Call for proposals of joint lab projects

Call for the establishment of two CNR International Joint Laboratories -Thematic: Engineering, ICT and Technologies for Energy and Transportation (three-year period 2027- 2029)

Interested parties are advised that the procedures for submitting proposals for the establishment of two thematic International Joint Laboratories in the subject discipline are available in the online procedure "Joint Laboratories": https://labcon.cnr.it accessible with SIPER credentials

Instructions for the submission of proposals aimed at the launch of two joint Laboratories have been published on the Cnr web site, accessible with SIPER credentials.

Research Areas

Proposals must pertain exclusively only one of the following research areas:

1. Pervasive Artificial Intelligence;
2. Innovative Methods and Advanced Technologies for Aerospace.

Deadline 

Applications must be completed and submitted exclusively to the above address, e—failure to do so will result in the proposal’s exclusion—no later than 12:00 p.m. on October 15, 2026.

 

General procedures

Funding is provided for two Joint Laboratories to be established between researchers from Cnr (Principal Investigator of the Joint Laboratory proposal) and research institutions from foreign countries.

The Joint Laboratory is open to the participation of other Italian and foreign research organizations and institutions and/or industries, which will be able to participate in the establishment of the laboratory with their own personnel and/or funding.

Proposals for the establishment of the Joint Laboratory must meet the requirements listed below.

The Laboratories must be funded by each participating Institution for a period of three years.

The Cnr will fund each Joint Laboratory (in the amount of between 30,000.00 and 50,000.00 Euros per year), depending on the program and budget submitted.

The application must indicate any additional funding made available by other institutions.

The foreign Partner Coordinator, having agreed to the scientific framework and the budget outlined in the proposal submitted by the CNR Principal Investigator, must sign the proposal and commit to providing a sum equal to or less than, at most, 10% of the amount requested by the CNR Principal Investigator to fund their research network.

Example if the Italian Principal Investigator provides € 50,000, the foreign partner must provide an amount equal to € 50,000 or an amount less than 10% of that amount - i.e. € 45,000, and not a lower amount).

New Italian and foreign partners may join the Joint Laboratory starting in the second year following the Laboratory’s launch, provided they provide their own funding.

To establish the Joint Laboratory, the Italian Principal Investigator selected through the competitive process must commit to finalizing a “Scientific Cooperation Agreement” (based on the attached template) with the foreign Partner Coordinator co-funding the initiative within the first year of funding for the Joint Laboratory.n The President will sign on behalf of the CNR, while a representative of equivalent rank from the foreign institution will sign on behalf of the counterpart.

This document must set forth the mutual commitments of the parties (Italian and foreign) regarding the establishment of the joint laboratory, and in particular:

- funding;

- duration of its operation (which must be at least three years).

Any CNR Institute that does not have a “Scientific Cooperation Agreement” signed by the foreign partner within the first year of operation will not receive funding for subsequent years. 

 

Requirements for participation 

The Italian Principal Investigator (Italian Laboratory Director) must complete the proposal paying particular attention to the section regarding the annual cost estimate. The following are eligible to submit the Joint Laboratory proposal:

a) directors of institutes, researchers and technologists at the CNR (levels I-III) ;

b) personnel holding a valid CNR affiliation status for the entire duration of the Joint Laboratory (in accordance with the procedures set forth in current regulations governing CNR affiliation),even if this status is maintained through annual renewals for the entire duration of the laboratory.

If this requirement is not met, a new Head must be appointed, failing which the laboratory will be suspended.

The Italian principal investigator must commit to carrying out the activities outlined in the joint laboratory proposal for the entire three-year funding period requested, as any funding will be transferred directly and exclusively to the CNR institute to which the investigator is affiliated. That institute will manage the allocated funds and submit annual reports on the activities carried out and expenses incurred, in accordance with procedures to be communicated at a later date and based on the budget outlined in the proposal.

Please note that the funding to be disbursed for the second and third years of the Joint Laboratory’s operations will be based on the financial reports submitted and the expenses incurred.

Any replacement of the Principal Investigator must be submitted for approval by this Unit; otherwise, funding and laboratory activities will be suspended.

