ROMA (ITALPRESS) – Transparency, programming and international opening. These are the principles behind the new guidelines for the management of public research notices and the evaluation of proposals, presented today at the Ministry of University and Research by Minister Anna Maria Bernini, along with the Senator Elena Cattaneo and Matteo Bassetti, Chairman of the Group of Experts on Research Financing Procedures.

The work was born with the aim of making more homogeneous, clear and transparent the procedures for financing and evaluation of Italian research. “We are proud to present a method, we have found great excellence but also unevenness,” Bernini explained. “Researchers need rigour, certainty and transparency,” added the ministra, stressing the importance of greater band programming. Among the objectives of the new guidelines there is also a greater internationalization of evaluation processes. “Dedicated and internationalized assessment criteria”, Bernini stressed, talking about the need to make the Italian evaluation “more aggregable to foreign research projects”. “Having more homogeneous research lines makes us more appealing and more able to communicate with everyone,” he added.

The new approach is part of the Triennial Research Plan 2026-2028, which includes investments for approximately 1.2 billion euros per year. In 2026 new instruments and financing programmes are also planned, including PRIN HYBRID and Synergy Grant, for a total value of €364 million for 239 projects. Particular attention is paid to the evaluation of the proposals. Among the indications is a greater international openness of the processes, with the involvement of scientists belonging to foreign institutions and Italian researchers working outside the country. Central remains the peer review system, with the aim of strengthening the quality and reliability of project evaluation.

The guidelines also provide for the valorisation, alongside scientific publications, of other forms of production and transfer of knowledge. A chapter also covers the use of artificial intelligence in application procedures, for which clear rules are indicated and the need to keep the researcher responsible for the content presented. Another element concerns the strengthening of the autonomy of young researchers, through tools capable of fostering mobility and independent research paths. Bernini also spoke on the theme of youth and international mobility. “The phenomenon of brains on the run is not pathological when it is a choice and not an obligation,” said the ministra.

“We put everyone in condition, through a scholarship, to be able to experience abroad.” Bernini recalled that “from 2022 we have invested 11 billion in centres of excellence” and that now “we must give the opportunity to young people to return”. According to the ministra, moreover, “there are more young people who return than those who leave, the trend has reversed”. The Ministry also provided for greater certainty in the publication of information relating to bands and rankings. “Every 30 April will be published the years and on 30 September, already from this year, we have made the rankings,” explained Bernini, defining that on the new guidelines “a teamwork” that “is still present elements of improvement”.

For Bassetti, “the direction is that of greater internationalization and meritocracy of all that is Italian scientific research”. The Chairman of the Expert Group spoke of the need to “modernize the evaluation of research”, stressing that “scientific research is fundamental for the growth of a country”. The objective, he added, is to go towards “more transparency and greater quality of evaluation”.

Cattaneo also stressed the importance of the document. “The document defines the architecture of how the ideas of the many Italian researchers must be evaluated,” he explained. “Importing these guidelines, you will now have to implement them.” For the senator to life “Italian research is hard sailing”, but “having guidelines that increase trust towards institutions is already an important step”. Cattaneo also defined “important” for researchers the programming of bands initiated by the ministry.

The new guidelines aim to make the Italian research system more transparent, meritocratic, programmable and open to international comparison, with the aim of guaranteeing researchers more homogeneous procedures and greater certainty in access to funding.

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ROMA (ITALPRESS) – It began today at the headquarters of the National Research Council (Piazzale Aldo Moro 7, Rome) “Poli di sape: dal terre extreme al challengeglobal”, the first National Polar Conference, promoted and coordinated by the CNR in collaboration with ENEA, INGV and OGS.

The initiative – dedicated to Artico, Antarctica and Third Polo – will be held until Wednesday, October 7th, and will gather for the first time the Italian scientific community engaged in the polar regions. Different themes at the centre of the three days of conference: the great challenges related to climate change, geopolitical, security, and governance of these extreme areas and the role of research in decision-making.

