Culture to digital: 4.5 million euro for research projects

A National School of Cultural Heritage and Activities of the MiC has published an announcement addressed to universities and university departments, both state and non-state, for the activation of research projects in the framework of the digitalisation of cultural heritage. The expression of interest, with a total budget of EUR 4.5 million, is part of the actions of the programme Dicolab - Cultura al Digitale, financed under the PNRR Culture 4.0, investment 1.1 'Digital platforms and strategies for access to cultural heritage', sub-investment 1.1.6 'Training and improvement of digital skills', co-managed with the MiC Digital Library.
The research projects are intended for young university graduates, selected by the universities, under 36 years of age on the call deadline date, holding a master's degree belonging to the classes listed in the Notice, which include humanities, economics, science and computer science. Each research grant provides a monthly contribution of EUR 1,750 for the researcher and a monthly reimbursement of EUR 768 for the university, up to a maximum of EUR 15,750 and EUR 6,912 respectively for projects lasting nine months (the minimum duration is six months).

The School has preliminarily collected expressions of interest from the institutes and cultural venues involved in the digital sites, willing to host a maximum of six young researchers each. The participating institutions number 213, located in almost all Italian regions, and involved in digitising paper assets such as historical newspapers, maps, prints, drawings, microfilms of archival and bibliographic documents, cadastral, photographic, museum and numismatic assets. The projects presented by the organisations are very heterogeneous and range from the valorisation of digitised cultural heritage - through the study and design of cultural products for digital communication, as in the case of the Vulci Archaeological Museum and the Abbadia Castle - to the realisation of a consultation and research software, intended for different target audiences, promoted by the University Library System of Rende (Cosenza province). Applications may be submitted from 10 a.m. on 28 May until 3 p.m. on 9 June 2025, via the platform made available by the School.

"We invest in research applied to the sites of the digitalisation of cultural heritage," explains Onofrio Cutaia, extraordinary commissioner of the School, "and we share with the Ministry of Culture the commitment to accompanying the digital transformation of the sector, through this Dicolab initiative. It is a concrete opportunity to build bridges between universities and cultural institutions, enhancing the skills of the new generations and supporting, with a spirit of innovation and method, the digital transformation of the Italian cultural sector."