The Initiative

The  INROAd  project is  a new pilot initiative of the University of Pavia aimed at increasing its attractiveness in the international academic landscape and  at promoting excellent projects developed by researchers, with particular focus on the ones presented to the calls of the Framework Programme of the European Union.

INROAd stems from the project MEGAsTaR, an academic initiative funded in 2016 by the Cariplo Foundation and the Lombardy Region, having the principal objective of increasing the attraction of ERC Grant Holders and of excellent researchers with the potential to apply for an ERC grant to the University of Pavia.  Since the beginning of 2017 INROAd has actually widened the activities planned by MEGAsTaR to support and encourage the presentation of all types of Horizon 2020 projects.  In particular the INROAd project  will last 3 years, until the end of Horizon 2020, and thus will run contemporarily to MEGAsTaR.

INROAd provides two actions:

• Action 1 – Fostering ERC talents @UNIPV

This action, essentially inherited by MEGAsTaR, has the objective of strengthening the projects of excellent researchers to increase their chances of success in future ERC calls. The implementation of this action will consist in offering personalized mentoring and coaching activities, supervised by the ERC Grant Holders of the University of Pavia,  to selected excellent  researchers willing to submit their research  project to the next ERC calls .

• Action 2 – Boosting Competitiveness of H2020 Coordinators

This action has the objective of supporting optimization activities of collaborative projects coordinated by researchers of the University of Pavia, to increase their chance of success in future calls of Horizon 2020. This action will be entirely funded by the University of Pavia.

• Action 3 – Attracting & Strengthening international Marie Skłodowska Curie Individual Fellowships Candidates @UNIPV

This action has the objective of increasing the attractiveness of the University of Pavia to researchers who decide to present a mobility project “MSCA Individual Fellowships” and indicate the University of Pavia as the institution hosting their future research. The action will support the networking and planning activities preliminary to the presentation of the project. This action will be entirely funded by the University of Pavia.

All the actions will be implemented  by publishing periodic calls for proposals  open to researchers of any nationality and of all research domains. Moreover, the University of Pavia will put in place a complex strategy aimed both at encouraging the presentation of excellent research projects and at increasing the attractiveness of the institution in terms of cultural context, reception capabilities , offer of advanced services and innovative organizational approaches.

The implementation of INROAd  is responsibility of a permanent  committee, the Institutional Horizon 2020 Committee (IHC), that will have the mission of supervising all the planned activities. Given the complexity of the INROAd actions, IHC will be organized in Boards having different functions: the Executive Board, the Scientific Board, the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) Board and the Management Board.

In particular the Scientific Board is composed by the ERC Grant Holders and other distinguished scientists with top level experience as project leaders and project evaluators of the University of Pavia. It will have the role of implementing unique training and knowledge transfer activities  for researchers  selected by the INROAd calls, in order to strengthen their projects and crucially enhance their chance of winning ERC and Horizon 2020 calls.

Composition of the Institutional Horizon 2020 Committee

Chair: Prof. Roberto Bottinelli, Vice-Deputy for Research

Scientific Board: Prof. Matteo Alvaro, Prof. Alessandro Bacchetta, Prof. Alessandra Balduini, Prof. Mariangela Bonizzoni, Prof. Mauro Freccero, Prof. Maurizio Harari, Prof. Silvia Giuliana Priori, Prof. Alessandro Reali, Prof. Elisabetta Rocca, Prof. Giancarlo Sangalli.

Executive Board: Prof. Ferdinando Auricchio, Prof. Riccardo Bellazzi, Prof. Ermanno Gherardi, Prof. Clelia Martignoni, Prof. Antonio Torroni

Responsible Research and Innovation Expert: Prof. Enrica Chiappero