The aim is to provide a White Paper with elements of address and support for future national strategies and international initiatives to political decision makers, with whom the chairmen of the Organizing Boards will meet on October 7, in a morning open to the media to share the main results and contents that emerged during the Conference.

“The scientific presence in the Arctic, Antarctica and the Third Polo of the National Research Council is aimed at understanding phenomena that have implications for the entire Earth System. The National Polar Conference was born with the aim of strengthening our ability to make system and relate skills, promoting dialogue between scientific communities, research institutions and institutions. We are particularly pleased to host this comparison aimed at developing a common strategy,” says CNR President Andrea Lenzi.

“The polar conference that opens today represents an important moment of confrontation between entities that have been collaborating for decades in extreme environments, where cooperation is the key to carrying out research activities. In this context, ENEA plays a central role, managing infrastructure, logistics and organizing expeditions in Antarctica at the service of the entire scientific community,” says the President of ENEA Francesca Mariotti.

“We are here today to strengthen the dialogue between the scientific community and the institutions and build together a shared vision on the future of Italian polar research,” comments the President of INGV Fabio Florindo. “INGV is pleased to contribute to this Conference together with CNR, ENEA and OGS, providing its expertise in the study of the Earth System and its experience in polar environments.”.

“The OGS contributes to the National Polar Conference by providing multidisciplinary skills in the study of polar and extreme environments, from oceanography to geophysics and seismology,” concludes OGS President Nicola Casagli. “A contribution that strengthens the interdisciplinary dialogue necessary to understand the transformations of the Poli and their consequences on the Planet.”.

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SALERNO (ITALPRESS) – On October 7, at the University of Salerno, Vasco will become a “professor”. The University of Salerno Confers to Vasco Rossi the Doctorate of Honoris Cause Research in Politics and Communication, recognizing in its artistic, cultural and public path an experience of particular importance for the study of languages and processes of contemporary communication. “The conferment of Doctorate Honoris Causa to Vasco Rossi – declares the Rector of the University of Salerno, Virgilio D’Antonio – recognizes the value of a path capable not only of interpreting its time, but also of contributing to define its languages, imaginary and forms of relationship. The continuity and depth of the relationship built with the different public represent an experience of great interest also for research in the field of communication”.

The official award ceremony of the Honorary Doctorate will be held on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, at 15.30, at the Aula Magna “Vincenzo Buonocore” of the University of Salerno – Campus di Fisciano.

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PALERMO (ITALPRESS) – abandoned or underused spaces that return to being places for the community. A city told through the voices of those who live there. A lesson that continues even when the classroom empties. And finally, a medieval masterpiece that finds new tools to be understood. It is with this plurality of experiences that the University of Palermo enters the catalogue of the ADI Design Index 2026, with four projects selected by the ADI – Association for Industrial Design. Three are developed within the Department of Architecture, between research and teaching; the fourth is a specialist thesis dedicated to the cultural heritage of the University. The selection was presented at the ADI Design Museum in Milan, where the 340 projects selected throughout Italy were announced for the 2026 edition, divided into 14 categories. For UniPa is an excellent result that puts together research, experimentation, training and territory and that brings four experiences of the University in the path leading to the prestigious Compasso d’Oro ADI, scheduled in the spring of 2028, which represents the most international recognition for the production and design quality within the framework of architecture and contemporary design. From OSMOSI, who has studied and experimented new ways to transform subused spaces into cultural infrastructures of proximity, to the Museum of the City of the Diffused World, which brings the stories of communities into the streets of Palermo; from Instant Handbook, which uses artificial intelligence to make a lesson available to those who were not in the classroom, up to the project on the wooden ceiling of the Sala Magna of Palazzo Chiaro design, which builds new tools to read a complex heritage:.

