In the mid-1930s, Europe was in turmoil yet bustling with scientific advancements. Alan Turing was working on the machine that would bring him fame, while Giulio Natta – who would later win the Nobel Prize in chemistry for the discovery of polypropylene - was teaching in Pavia. Among Natta’s students was a young Franco Dompé who founded his own “start-up”, Dompé farmaceutici, just four years after graduating in Chemistry and Pharmacy in 1936. Today, the story of Dompé intertwines with that of the university once again, although under completely different circumstances. It’s in the historic Aula Foscolo, located in the university’s Palazzo Centrale, that Sergio Dompé, son of Franco, met - at the end of November - 10 out of the 12 students who have been awarded with a Dompé Foundation scholarship to pursue their studies in Pavia.

Since its second year of operation, the Dompé Foundation has chosen to involve the University of Pavia in its scholarship program aimed at supporting brilliant university students undertaking STEM degrees. In Pavia, more specifically, the Foundation grants annually its financial support to the four most promising candidates enrolled in the Master’s degree in Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnologies. “A relationship – the one between our family and the University of Pavia – that I’ve chosen to renew not only due to the emotional bond but also, and most importantly, because of the institution’s enduring commitment to quality and excellence in the fields of science and research”, Sergio Dompé announced during his speech in the lecture hall.

The common thread of the speeches during the meet-up was the crucial role of passion in one’s academic and professional success. Renata Crotti, Professor of History of Pharmacy and General Secretary of the Alumni Association in Pavia, emphasized that it was passion that led Franco Dompé to establish his pharmaceutical company shortly after graduation. It was also passion that enabled scholarship recipient Anna Scopelliti, who was welcomed into the Dompé Alumni Network during the event, to complete her Master’s degree with honors. And once again, this is the sentiment that Sergio Dompé inherited from his father and wished for the students who attended the meeting to cultivate with intensity.