Mission 4 – Education and Research

The aim is to systematise efforts to strengthen research into enabling technologies in the healthcare sector, with a view to improving diagnosis, monitoring and treatment, including rehabilitation. The projects included under ‘Research Initiatives’ focus in particular on robotics and digital tools, remote monitoring, process re-engineering and data mining.

The initiative aims to expand the provision of educational services for the 0–2 age group (nurseries), through the creation of new facilities or the upgrading of existing ones to meet safety standards.

To increase the availability of school canteens – and also to facilitate full-time schooling – a call for proposals has been approved, aimed exclusively at local authorities for lower secondary schools and at provincial authorities for boarding schools.

In order to increase the availability of gyms and sports facilities – either through new construction or by bringing existing facilities up to safety standards – a call for proposals has been launched, aimed at primary schools (including lower and upper primary) as well as secondary schools. A budget of almost 6 million euros has been allocated to the Trentino region.

The initiative aims to facilitate and encourage the transition from upper secondary school to university and to higher education institutions specialising in the arts, music and dance, and to reduce the number of university dropouts, thereby helping to increase the number of graduates (improving success indicators and narrowing gender gaps).

The aim is to ensure equal access to education by facilitating access to higher education for students facing socio-economic difficulties and for whom the opportunity cost of pursuing further studies is relatively high, given an early transition into the labour market.

The ‘Scuola 4.0’ Plan is a bespoke scheme for digitalisation in schools, aimed at enhancing the use of school spaces – both in terms of their physical layout and the organisation of time – as well as the professional development of those who use them and teach there: namely, teachers, school staff and pupils.

The aim is to enhance the quality and innovation of university (and doctoral) programmes and to increase the pool of human capital engaged in research-oriented activities, within public administration and in the cultural heritage sector.

Extended partnerships are networks comprising state and non-state universities, public research bodies, businesses and other public and private entities of recognised standing, organised according to a ‘hub-and-spoke’ governance structure, with the hub carrying out management and coordination activities, and the spokes carrying out research and innovation activities.The aim is to promote positive change by harnessing fundamental research.

National research and development centres (or ‘flagship’ centres) are national research centres, selected through competitive procedures, which, through collaboration with universities, research centres and businesses, are capable of achieving a critical threshold of research and innovation capacity in five areas selected by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) as being of strategic interest for the country’s development.

Innovation ecosystems are networks of highly qualified and internationally recognised public and private bodies, whose aim is to facilitate technology transfer and accelerate the digital transformation of businesses’ production processes, with a view to economic and environmental sustainability and social impact on the local area. They are organised according to a hub-and-spoke governance structure, with the hub carrying out management and coordination activities, and the spokes carrying out research and innovation activities.

The aim is to provide funding to businesses and research centres for projects relating to development, innovation and industrial production, including in collaboration with other centres and companies.

The Innovation Agreement is a subsidy granted by the Ministry of Economic Development to businesses in support of research and development projects involving eligible expenditure and costs of at least 5 million euros.The procedure for completing the grant application and the accompanying documentation has been available on the managing body’s website since 19 April 2022.

The aim is to support, including through a process of reorganisation and rationalisation, a network of 50 centres (Centres of Excellence, European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), Marks of Excellence, Testing and Experimentation Facilities, National Digital Innovation Points) tasked with project development and the provision of advanced technological services and innovative, value-adding technology transfer services to businesses, with the aim of increasing the availability of advanced technological services for the benefit of companies, whilst focusing on cutting-edge technologies and areas of production specialisation.

Research infrastructures are facilities, resources and related services used by the scientific community to carry out research in their respective fields. The aim is to facilitate the exchange of scientific knowledge generated within high-quality research infrastructures and the business sector, thereby fostering innovation.To this end, the scheme supports the creation of research and innovation infrastructures that link the industrial and academic sectors, promoting a combination of public and private investment.

The aim is to strengthen high-level skills, particularly in the areas of Key Enabling Technologies. The scheme provides for the award of three-year PhD scholarships to enable students to undertake innovative PhD programmes that meet the innovation needs of businesses and promote the recruitment of researchers by businesses.

- to fund research projects of significant national interest (PRIN)
- to offer new opportunities specifically for young researchers, with a view to retaining them in Italy and enabling them to gain their first experience of taking on research responsibilities.