Research and innovation: the EU also honours 19 academics from Italian universities

Brussels – There are also 19 researchers from Italian universities and research centres among the 319 academics awarded grants by the European Research Council (ERC), the EU body responsible for funding advanced research. A total of €838 million is being made available to support research with high risk and high potential for success, with the possibility of leading to revolutionary discoveries. Funded under the Horizon Europe research programme, these special grants cover a range of fields, from medicine and neuroscience to mathematics and quantum physics, and from health to new technologies. 

The beneficiaries will conduct their research at universities and research centres across 24 EU Member States and associated countries. For Italy, the list includes the Bocconi University and the Polytechnic University of Milan, the Polytechnic University of Turin, the Universities of Bologna, Brescia, Pavia, Trento, “Aldo Moro” University of Bari, “La Sapienza” University of Rome, the University of Pisa, the Italian Institute of Technology Foundation, and the European University Institute. 

Italy is therefore making a significant contribution to research and innovation for a European programme with strong “appeal”: the 2025 call for proposals saw a 31 per cent increase in applications compared to 2024, with 3,329 proposals submitted, of which 9.6 per cent were selected for funding. The projects are expected to create over 3,000 new jobs within the beneficiaries’ research teams. 

From Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Start-ups, Research and Innovation, “congratulations to all 319 new winners” of the call for proposals. “These projects embody the spirit of scientific exploration that fuels progress,” she emphasises.