Dipartimenti di Eccellenza
Funds high performing Italian university departments through competitive multi year institutional support.
Dipartimenti di Eccellenza is MUR's five-year institutional funding stream for Italy's strongest university departments. Established by Law 232/2016, it runs on national evaluation data rather than an open proposal competition, and it is built to recognize departments with the best research performance and development plans. The current 2023-2027 cycle funds the top 180 departments across 14 CUN areas, with annual support of €1.08 million to €1.62 million per department depending on size quintile. Departments in CUN areas 1-9 receive an extra €250,000 a year for research infrastructure, while the national budget stands at €271 million per year. Eligible applicants are Italian public universities, and the unit of competition is the department, not the individual researcher. ANVUR computes the ISPD indicator from VQR evaluation data, then the best-ranked departments are invited into selection and assessed on both performance and a five-year development plan. That structure makes the program a strong fit for universities with clear institutional strategy, existing research depth, and the capacity to turn evaluation strength into recruiting, infrastructure, and teaching investment.
No upcoming rounds verified. Cadence: One-off.