Italia still lagging behind on senior researchers: it attracts just 19 out of 319

Our country continues to struggle to retain its top talent as they progress in their careers, or to attract new talent. The latest evidence comes from the list of 319 researchers awarded an Advanced Grant by the European Research Council, who will share funding of 838 million euros. With 39 names on the list, Italia ranks third in terms of the nationality of the winners, behind Germany (52) and the UK (45); however, it falls to seventh place in terms of the number of host institutions, which stands at 19. As well as the United Kingdom (62) and Germany (46), Switzerland (32), Spain (29), France (26) and the Netherlands (22) also fare better than us.

Advanced Grants – which form part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme and are reserved for senior researchers (i.e. those who are scientifically independent, have been actively engaged in research for the past 10 years and whose profile identifies them as leaders in their respective research fields), Ed. – offer successful applicants the opportunity to pursue ambitious projects that could lead to major scientific discoveries. A total of 3,329 proposals were submitted in the latest call for proposals, representing a 31 per cent increase on last year’s figure of 2,534. As mentioned, there were 319 winners, with a success rate of 9.6 per cent, and it is estimated that the grants awarded could create over 3,000 jobs. Given the figures recorded, this initiative will only partially involve our country.

The scientists’ fields of research are extremely varied: they range from the differing vulnerabilities of individuals to drug addiction, to improving women’s fertility and health, and to exploring the brain mechanisms underlying stammering. But the ERC also highlights proposals to develop new mathematical and algorithmic tools to tackle the growing complexity of large-scale networks, from transport systems to the internet, as well as proposals aimed at gaining a better understanding of complex systems in mathematics and physics, from magnets to quantum materials.

Turning to the 19 Italian institutions that will host a research team, at the top of the list are the Politecnico di Milano, the IIT and the Universities of Pavia and Milan (Statale), each with two successful projects. Behind them are a further 11 institutions spread across the country: Bocconi University in Milan, IMT Lucca, the Polytechnic University of Turin, the European University International, and the universities of Sapienza in Rome, Pisa, Bologna, Ca’ Foscari in Venice, Brescia, Trento and Bari.

Just over a year ago, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced in Paris the launch of the initiative Choose Europe initiative, which aimed to attract talent fleeing the restrictive policies on universities and research introduced by Donald Trump’s US administration. Since then, the ERC has launched three funding calls in which non-European researchers have been able to apply for up to an additional 2 million euros to cover the costs of setting up a new laboratory or research team in Europe. This Advanced Grant is the first of the three for which results have been announced: of the 319 winners, 13 are from outside Europe (4 per cent of all winners): nine from the United States, two from Australia and two from Canada. Last year, four researchers based outside Europe were awarded an Advanced Grant (1.4 per cent of the successful applicants).