The new edition of the Innovators Community Lab is underway: 29 selected students, mentoring, training, networking, and awards for the most innovative projects.

It’s not just a lab, nor a simple extracurricular course: the Innovators Community Lab (ICLab) is both a real and symbolic space where the University of Trieste invests in the future of its students. A place to experiment, design, and grow.

Designed to guide young people on a journey of discovery into innovation and entrepreneurial culture, the ICLab is the natural evolution of the Contamination Lab, which over the years has involved more than 300 participants, helping shape a true generation of UniTS innovators.

This new edition takes place in the bright spaces of the former Military Hospital, now transformed into a hub for training and co-design just a stone’s throw from the city center. Inside these walls, week after week, an intensive program takes shape—made up of meetings, mentoring, teamwork, and cross-pollination of ideas.

At the helm of the project is Salvatore Dore, Head of ICLab and Chief of the Technology Transfer and Business Relations Office. He outlined the new features of this year’s edition: curricular university credits, personalized mentoring, company visits—including one to the Marcegaglia Group—and most importantly, final awards for the most compelling projects. The top five teams will each receive a €5,000 scholarship, funded by the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia.

Highlighting the strategic importance of the initiative, Professor Rodolfo Taccani, Rector’s Delegate for Technology Transfer and Business Relations, remarked: “The Contamination Lab has for years been a vibrant laboratory of ideas—but also of people. We have witnessed the growth of skills, relationships, and initiatives that go beyond the university’s borders. This journey has accompanied six years of work in which we focused on connecting education, young people, and business. The future also passes through here.”

This year’s numbers reflect the richness and diversity of the group: among the 29 selected students, 18 are enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs, 10 in master’s or single-cycle programs, and 1 is a PhD student. The female representation is significant, accounting for over one-third of the group. While there is a solid presence of students from scientific faculties, humanities and law profiles are also well represented, including participants from Philosophy, Psychology, and Law—a testament to how innovation draws strength from diverse and complementary approaches.

The ICLab is therefore much more than a learning experience: it’s a way to bring entrepreneurship into the university, building bridges between classrooms and companies, between talent and opportunity. It’s a chance to envision one’s professional future beyond conventional paths, with an open outlook on the world and strong roots in the local community.