The four selections tell a dynamic presence of the University of Palermo that crosses the different fields of research, teaching, digital innovation and cultural heritage, with projects developed together with institutions, cultural enterprises, territorial partners and young designers trained in the University. “The presence of four projects of the University of Palermo in the ADI Design Index 2026 – emphasizes the rector of the University of Palermo, Massimo Midiri – is a result of great importance, that returns the image of a lively university and able to express high-level skills in different areas, putting them in relation with each other and with the territory. It is particularly important that this selection value projects born from national research programmes, innovative teaching experiences and paths dedicated to the valorisation of cultural heritage: different areas that testify to the strong transversality of UniPa and its ability to create connections between research, training, innovation, culture and society”.

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ROMA (ITALPRESS) – More than 364 million euros to support 239 projects, from basic research to strategic technologies, to the most advanced forms of cooperation between public systems and enterprises. These are the results of the bands PRIN – Projects of major national interest 2026, PRIN Hybrid and Synergy Grant 2026, the first of the new three-year research plan wanted by the Minister of the University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini. The Plan has introduced a programming with certain times for bands, a single fund and stable resources for universities and research institutions.

“With the three-year plan we have changed step in funding research: we have gone from uncertainty of time to a schedule of bands and clear programming, from resources defined from time to time to a three-year budget. The first results show us a living scientific community, able to propose quality projects, put together different skills and confront the great technological transformations. We have changed the method and the first results are giving us reason: today the research has more certainties, more opportunity and a precise direction. It is a choice of national policy, because investing in research means strengthening Italy’s ability to innovate, grow and build its own future”, said the Minister, Anna Maria Bernini.

The change of pace also concerns the times and the international opening of evaluation procedures. For the PRIN 2026, in the face of 4.279 proposals, the selection was completed in about four months from the closure of the questions, compared to the approximately 15 months of the 2022 edition. 87% of the auditors involved in the evaluation are international. Also for PRIN Hybrid the international component was significant: of the 180 auditors called to evaluate the 395 proposals submitted, 50% came from abroad.

As for individual bands, the largest share of EUR 260 million is allocated to PRIN, which finances three-year basic research projects, characterized by high scientific quality and carried out in a collaborative form between universities, public research bodies and AFAM institutions. 4.279 proposals were presented for the 2026 edition, distributed in the three ERC macrosectors. At the end of the evaluation procedure, 199 projects were considered financial: 70 in Life Sciences, 69 in Physical and Engineering Sciences and 60 in Social and Humanities Sciences. Of the total budget, approximately 39 million euros are reserved for projects led by Principal Investigator under 40, in application of the 15% stake provided by the call.

The PRIN Hybrid, dedicated to three-year projects that enhance multidisciplinaryity and the connection between scientific, technological, humanistic, social and artistic skills, favouring integration between theoretical knowledge and application of new technologies. With a budget of 56.6 million euros, the call received 395 proposals, of which 30 can be financed. Ten concern artificial intelligence, for EUR 17.7 million; ten innovative technologies and paths in healthcare, for EUR 18 million; four quantum technologies, for EUR 7.6 million; three cybersecurity, for EUR 6.8 million; three High Performance Computing, for EUR 6.5 million. Also in this case, a 15% share of the budget, equal to 8,5 million euros, is reserved for projects led by PI under 40.

The Synergy Grant 2026, a new national funding tool dedicated to applied, innovative and border projects with high scientific complexity and aimed at the large national research poles born with the PNRR, which coordinate extensive networks of universities, research institutions and enterprises. The evaluation procedures considered all the 10 proposals to be financed, with a total budget of EUR 48 million. The projects involve a total of 112 subjects, including 38 firms and 74 research bodies.

