In February 2022, Yale and ONAOSI officially established the ONAOSI-Yale Undergraduate Research Experience in Instrumentation at Wright Lab.
ONAOSI is a non-profit organization in Italy, whose mission is to support primarily the upper-level education of orphaned children of medical doctors, pharmacists, dentists and veterinarians. This is mostly achieved through a series of colleges in the various Italian regions, where students are given an education program in addition to one of their respective university courses.
The inaugural program will provide 7 advanced undergraduate students, selected from the ONAOSI colleges, with excellent hands-on training opportunities at Yale in the physical sciences, technology, and scientific instrumentation to enhance their education, give them positive experiences, and better prepare them for their future careers.
Wright Lab visiting professor in physics Antonio Ereditato, who is part of the team who designed the program said, “The nice feature is that the participants are supported by a charity that supports educational pursuits of children of medical doctors who have been orphaned. I hope they will bring here a little bit of the ‘special’ Italian culture, and come back home with a taste of the Yale research and education systems.”
The ONAOSI-Yale Undergraduate Research Experience in Instrumentation will combine training and oversight in instrumentation at Yale’s Wright Lab with a variety of research positions at Yale, from the natural sciences and engineering to medicine, as well as integration into Wright Lab and the Yale community more broadly through participation in educational seminars, research group meetings, and other events hosted by Wright Lab, the Physics department, the Yale School of Medicine, and Yale University.
At the end of the program, students will present their work in a talk to fellow participants and their research communities at an official closing event at Wright Lab, and also back at their home institution.
Karsten Heeger, director of Wright Lab and chair of the Yale Physics Department said, “This new program provides students with hands-on experience and training in research and instrumentation development at Wright Lab and in research groups across campus. The ONAOSI-Yale program is the result of Wright Lab’s international collaboration, and leverages the unique facilities and environment we can provide for training the next generation of students.”
The program is coordinated by Ereditato; Bonnie Fleming, professor of physics; and Victoria Misenti, program manager. Taylor Dunnigan, senior administrative assistant, will provide administrative support for the program.