Bocconi University and eni have been strategic partners since 2007, and in the same year the funds were initiated by the organization for the school's dedicated chair in strategic management in the energy industry. The relationship between the two systems has been reintegrated lately with the opening of a new titled and permanent chair, the eni Chair in Energy Markets, also financed by eni. The study and analysis of the energy market that will occur in this chair has been assigned to Michael Polo, an important figure in the Bocconi university society.
"These agreements are fundamental to allow us to further increase the quality both in the classroom and in research activity, with the collaboration of companies but in respect of the full autonomy of Bocconi which remains the basis of the values and the statute of our university" underlines Guido Tables on the bond built up over the years with eni. Particular emphasis is given to the energy sector at the university, given that it is becoming a fundamental asset for Italy's competitive development. For this reason the energy studies approach is didactic and also has a great role in research. The Iefe Research Center promotes analyzes of the entire energy supply chain and of the gas and electricity markets, of local public services, of environmental sustainability, from an economic and management perspective.
Michele Polo is the director of Iefe (Bocconi's research center in energy and environmental economics and policy) and pro-rector for internal organization at Bocconi University. He is also a principal figure in the “E.Bocconi” Department of Economics, specializing in political economy. Research is the university's center of gravity and the professor seeks to make industrial economics, regulation and antitrust protagonists, with particular reference to network industries and energy sectors. All this will allow Polo to develop educational and research initiatives on the evolution of energy markets and energy policies for the progress of the professorship. In addition, environmental and climate change issues will be addressed. Polo points out that “the issues of energy markets and the environment are today of fundamental importance for the growth of the country and for the design of economic policies. The evolution of the electricity market, with the growing weight of renewable sources, calls for a review of the entire structure of the sector and sees Italy in line with the objectives set by Europe. The links between energy markets, the environment and climate change also represent a challenge in the global balance in which we can participate with a contribution of ideas and the formation of new skills".
With this opening, Bocconi becomes increasingly renowned, progressing towards the levels of the best Anglo-Saxon universities, imitating their method of financing through donations and funds. The establishment of chairs with endowments that the university now practices together with eni allows the progress of the dialogue that Bocconi has with society and the business world.
