The stellar spectroscopy laboratory is the flagship of a wide-ranging work of curriculum counselling fostered by the Dipartimento di Fisica of the Università degli Studi di Milano and the high school “G. Parini” in Milan. In time,
valuable results were gained in setting up a new way of collaboration between the high school and university worlds and in spurring secondary-school students to embark in a scientific, and more specifically physical, career. The present work briefly discusses the contents of the laboratory, its didactical value, its role of curriculum
counselling and its effectiveness in directing students to take into consideration the physical sciences as a possible university choice
