TRIESTE, Italy – The tenth edition of the Master Degree in Coffee Economics and Science – Ernesto Illy opened last week with an orientation day in Trieste. Newly-graduated students with degrees in economics, agricultural engineering and agricultural sciences can apply for this specialization course, conceived to offer a thorough academic background on coffee as a product, from the plant to the cup, on its social value and on producing countries’ culture.
This year 27 students from 16 different countries have enrolled on the course. They come from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, United States, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda and – for the first time – Paraguay. This year women are more than men for the first time, with 16 female students enrolled in the 2020 edition.
Courses will start on January 13th and will end in October, with a final dissertation. At the end of the course, the number of graduated students will reach 206.
Two scholarships have been assigned this year: one from the Fondazione Friuli, a banking foundation in the region, which will go to Alessia Zampollo Sguazzero, while Fondazione CRTrieste, whose mission is to promote local economic development, has assigned its scholarship to Emanuele de Vonderweid. Since the first edition of the course, these two organizations’ commitment has been essential to encourage local young people to enroll.
The Master Degree in Coffee Economics and Science – Ernesto Illy, a unique program in the world, confirms Trieste as the world capital for coffee culture. The quality of the course contents and program is granted by a prestigious team of teachers coming from all over the world: University of Udine, University of Trieste, Wageningen University (Netherlands), University of Sao Paolo, University of Viçosa, University of Northern Colorado, University of Copenhagen, Drexel University and the World Coffee Research.
University of Trieste, University of Udine, illycaffè Spa, SISSA – International School of Advanced Studies of Trieste, the Molecular Biomedical Science Consortium (Area Science Park – Trieste), Fondazione CRTrieste and Fondazione Friuli have been supporters of the initiative together with the Ernesto Illy Foundation.