Italy to attract 1700 young foreign researchers with a 600 m € investment

 

As part of its PNRR (National Plan of Research and Resilience), last July the Italian Ministry of University released a plan to recruit international researchers and professors.

The plan is intended to hire three different categories of researchers:

1. winners of ERC (Horizon Europe) starting grants
2. winners of MSCA (Erasmus Europe) mobility grants (both Individual Fellowships and Post-doc fellowships)
3. researchers shortlisted for MSCA’s “Seal of Excellence”

The MUR has invested a considerable amount of funds: overall, 600 € million, divided by 300 (ERC), 150 (Seal of Excellence), and 150 (other MSCA schemes). Overall, Italy is willing to hire 1,700 researchers and professors under this scheme.

Italian HEIs may use the formal instrument of “chiamata diretta” (i.e. the possibility to directly hire a researcher or professor without the need to run a public concourse.

Conversely, HEIs that wish to take advantage of these investments shall also invest their own resources to hire personnel for the project.

«It is an extraordinary opportunity, for researchers and for the Italian system», declared minister Cristina Messa. We are investing in our future and we have decided to do so by focusing on young people who have project proposals that have already been positively evaluated at the European level, whether they want to carry out or continue in Italian universities or research institutions. Today we are able to give these young people sufficient autonomy to be able to work in research in the best way, with funds and with the right environment».

 

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