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PALERMO (ITALPRESS) – The University of Palermo has joined as a member of the public-private partnership of the ICSC Foundation, the subject that coordinates and manages the National Research Centre in High Performance Computing, Big Data and Quantum Computing (ICSC). The news was given on the occasion of the event dedicated to the role of the Sicilian University in the perspectives of development of the ICSC National Center, which represented the first official moment of presentation of the National Center to the academic community of the University of Palermo. A step that opens a new phase of strategic collaboration and that will allow the University to contribute to the consolidation and valorisation of the results achieved by ICSC in recent years, thanks to recognized skills in the field of advanced calculation, high performance analysis of data and Artificial Intelligence, already protagonists of important national and international research initiatives. The accession of the University of Palermo to ICSC represents the natural approach of a path started in 2024 with the realization, at the campus of the University, of a High Performance Computing infrastructure, in support of the University Centre in Digital Prevention, Public Health & Management, and of the academic community, funded with the PNC funds of the DARE Project (Digital Lifelong Prevention), within which is the head of the University of Palermo A data center already federated with the CINECA that will become part of the distributed infrastructure of supercalcle realized by the National Center, contributing to make Palermo a reference point for the computational research advanced in the Mezzogiorno. Born in 2022 as part of the investments of the National Resumption and Resilience Plan, the ICSC National Centre is today one of the most important Italian initiatives dedicated to the development of advanced digital technologies. In just over four years he has created the first national public infrastructure capable of integrating resources of Cloud Computing, High Performance Computing and Quantum Computing, making available to the research and innovation system strategic computational capabilities to address major contemporary scientific and industrial challenges.

In the course of the PNRR phase, the Centre has promoted over 100 research projects dedicated to the development and application of emerging technologies in strategic areas for the country, started more than 70 industrial-driven projects, financed about 140 innovation projects and contributed to the production of over 3,700 scientific publications. Results that test the ability of ICSC to network universities, research bodies, enterprises and public administrations in a national ecosystem oriented to innovation and technology transfer. The aim of the National Centre is today to consolidate and make the heritage of competences, infrastructure and relationships built in recent years. Also thanks to the contribution of new members such as the University of Palermo, ICSC aims to transform investments made in a stable capacity at the service of the country, enhancing knowledge and technologies to support the growth of the productive system, strengthening national digital sovereignty and promoting the development of an increasingly competitive innovation ecosystem at international level. “The supercalculum is a strategic resource for the competitiveness and quality of research – says Massimo Midiri, Rector of the University of Palermo – Our University, thanks to the PNRR, invested in advanced computing infrastructures for support to numerous research projects. For UniPa, collaboration with ICSC is an important opportunity to access further advanced infrastructure through a shared model. For this model to be sustainable, access to systems must be ensured over time and promote responsible use of resources, even on the energy level. It is a commitment that concerns both the way we do research and the contribution we can make, through its results, the ecological transition and the development of the territory”.

“The decision of the University of Palermo to join the ICSC Foundation confirms once again the scope of the work done by the National Centre in recent years,” says Antonio Zoccoli, President of the ICSC National Centre, “In a relatively short time we managed to affirm ourselves as an enabling and attractive platform for research and innovation of the entire country system, building infrastructure, skills and collaborations that today represent a strategic heritage for Italy. Our goal is now to transform these results into concrete tools available to the productive system and public administration. The entry into reality of excellence such as the University of Palermo, carriers of advanced skills and a strong capacity for innovation, is a fundamental element to successfully address this new phase of development.” The event, held at the University of Palermo, was an important opportunity to discuss the future of supercalculum and emerging technologies in the country. During the first part of the day were illustrated the main results achieved by the ICSC National Centre and the projects currently underway, while outlining the strategic guidelines that will guide the activity of the Centre in the phase after the conclusion of the PNRR. A crucial step in defining the position of ICSC as a permanent infrastructure to support scientific research, industrial innovation, and national technological competitiveness. The second part of the day was, on the other hand, dedicated to the skills and initiatives developed by the University of Palermo in the fields of digitization, artificial intelligence, data management and computational sciences. A study space was dedicated to the research activities of the DARE Project, the Heal Italia Foundation, with the head of the University of Palermo, and the NBFC Project as well as the main activities related to the relationship with enterprises and public administrations. Experiences that will be an important flyer for future shared design, favoring new synergies between the National Centre, the world of research and the production of the territory.

