INTRODUCTION (4 weeks: March 31th – April 24th 2008)
This phase, common to all the participants will take place in Rome with a residential nature and will include:

An informative/cultural program, dedicated to treating the following matters, Italian institutions, social problems, the economic structure of the Country and European integration; meeting with representatives of the principal companies that will host the stages, problems concerning economic development and international technical cooperation, presentation and guided visits to historical-artistic places of interest in Rome.

A linguistic program that provides attendance in groups for an intensive course of Italian. A previous knowledge of Italian is recommended to further learn the language during this program as the participants communicate directly in Italian during the professional development phase.

An orientation program carried out at the same time as the previous activities is realized through meetings and individual and group interviews for designing and defining the subsequent professional development phase of each participant.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (5 weeks: April 28th – May 30th 2008)
The aim of this phase is essentially to supply a professional reference point to the participants that is ample and updated on the subjects being studied in real job situations and to develop critical observation capacities as well as to make comparisons. Such an aim can be achieved through visits, meetings and stages with variable duration, in agreement with the bodies operating in the sectors involved, and through the participation in seminars dealing with subjects suitably planned.

Improvement programs can provide, according to the participant’s needs, a group of instruments such as, visits with variable duration to plants and offices; analysis and studies of executive procedures, organization structure, management methods; technologies; meetings and exchanging experience with operators and corporate managers.

The candidates, in setting up the proposals for their improvement program, must keep the subjects described into account in the individual specialization sectors mentioned in the present announcement

The candidates that present an application for specialization sectors not included in the announcement are invited to specify in detail the improvement program desired. This will make it easier to find companies and bodies possibly available for collaborating in the professional development phase.

The profitable progress of this phase is strictly conditioned by the ability to understand and be able to express oneself in Italian.

CONCLUSION AND EVALUATION (1 week: June 2nd – June 6th 2008)
In this phase, that will be held in Rome subjects regarding the development of international technical cooperation will also be treated, and a self-evaluation, a capitalization on the experience acquired and a Course assessment will take place.