Awarded scholarships by the Foundation for the Lugano faculties and prizes by institutions in the region to the best new USI graduates

The award ceremony for the best first-year Master's students and the awarding of prizes to the best Bachelor's and Master's graduates from USI was held on Monday, 4 December in the Aula magna of Università della Svizzera italiana in Lugano.

The awards ceremony was attended by USI Rector Luisa Lambertini, President of the USI Council Monica Duca Widmer, President of the Foundation for the Lugano Faculties Henry Peter, Pro-Rector for Education and Students' Experience Lorenzo Cantoni and Secretary of the Foundation for the Lugano Faculties Albino Zgraggen.

The Foundation for the Lugano Faculties of Università della Svizzera italiana awarded CHF 4,000 scholarships to the best students enrolled in the second year of each Master's programme based on their results at the end of their first year of study.

The Foundation awarded 24 prize scholarships with a total value of CHF 88,000. In cases where there were two ex aequo within a Master's programme, each received half the amount.

Below are the names of the students who received the award, broken down by course of study:

• Master in Architecture
  Laura Volumnia Gorni (average: 9.54)
  Valeria Russo (average: 9.54)
   
• Master in Finance
  Gian Marco Oddo (average: 9.48)
   
• Master in Management
  Lisa Schümann (average: 9.52)
   
• Master in Public Management
  Aurora Fortunato (average: 9.02)
   
• Master in Economics
  Annalisa Bissoli (average: 9.80)
   
• Master in International Tourism
  Giada Mazzi (average: 9.05)
   
• Master in Media Management
  Matteo Tonelli (average: 9.48)
   
• Master in Marketing and Transformative Economy
  Timo Luca Zollino (average: 9.82)
   
• Master in Communication, Management and Health
  Julia Stiz (average: 9.43)
   
• Master in Digital Fashion Communication       
  Francesca Manna (average: 9.39)
   
• Master in European Studies in Investor Relations and Financial Communication
  Fiona Fraholli (average: 9.59)
   
• Master in Lingua, letteratura e civiltà italiana
  Nathalie Molino (average: 9.83)
   
• Master in Philosophy
  Andrea Salvador (average: 9.52)
  Luca Gasparinetti (average: 9.50)
   
• Master in Artificial Intelligence
  Michele Cattaneo (average: 9.75)
   
• Master in Computational Science
  Luca Pernigo (average: 9.43)
   
• Master in Financial Technology and Computing
  Andrea Pozzoli (average: 9.18)
   
• Master in Informatics
  Ian Abuaf Pelo (average: 9.68)
   
• Master in Management and Informatics
  Nicole De Monti (average: 9.50)
   
• Master in Software and Data Engineering
  Claudio Maggioni (average: 9.89)
   
• Master in Cognitive Psychology in Health Communication
  Chiara Gerbail (average: 9.86)
   
• Master of Medicine
  Emanuela Früh (average: 10)
  Eva Gelina Van Gelder (average: 10)

For the other Master's degrees, the prize was not awarded due to a lack of candidates meeting the requirements.

During the evening, prizes were also awarded for the best Bachelor's and Master's graduates presented by institutions in the region

• ABB prize for the best Bachelor's degree in Communication Sciences, presented by Dr Maurice Campagna
  Sebastiano Cuter (average: 8.97)
   
• ABB Award for the best Master's degree in Communication Sciences, presented by Dr Maurice Campagna
  Giada Motta (average: 9.91)
   
• Alma Bacciarini Prize for the best Bachelor's degree in Lingua, letteratura e civiltà italiana, presented by Dr Giordano Zeli
  Coralie Schneiter (average: 9.72)
   
• Alma Bacciarini Prize for the best Master's degree in Lingua, letteratura e civiltà italiana, awarded by Atty Giordano Zeli
  Marta Pizzagalli (average: 9.87)
   
• ABT Award for the best average in the Bachelor of Economics, presented by Franco Citterio, director of the Associazione Bancaria Ticinese (ABT)
  Adele Bortoletti (average: 9.29)
   
• ABT Award for the best average among all the Masters in Economics, presented by Franco Citterio, director of the Associazione Bancaria Ticinese (ABT)
  Martina Besana (average: 9.58)
   
• EFG Pietro Balestra Prize for the best average in quantitative subjects, presented by Patrick Gagliardini, Pro-Rector for Research at USI
  Imperato Stefano (average: 9.43)
   
• PricewaterhouseCoopers Award for the best Master in Finance thesis, presented by Louis Macchi, Head of PwC's Lugano office 
  Alice Zanella (Title: Discovering Volatility Dynamics: A GARCH-Based Analysis of the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 Shock)