ROMA – There is also a weighty chapter for research and universities in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. It is linked – mission 4, all sent on January 12 to the European Commission by the Conte government – to education, which we illustrated yesterday. It is a plan of the outgoing government, it counts 15.37 billion and must be stamped by the executive in charge and by the Minister of University and Research Cristina Messa. It will take another three weeks for the complete definition, but it is likely that this plan in its general references will be confirmed. Patrizio Bianchi it has already done so with that on education, presented yesterday in the Senate Education Committee.
Well, for the university sector there are 3.6 billion of Euro in total. A billion it is planned to create new student housing. The pandemic has changed the way university classes are followed and a large part of this online culture will remain even when universities reopen their classrooms, but the lack of university residences has always been an element of weakness in the higher education system. Italian. With the resources of the Recovery, the executives – Conte and Draghi – want to add between fifty thousand and one hundred thousand “dormant kindergartens” to the existing forty thousand, which today only serve 3 percent of students (compared to a European average of 18 percent). In the first draft sent there is talk of a participation in the cost of the new housing by the students, who will pay a quarter of the fixed rent with mechanisms linked to the income of their families. The structures, which are expected to be built in five years, can be used for tourism purposes in non-university periods. This level of detail, however, will need to be confirmed by the current government.
There are still, 1.35 billion (taken from two “European voices”) on the strengthening of scholarships and the lowering of university fees (which have already been controlled for the current academic year). The aim is to structurally exempt those with an ISEE income of less than 23,500 euros from payment and to increase the weight of the same grants by an average of 700 euros, which will be distributed to a wider audience of students.
Still, the European special investment provides 500 million on teaching advanced university (and high school) skills: digital, environmental and internationalization, above all. Also for postgraduate masters. Others 500 million will be invested in cooperation between universities and territories in the field of vocational training, a project that will last until 2026. With 250 million the ministry of the university will also manage the orientation of graduates towards universities.
The reform of university courses
The reform of university diplomas is expected, and this change has no cost, with the elimination of credit blocks in the various subjects for the construction, already from the 2022-2023 academic year, of a truly interdisciplinary path. And so the doctorates, which must become the point of reference “of the country’s public and private ruling class”. Therefore, it is planned to harmonize the obtaining of the degree with the qualifying exams for the profession.
Today, we read in the papers sent from Rome to Brussels, “Italian tertiary education is lacking in funding and its staff insufficient”. This reality hinders “smart, inclusive and sustainable growth” of the entire country. Only 27.7 per cent of young people between 25 and 34, as of 2018, start and finish a university course.
Reforms and education
No more funding for universities. To make research work, public funds must be concentrated on the best universities
by tito boeri and roberto perotti
On the research and development front, an investment with Recovery resources equal to 11.77 billion. Between these, 1.61 billion they serve to bring together universities, research centers and businesses (partnerships) by financing new research projects; 600 million they will go for projects presented by young researchers; 100 million they are specifically intended for innovation. Yet, 1 billion for initiatives based on the IPCEL model in innovation; 850 million additions to the National Research Program (NRP); 1.58 billion will be invested in research buildings. The fee for the transfer of technology (4.48 billion in all) 1.6 billion they are to be allocated to the creation of national leaders on “fundamental national technologies”: Agritech, Fintech, Artificial Intelligence, hydrogen, biopharmaceuticals. Another billion and eighty is foreseen on innovative and green doctorates.
Expenditure on research and development is now 1.4 per cent of gross domestic product compared to a European average of 2.4 per cent. The contraction was significant between 2013 and 2018.
The project of the two executives draws inspiration from “good practices” such as those of the German Fraunhofer Institute and focuses on “a few horizontal missions”, an issue that will rekindle the strong debate on financing for excellence and widespread financing. To ensure the success of this project, an “interministerial control room” will be established by decree. Various investments entrusted to the Ministry of University and Research will be shared with other departments (Ecological Transition and Economic Development) or directly transferred to them.
Cnr: “We excluded for the benefit of seven centers”
Within the Plan, seven “national R&D champions” are cited and among these centers of excellence there is no mention of the National Research Council, in recent weeks and until June governed by a crippled board of directors without president. We fear downsizing. The CNR staff assembly, which met on March 15 last, claimed the importance of the CNR by defining its exclusion from the National Resilience and Recovery Plan “a waste of resources already available”.
.