Tuesday, September 14 was the final day of the internship on “Quantum Technologies” at CNR-INO in Pisa, with the participation of 20 students from four high schools (Licei Scientifici) in Tuscany (“Dini” in Pisa, “Vallisneri” in Lucca, “Pesenti” in Cascina, “Fermi” in Cecina). The stage was organized in the framework of PCTO (Paths to Cross-skills Training and Orientation) activities.

During eight intense days, the students acquired a basic introductory knowledge of fundamental concepts of quantum physics, optics and cryptography, and of emerging advanced applications such as quantum key distribution, quantum computing and quantum internet. The students attended a few seminars given by CNR researchers and University professors and were involved in educational labs and games such as testing their skills in the alignment of optical fibers. Eventually, the students produced some short presentations and contributed to the graphics design of a booklet collecting the topics covered during the placement. This work may be useful for the students’ high-school leaving examination (“esame di maturità”).

The scheme of forming a group of students from different schools has been tested in previous PCTO stages at CNR-INO Pisa and proved to be very effective, as previous editions of the PCTO internship stimulated the interactions between students in a very friendly and relaxed working environment. The internship activity has been organized by the outreach group at CNR-INO Pisa (F. Baffigi, A. Fioretti, A. Macchi, O. Morsch, E. Tognoni) and by P. Andronico from CNR-IIT. Many thanks to the speakers C. Cicconetti from CNR/IIT (talk on Quantum Internet), D. Ribezzo from CNR/INO Firenze (on Quantum Key Distribution), A. Bernasconi from the University of Pisa (on Cryptography) and D. Vitali from the University of Camerino (on Quantum Technologies).