PRIN (Projects of Significant National Interest)
Funds Italian university-led research projects through national initiatives across disciplines and public research infrastructures.
⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.
PRIN 2026 (Progetti di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale) is Italy's flagship national research competition administered by the Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca, established under Decree D.D. n. 2298 del 10 April 2026 — the first annual call under the Piano Triennale della Ricerca (D.M. 150/2026). The program funds fundamental research across all three ERC macrosectors: Life Sciences (LS), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE), and Social Sciences and Humanities (SH). The 2026 call carries a total budget of €260 million, representing a structural annual commitment with a minimum floor of €150 million per year going forward.
Each awarded project receives between €1 million and €1.2 million over a three-year duration. Eligible applicants are consortia of 4 to 6 research units drawn from different Italian universities, public research bodies (CNR, INFN, INAF, INGV, and others), or AFAM arts and music institutions. For-profit companies and non-profits cannot participate. Fifteen percent of the total budget is ring-fenced for Principal Investigators under age 40 at the publication date; age derogations for parental leave and serious illness are recognized in line with EU standards. Starting with the 2026 call, non-affiliated researchers and young scholars may also join consortia under the new decree rules.
The call opened at 15:00 CET on 17 April 2026 and closed at 15:00 CET on 1 June 2026. Applications and all documentation must be submitted in Italian via the CINECA-operated portal at prin.mur.gov.it. Evaluation follows peer review and the three-phase scoring process specified in the bando PDF. Applicants seeking to position competitively should ensure their consortium spans genuinely different institutions, address the ERC panel rubric explicitly, and allocate time for Italian-language documentation preparation well before the June deadline.
Fundamental research across all ERC macrosectors — Life Sciences (LS), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE), and Social Sciences and Humanities (SH) — conducted by Italian university and public research institution consortia.
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