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ROMA (ITALPRESS) – With 78 favorable votes, 51 against and abstention, the Senate gave the green light to the bill of reform of the National University Council (CUN). The measure updates the structure and functioning of the Council, to make it more effective and in line with the current university system, deeply changed from what the organ was reordered 20 years ago. The text reinforces the Council’s advisory powers, including its mandatory opinion on the requirements for productivity and scientific qualification for access to university teaching and on the criteria for repartition of the entire ordinary funding fund of universities, and not only on the award fee. The CUN’s zero is also extended to the entire direct call system. The reform also intervenes on the structure of the organ, which passes from 58 to 38 components, through a new joint of the different components.

The representation of the teaching body passes from 42 to 28 members, two for each of the 14 disciplinary areas of the CUN. It also changes student representation, which includes 5 students and, for the first time, a PhD and a Specialization, all elected on a national basis. The component of 3 representatives of the technical-administrative staff of universities remains unchanged. A rationalization that aims to make decision-making more effective and efficient, while preserving an adequate and balanced representation of the various components of the university system. For the first time, the Consultation of the Presidents of the Public Research Offices, without voting rights, is planned. After approval at first reading in the Senate, the measure now passes to the examination of the Chamber.

“With the reform of the National University Council we make the organ more agile and efficient, maintaining its full representation and strengthening the presence of students. We want a CUN capable of interpreting university changes and accompanying those who will come, continuing to be a fundamental interlocutor in decisions concerning the university system. Institutions are not monuments: they must know how to evolve and look to the future.” So the Minister of the University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini.

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TRIPOLI (LIBIA) (ITALPRESS) – The Libyan Academy for Higher Education hosted the opening ceremony of the training course for Italian teachers of Libyan schools and universities, in collaboration with the University for Foreigners of Siena.

As announced by the Academy in a statement, President Ahmed Al-Mahdi Al-Dweik opened his work thanks to Italian and Libyan partners, including the cultural associate Salvatore Cicermo and the undersecretary of the Libyan Higher Education Saleh Al-Ghoul.

Al-Dweik hoped that the course reactived the master’s degree in Italian of the Academy, interrupted by lack of teachers, defining the language a bridge among peoples. The Libyan undersecretary underlined the depth of Libyan-Italian relations and the desire to continue cooperation in training and research.

The Cultural Officer Cicermo illustrated the objectives and results of the course to improve the teaching of Italian.

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BARI (ITALPRESS) – “Even this year, with a total investment of 66 million euros, we will cover 100% of Adisu scholarships, fully satisfying the demand of students and students entitled. It is a result that we come through a great financial effort that was neither easy nor discounted, made possible also thanks to the commitment of President Decaro”. To declare it is the Councillor for Culture and Knowledge of the Puglia Region Silvia Miglietta that this afternoon brought together in Presidency, in Bari, the representatives and representatives of the student organizations of the regional territory that sit in the cda of Adisu.

“Being next to students and university students is a political choice – Miglietta continued – and we feel the duty to continue with them the honest and true dialogue that we have started in recent months. As we had not hidden the difficulty of guaranteeing the full coverage of scholarships for this year, in the same way we must tell ourselves that having achieved this result will require a serious reflection on the next year, when the resources available will be lower”

“In recent years – the council explains – the demands of scholarships have made a significant increase, and the number of eligible has passed from about 23 thousand of the academic year 2024/2025 to almost 28 thousand of the academic year just begun. A trend of this type, which on the one hand confirms the growth of the attraction of our universities, imposes a reasoning on how we finance the system of the right to study and how we take care, in particular, of the most vulnerable students and students. For this reason, from today, we start with student organizations a path that will lead us to write together the criteria for the next Adisu bands.”.

