Research, Bernini: plan ready to increase the attractiveness of the academic system, 50 million resources

During the States General of the University, organised by Forza Italia, the Minister of University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini, presented a plan to increase the attractiveness of the Italian academic and research system for researchers abroad. The project will be structured in stages and supported by continuous funding. The first concrete step involves the publication in the coming days of a public notice, funded with 50 million euro, for the submission of project proposals by young researchers outside Italy, winners of the Erc Starting Grants or Erc Consolidator Grants. These are research programmes financed by the European Research Council, aimed at excellent researchers of all ages and nationalities who intend to carry out frontier research in the EU Member States or associated countries. In particular, the Starting Grants are aimed at researchers with 2-7 years of post-doctoral experience and a promising track record; the Consolidator Grants are designed for researchers with 7-12 years of post-doctoral experience who have already demonstrated independence and scientific maturity.

The call for applications is open to young researchers who have won one of these two funding schemes, have completed their project in a foreign host institution (university or research centre) and are currently conducting research outside Italy. The initiative therefore aims to attract Italian and foreign researchers currently working outside Italy, but interested in returning or moving to Italy for the first time. The projects submitted may have a maximum duration of 36 months. The EUR 50 million allocation is in addition to the EUR 5 million recently earmarked for international cooperation projects and the EUR 20.3 million for research support, which is fundamental in universities and research centres on the basis of the First decree signed last month. However, this is only a first allocation, as work is underway on various budget chapters to further increase the available resources.