Winners of EU Marie Curie grants without contracts, funding at risk

A contract is urgently needed for the winners of the European Marie Curie grants , among the most prestigious funding from the European Commission, who risk not being able to access the funds, estimated in Italy on average at around 85 million euros : this is the appeal launched to Parliament by a group of representatives from the world of research, including Nobel Prize winner Giorgio Parisi, the president of the National Research Council Maria Chiara Carrozza, the president of the Agency for the Promotion of European Research Maria Cristina Pedicchio, the president of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei Roberto Antonelli and Antonio Zoccoli, president of the Consulta dei Presidenti degli Enti pubblici di Ricerca e dell’Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare. The situation arose when on 2 April 2025 the Executive Agency responsible for the implementation of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (Msca) projects communicated to the Italian winners the obligation to stipulate an employment contract . But the only instrument that would have allowed this was the research grant , abolished from January 2025 .

Italy thus finds itself " unable to stipulate an employment contract compliant with the required requirements , making European funding inadmissible at the moment ", reads the letter , addressed to the seventh permanent commission of the Senate . Among the signatures are also that of the national representative at the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Configuration Luisa Torsi, the president of the National Agency for the Evaluation of the University System and Research Antonio Felice Uricchio and the president of the Conference of Rectors of Italian Universities Giovanna Iannantuoni. "A timely intervention - it continues - is not only desirable, but necessary to protect the strategic interest of the country in the field of research and innovation, as well as to offer concrete opportunities for professional growth to hundreds of young people, whose path represents a crucial investment for the future of Italy and Europe".