in search of young talents: Polibus, the STEM area orientation tour, is back
Politecnico di Bari, ScuolAttiva and Gruppo Italo together for the fourth edition of the project. Eleven stops planned in Puglia and Basilicata
11 March 2026
It has resumed PoliBus, an itinerant guidance project born from the collaboration between Politecnico di Bari, ScuolAttiva Onlus and Gruppo Italo, to promote STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) among young people. A bus-laboratory, equipped to host demonstrations, experiments and games on STEM topics on board, will stop until 21 March in eleven locations in Puglia and Basilicata, involving secondary school students. In addition, the project includes activities that will take place in schools, involving a total of about 1,600 young people. Immersive technology, collaborative robotics, mechanics and aerodynamics workshops are planned, together with presentations of degree programmes, testimonials and guidance quizzes for university choice.
“We go to the local areas to meet students,” commented the Rector of the Politecnico yesterday at the Campus, Umberto Fratino, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for PoliBus, “to bring out their talents. It is an effective form of guidance,” Fratino added, “because it allows them to experience firsthand the fascinating world of science and technology. There is a great need for young talent, particularly women, in STEM fields,” the Rector of the Politecnico concluded, “and we have a great responsibility to help young people make informed choices for the future, choices that have a positive impact on themselves and on society.” Thanks to the collaboration between the public and private sectors, the project reaches its fourth edition this year. In the three previous editions, it involved more than 5,000 students, 36 schools and 31 cities.
“With Polibus we want to take STEM disciplines out of the traditional classroom setting and turn them into a concrete, accessible and engaging experience for girls and boys,” declared Simona Frassone, president of ScuolAttiva Onlus, a social cooperative that has been designing and promoting free educational campaigns for Italian schools for over twenty years, focused on inclusion, combating inequality and educational poverty, especially in the most fragile contexts.
On board the bus, students will be able to experience immersive activities between virtual reality and technological experimentation: from the virtual visit to the Castle of Gioia del Colle, to discover the application of immersive technologies in the fields of building engineering and architecture, to the use of neural devices (the MUSE headsets), up to design and programming workshops with LEGO Education SPIKE Prime kits (POLIBRICK), designed to stimulate creativity, critical thinking and problem solving. On PoliBus there will also be a guidance activity with the Department of Architecture, Construction and Design (ArCoD) of the Politecnico, through POLIMATCH, a space dedicated to dialogue between students and lecturers.
Among the new features of this tour, a stop in Bari in Piazzetta dei Papi, scheduled for Sunday 15 March, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., where the activities will be open to the public with the aim of bringing people closer to STEM disciplines and presenting the educational offer of the Bari area.
Find out here all the stops of Polibus 2026
The article in search of young talents: Polibus, the STEM area orientation tour, is back comes from Poliba Chronicle.
