A Foundation co-financed by the Prime Minister and private individuals, which "is organized by scientists for scientists". This is the proposal of some members of the Accademia dei Lincei, through a letter sent to Prime Minister Mario Draghi for respond to the problem of underfunding of research Italian science. The letter, signed by Roberto Antonelli, Carlo Doglioni, Jacopo Meldolesi, Cesare Montecucco, Tullio Pozzan, Maurizio Prato, Giacomo Rizzolatti and Marco Tavani, explains what prerogatives this Foundation for Scientific Creativity. In the meantime, for example, it should prepare tenders for research projects intended for individual researchers, "distinguishing between projects for young people, projects for already established researchers and Proof of Concept projects".
Then this expert committee should then do the evaluation and ranking of the proposals; the financing of the proposals after a specific interview of the winning proposers; the acquisition and reporting of expenses and final scientific results; And the ex-post evaluation of the scientific work carried out. “This initiative, if well organized and directed, will make scientific research and Italian culture make a qualitative and quantitative leap, as well as generate ideas, proposals, models, new materials, drugs, therapeutic protocols that will translate into cultural, industrial, health and social care”, write the members of the Accademia dei Lincei in the document sent to Draghi.
As regards the method of financing, considered by the scientists to be one of the added values of the proposal, the authors of the letter point out that the public-private partnership "is already active with great success in other European countries, see the example of the Max-Planck Society and in Italy the example of the Telethon Foundation, an Italian initiative of recognized value and integrity. The Foundation for Scientific Creativity, precisely because it is inspired by structures whose merits are internationally recognized, could find it easier to open within the ambit of Community funds by including all the basic research areas of the European Research Council, ranging from the humanities to the economic and social sciences, from the physical and engineering sciences to the life sciences”.
The proposal is also linked to the Recovery Fund and to the fact that Italian scientific research in Italy suffers from significant underfunding and a reduced number of researchers compared to competing countries. Italy currently invests only about 0,5% of its GDP in public research, basic and applied and also adding together industrial development programs and contributions from the private sector, contributes 1,4% of GDP to research and development chapters, against 2,2% in France and 3,1% in France Germany.