“The reflection – adds Miglietta – necessarily involves the government. In fact, if on the one hand we recognize the Ministry of having increased the endowment of the State Integrative Fund with which we support a part of the scholarships, on the other hand we point out that this increase in absolute terms has not been proportional to the increases of the scholarships introduced with the PNRR. The weight of this contradiction is therefore given to the regions which, alone, do not have the financial capacity to cushion it. This is why it is necessary to start a national table that puts the sustainability of student welfare at the first point.”.

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MILAN (ITALPRESS) – New members of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart are growing. The University recorded a positive overall trend of new registrations, with an increase in the order of 3.4% compared to the same period last academic year (12.236 to 22 September 2026 against 11.834 of 2025).

The increase affects both the first level degree courses (+3%) and the second level courses (+4.2%). In the five campuses, there is also a strong presence of students and international students, 7%: high the number of young people from all continents who have chosen three-year degree courses (10%). A positive trend also confirmed in master’s degrees (5%).

Overall, compared to the previous year, the growth of international subscribers is +13.4%, a percentage that testifies to the attractiveness of the University in the global context. This is, in summary, the picture that emerges from the data on the registrations of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart for the academic year 2026/2027. An evolving framework, however, indicates the considerable interest in the educational offer of the University, as shown by the relevant results achieved by numerous undergraduate courses of the 12 Faculty present on the five campuses: Milan, Brescia, Piacenza, Cremona, Rome.

“The good performance we are seeing in the registrations is the result of a work marked by the care of the relationship with the student, the quality of the training offer and an educational mission that bases its competitiveness on values, and not on market logic. A University that wants to be a place where you experience knowledge beyond the classroom. This is our distinguishing figure, which has allowed us to articulate a formative offer, able to address the great issues of our time, recognized and recognizable, even globally”, says the Rector of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart Elena Beccalli.

“This growth is accompanied by a substantial presence of international members, a sign of an open university. In this perspective, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart is proposed as a consolidated player not only in the national, but European, in the ability to attract and retain talent. We do not forget that we are the largest Catholic university in Europe. Our mission is to be an University open to talent and able to promote the circularity of human capital,” continues Rector Beccalli.

In the headquarters of Milan the registered ones are 8.826, with an increase of 2.1% (last year compared to the same period were 8.647). A result mainly driven by first-level courses, which mark an increase of 3.6% (5.497 versus 5.307). The most significant data relates to a single-cycle master’s degree in Jurisprudence, which has a significant growth.

Next to this result is the positive trend of Psychology, which exceeds last year’s final figure, manifesting a stable consolidation. There are also good performances by other Faculty, including Economics, Educational Sciences, Political and Social Sciences, Banking, Financial and Insurance Sciences.

On the campus very positive the performance of the enrollment of international students that scores 10% on the total in the three-year degrees and 5% in the judiciary. In Brescia, registrations are driven by the most recent activation degree courses, which are also distinguished by the number of international members (6%). In the first-level degrees, in fact, are very positive the trends of the course in English Business and Finance, interfaculty between Banking, Financial and Insurance Sciences and Economics and Law of the headquarters of Piacenza, which signals a growth of 25%, precisely because of the high quantity of students from other countries. In inscriptions to the master’s degrees, the increase is 16.2%, thanks to innovative routes such as that in Artificial Intelligence for Banking and Finance, which has the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences and is booming compared to last year. In Piacenza the growth concerns both the first level degrees (+12.4%) and those of second level (+14.3%), with an overall increase of 13.2%.

In Cremona there is an expansion of the three-year members to Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences (+76.9%) and those to the second-level courses of the Faculty of Economics and Law and Psychology. In Rome the data relating to the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery are evolving, waiting for the scoring of the final ranking. Especially positive trends related to other degree programs active in the home. Regarding the Faculty of Economics, the increase is 19.8%, and the performance of the new Master’s degree program Clinical Psychology and Health: from the hospital to the territory, interfaculty between Medicine and Surgery and Psychology.

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