MUR Italian Science Fund (Fondo Italiano per la Scienza, FIS)

MUR Fondo Italiano per la Scienza (FIS) is the Ministry of University and Research's national competitive fund for fundamental research in Italy. Established under the Sostegni bis decree, it is now running as FIS 3 with a €475 million budget, after earlier resource lines of €50 million in 2021 and €150 million a year from 2022. The program sits inside MUR's wider research policy and is presented as Italy's ERC-style route for high-qualification research. FIS is built around Starting, Consolidator, and Advanced tracks, with the current structure mapped to physical sciences and engineering, life sciences, and social sciences and humanities panels. Applications are handled in English through the CINECA web system and the FIS submission portal, and the extracted program record places awards in the rough range of €47,000 to €188,000. The call is annual, runs on a five-year project horizon, and is meant for principal investigators leading fundamental work rather than institutional block funding. The strongest fit is a PI who can show originality, a strong scientific case, and a team or host environment able to deliver to international peer-review standards. FIS is most useful for researchers who want a nationally backed path that resembles the European Research Council in structure while staying inside the Italian system. Its position is clear: competitive, merit-based support for fundamental research across the main scientific and humanities fields.

No upcoming rounds verified. Cadence: Annual.