Manoeuvre, Crui: cuts mean the country does not need universities. Bernini: it's propaganda, there are no cuts of 700 mln

"On average, an Italian citizen pays two coffees per week for the university system. This is how much the Italian university costs our state. I think that the researchers who every day do research with passion and provide excellent training, think of biomedical and health research, of everything that was done even during the pandemic period, deserve attention. This figure speaks for itself; a further cut this year towards the university, and I am thinking in particular of the 65 public universities, means that you have decided that our country does not need the university and this, as an economist, upsets me'. Thus the president of the Conference of Italian University Chancellors (Crui), Giovanna Iannantuoni, at a hearing in the Budget Committee.

"There are over 10,000 young researchers between the ages of 30 and 40 who write to me through their associations, even individually, to tell me: but what does our country want to do with us? Does it want to wipe us out? Do we want to go back to the pre-pandemic data of 10 years ago? - let Iannantuoni know - I have seen that in the budget law there are various measures concerning the university, none of which are about attention or an extra coffee'. In particular, he recalls 'in Article 110 the 75% turnover freeze, which obviously in this framework would mean not being able to take in the best of these students. But above all I am concerned that the delta, that is, 25%, must be returned to the treasury'.

"University budgets are a very peculiar thing: we get the ordinary financing fund, because we are autonomous. But the fact that we are autonomous,' he added, 'means that we pay our salaries, so having to return 25% to the treasury is another cut in the Ordinary Financing Fund that I have contextualised at around EUR 45 million. And we have also noted in general the cut over the next three years of around EUR 700 million immediately on research, on training'.

"I believe that the Crui's duty is not to make propaganda but concerete proposals, the one made today is propaganda". This was said by the Minister for Universities and Research, Anna Maria Bernini, regarding the criticism of the president of the Crui, Giovanna Iannantuoni, on the public funds allocated to the university. "Chancellor Iannantuoni knows that the ordinary funding fund for 2025, which is the main but not only" source of funding for universities "is growing compared to 2023, that of 2024 has suffered a cut of 178 million, which I stated here during another interview, there are no cuts of 700 million," Bernini continued, speaking at the event "The future is now" organised by the daily newspaper Domani. 'I say the funds made available, the exact numbers, they are in the clear, unlike university budgets,' he concluded.