European Research Council (ERC) President Prof. Helga Nowotny was today at Città della Scienza in Naples to discuss scientific excellence with national and local authorities. Addressing more than 150 researchers, including some 70 outstanding scientists funded by the ERC, she highlighted the importance of supporting young researchers for the future of Italy and of Europe. Considering the research environment as an essential factor, she also insisted on the efforts needed to reinforce the country’s attractiveness for scientists. This debate is highly topical, as no less than 40% of Italian ERC grant holders are based outside Italy.

ERC President Helga Nowotny commented: “I welcome Italian Research Minister Carrozza’s willingness to provide better perspectives for researchers in Italy. This is the right philosophy to nurture excellence. The same goes for sport. The best football teams attract the best players because they offer a favourable environment, excellent training and good facilities. Steps taken at national level to be more competitive in ERC calls are raising the overall level of European research".

In a message sent at the occasion of the event, Italian Research Minister Maria Chiara Carrozza wrote: "Our Ministry is strongly committed to increase the participation and, most of all, the success rate of both our researchers and our institutions in ERC competitions. In the next national research programme, we will implement specific actions in this respect, that will be based on a national 'mirroring' of what the ERC does at a European level. I hope that these efforts, in spite of the difficult economic situation, will achieve the success they deserve.”

Mixed results in ERC competitions

Italian researchers take fourth position in terms of ERC grants awarded (359, out of some 4000 totally funded), after German, British and French researchers, totaling some €550 million in funding to date. However, some 40% of them are currently conducting their research outside Italy, while only 24 foreign nationals are working in Italy with their ERC grant.

An important number of proposals presented with an Italian institution are presented each year, but only around 5% of ERC are successful, compared to the 12% average in Europe.
In this year’s Starting Grant call the share of early-career researchers based in Italy was the lowest so far (2.7% of all funded projects) – see ERC country sheet on Italy.

Excellent ERC projects take centre stage in Naples

Besides the discussions on the future of excellent research, the ERC information day at Città della Scienza was an occasion to showcase some 70 ERC projects in a whole range of research fields, from particle physics, nanotechnology or neuroscience to philosophy, economics or linguistics – see all projects featured (in Italian) and a brochure focusing on the speakers’ projects (in Italian and in English).

Amongst the grantees attending the event, Dr Grazyna Ptak, one of the few foreign ERC grantees based in Italy, explained how her research results on sheep embryos could help women have safer pregnancies.

 Prof. Bruno Siciliano, based at the University of Naples Federico II, presented RoDyMan, a promising robot with exceptional manipulation skills.