reach Politecnico di Torino for the second semester.
Similarly, if applicable, we suggest that our outgoing students are allowed to postpone their mobility period to the second semester or to benefit from on-line teaching during the first semester when a full-year mobility is planned. However, outgoing students can confirm their mobility period in the first semester if your institution is ready to accept them and classroom-based teaching is available.
All the above applies to the first and second level students (Bachelor and Master) while the mobility of PhD students will be managed on a case-by-case basis.
Eventually, we would like to share the following safety measures applicable to all incoming and outgoing students and staff as have been approved by Politecnico di Torino.
Politecnico di Torino takes very seriously all issues concerning the safety of its students both in terms of activities that take place within its premises as well as of those that will be carried out within the context of the mobility programs at EU and Non-EU Universities.
Students hosted at our university will be subject to safety measures fully compliant with Italian legislation, particularly in terms of risk assessment as well as of education and training. We, thus, consider appropriate reciprocal measures are to be adopted by host Universities of the international exchanges aforementioned, even more so now in order to prevent any further COVID-19 outbreaks.
Outgoing students to be hosted at your University:
· will be informed and trained before departure by Politecnico di Torino on general risks at "country of destination" with the information available on institutional channels, as well as of risks associated with the activities they will carry out at host University;
· will be informed and trained before departure by Politecnico di Torino on the need to adopt COVID-19 prevention measures already in place in Italy as well as those of the host country;
· will agree and commit to complying with all COVID-19 prevention measures in place at Politecnico di Torino as well as those in place and communicated by the host University before departure.
Conversely, we expect the host University to:
· provide and adopt all preventive and safety measures to protect the health and safety of our students, assuming any risk assessment burden, even if only potential, to which students could be exposed to during their stay at host University;
· provide and ensure students with the training and information about the specific risks associated with the activities to be carried out at your premises as well as the places they will have access to;
· provide and ensure the information and training of students regarding the risks and measures taken by host University for the prevention of COVID-19.
At the same time, should any further measures be taken – be it at government and/or institutional level – before departure, we would greatly appreciate their immediate notification through the proper channels.
Best regards,
Francesca Verga
Vice Rector for International Affairs
Dear partner,
We hope this email finds you all in good health.
We are contacting our valued partners for a short update on the situation here at Politecnico di Torino and on the upcoming academic year prospective plans.
The lessons of our second semester were turned into online sessions at the beginning of March, and both summer exam sessions (June-July 2020) as well as graduation period (July 2020) will continue to be held exclusively online.
Italy has entered the second phase of the current health emergency related to the outbreak of COVID 19 and activities are slowly starting to resume across the country.
After a few weeks of hard work in adapting the activities of the ongoing Academic Year to the current circumstances, we have now started to plan for the future. Politecnico di Torino has decided to guarantee the online modes for providing the entire first and second-level teaching offer of the Academic Year 2020/2021. We are still assessing the possibility of providing in-person teaching depending on the evolution of the current health emergency as well as Ministry directions.
On a different matter, given the changing landscape in which we all find oureselves at the moment, we kindly ask you to fill in the following form:
We fully understand the difficulties in providing conclusive information at this point, but your cooperation is still be very much appreciated, as it will be really useful for us to adopt any required measures. We kindly ask you to fill in the form by 14 th of May.
Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us via this email.
Kind regards.
Elisa Armando
Dear valued Partner,
I am writing to you to inform you about the recent decisions of Politecnico di Torino regarding the prevention of potential spreading of COVID-19.
During the past few weeks, the Italian government has announced some strict measures to control the spread of the virus, including the closing of schools and universities until April 3rd and more recently the ban of any public or private social gatherings, the closing of restaurants and of non-essential shops. Travelling restrictions are imposed and moving from home is allowed only for extreme urgent needs.
Strictly following the official guidelines of local authorities, Politecnico di Torino has currently suspended all teaching activities in classrooms and most of the research activities in the departments.
Teaching activities
Teaching activities in classrooms are suspended until April, 3rd. The academic careers of students will not be in any way affected by such suspension.
From Monday, March 9, remote lectures are held through accessing the remote web-based procedure according to class timetables already scheduled for lectures to be held in classrooms and can be checked on each student’s personal page (as an alternative to the link https://www.swas.polito.it/
Exam sessions
Written and computer lab tests will be rescheduled on a date to be defined within a recovery exam session. Professors are however encouraged to adopt as far as possible for the remote web-based oral test to give this opportunity to those students who wish to take their exams during next weeks.
Students taking part in international mobility programmes (incoming and outgoing) will be guaranteed the opportunity to take all the exams through the web-based procedure, as well.
Your students @PoliTO
It is important to stress that teaching is not suspended, but that the teaching and evaluation modalities are changing. This means that the continuity of teaching is guaranteed for your students. Your students have the choice to stay in Torino or to return home. In either case, they will be able to access the distance learning activities. Your students who started their mobility in Torino and decided to return home after the virus outbreak may also decide to continue their mobility experience from home and follow their courses in Torino remotely.
If a student was supposed to study at PoliTO in the second semester and hasn’t yet left his country, mobility is suspended until April 20th and we propose a distance enrolment in order to allow them to access the distance learning activities.
On March 16 we sent a communication to all our exchange students with a detailed description of the measures taken by PoliTO for international students. You can also find it here: http://international.polito.
The Incoming Mobility Office is in direct contact with your students to respond to any queries. Do not hesitate to contact directly the office (incoming.students@polito.it) should you need any further information.
Your staff @PoliTO
Staff mobility from partner institution to Torino is suspended until April 20th. Staff members who had planned a mobility before that date have been emailed with a request to reschedule it.
PoliTO students @your University
Outgoing student mobility abroad for courses during the second semester who still have to leave Italy are cancelled. Politecnico di Torino guarantees students affected by this decision their full reintegration in PoliTO’s courses.
Departures of student mobility for theses, internships or other training activities in the context of PhD are postponed to April 20th or, in the event the current state of emergency persists, to a date to be defined in accordance with the provisions of the competent Italian authorities and the countries of destination. Students must agree with their host university/company if the postponement is accepted.
Students already in exchange at your university are invited to strictly follow your guidelines and to carry on their activities in accordance to your directions.
Up to date information is available at the website https://didattica.polito.it/
Do not hesitate to contact directly the office (mobilita.studenti@polito.it) should you need any further information.
Finally, in the International Affairs Department we will continue to give support to international students at PoliTO and PoliTO students abroad, as well as partners.
Nevertheless, we will do so via email. We thank you for your understanding. Up to date information on the above will be continuously posted on the PoliTO website here:
http://www.politocomunica.
Even though our premises are currently closed, we are working from home and the International Affairs Department is still operational to provide all the necessary support. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions concerning this.
Kind regards.
Elisa Armando
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Elisa Armando
International Affairs Area
Head of Area