ABOUT FIRB
FIRB basic research can be defined as an activity directed to the acquisition of scientific and technical knowledge, with no immediate industrial or commercial practical application financed by the Ministery of University and Research (MUR).
Via the FIRB, MUR acts in support of:
• projects designed to empower major public and public-private research infrastructures;
• basic research projects with high scientific or technological content, also at international level;
• strategic projects for the development of pervasive and multi-sector technologies;
• proposals for the creation, empowerment and networking of high-quality public or private research centres, also at an international scale.
Key priorities of FIRB are:
• encouraging more efficient participation in European initiatives;
• promoting the generational renewal in universities and public bodies under the Ministery of University and Research (MUR);
• reinforcing the country’s scientific foundations.
MUR announces almost every year a call for proposals, called “Future in Research”. The aim is offering young researchers (under 40) financial assistance for proposals about basic research projects of excellence included in the scientific categories defined by the ERC.
Projects are co-financed up to 70% of eligible costs:
• labour costs (including overheads);
• equipment;
• training (including study trips).
Contracts signed with young researchers are fully funded.
WHO CAN GET FUNDING
• legally-recognised universities, public and private, registered within Italy; Research bodies as defined under Italian legislation (art. 8, Decree No. 593 of 30 December 1993 and subsequent amendments and additions), including ENEA and the Italian Space Agency;
• other legal entities, public or private, engaged in scientific and technological research for non-profit purposes as part of their statutory remits.
Proposals can be jointly submitted in conjunction with industrial enterprises producing goods and/or services and with an established presence in Italy. Only universities and public research bodies acting under the MUR supervision are eligible for the “Future in Research” programme.