If the Principal Investigator is not a CNR employee but an Associate, the document confirming their association with the CNR must be attached.

When selecting members of the research group (who are neither CNR employees nor CNR Associates) who will undertake stays abroad, the Principal Investigator must comply with current regulations governing the assignment of collaborative positions.

 

Submission of applications

Applications, submitted in English by the Principal Investigator, must be submitted exclusively through the “Joint Laboratories” online procedure: https://labcon.cnr.it.

CNR staff may access the system using the credentials they use for SIPER.

If the Project Leader is a CNR Associate, they must be registered by the web administrator of the CNR Institute with which the Project Leader is affiliated, through the procedure at https://utenti.cnr.it by following the “Nuovo Utente” path, to obtain their credentials. The application, completed in English, must contain all the required information, and include details relevant to the evaluation.

The application must also be accompanied by the following documentation:

- the membership certificate, in the case of a CNR-affiliated Principal Investigator.

The Italian Principal Investigator must confirm, by checking the appropriate box in the online application procedure, that they have read the privacy notice regarding the processing of personal data; the English-language privacy notice attached to the application must, however, be duly signed by the foreign Principal Investigator to confirm that they have read it and to provide their consent to the processing of personal data, failing which the application will be excluded. The processing of the aforementioned data will be carried out by the CNR in accordance with Article 6(c) and (e) of the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (EU);

PLEASE NOTE: The application and the cost estimate must be duly signed by the Italian Principal Investigator and the foreign Principal Investigator; failure to do so will result in the exclusion of the laboratory’s application. It is recommended that you do not include charts, images, tables, or special characters that alter the text formatting.

 

Restrictions on submitting applications

- Members of the Expert Committee for the scientific evaluation of laboratory proposals may not submit an application to participate, either as principal investigators or as collaborators. Furthermore, even if they were to resign, members of the Commission may not participate in the laboratories evaluated and selected during their term of office.

- The same Italian Principal Investigator may not submit more than one application under the same call for laboratory proposals.

Closing the application

Upon completion of the application process, the application must be “closed” by the Principal Investigator of the proposal. The application must be validated by the Director of the relevant CNR Institute.

The Director’s validation must, in any case, be completed no later than 12:00 p.m. on October 15, 2026; otherwise, the application will not be considered valid or accepted.

If, before the deadline, it becomes necessary to reopen the “not yet validated” application to verify that it has been completed correctly, to check the nature of the attachments, or to make any changes, the Director will have the option to “send for modification” the application.

The application must then be “closed” again by the Principal Investigator and subsequently validated by the Director, always within the specified deadline.

For technical issues related to the online application process, please contact only: https://nuovascrivaniadigitale.cnr.it/#/helpdesk.

 

Reasons for exclusion of the application

The application will be excluded from selection process if:

- it was submitted to the CNR in a manner that does not comply with the instructions in this call for applications;

- the files attached to the application during the procedure (cost estimate, data processing consents, any affiliation documents) are non-compliant;

- the application and the cost estimate are not duly signed by the Italian Principal Investigator and the Foreign Principal Investigator;

- the Italian Principal Investigator does not confirm, by checking the appropriate box in the online application submission procedure, that they have read the privacy notice regarding the processing of personal data;

- the privacy notice regarding the processing of personal data is not duly signed by the foreign Principal investigator;

- the decision granting affiliation with the CNR does not comply with the requirements.

Eligible expenses

- Personnel expenses: ad hoc selection for Research Fellowship (at least 60% of the requested funding).

- Travel expenses of Cnr staff or Cnr affiliates (at least 10% of funding): trips to the foreign partner country for research activities related to the joint laboratory; staff on such trips must be paid the overseas travel allowance provided for by current regulations. Any replacements or the addition of new collaborators to the Italian team of the Laboratory must be reported in advance to this Unit and authorized by it. Otherwise, the expenses included in the financial report will not be considered eligible.

30% of the funding may be used for the following expenses:

- expenses for non-inventory laboratory supplies: materials for research activities related to the Joint Laboratory;
- expenses for the purchase of small laboratory instrumentation: specifically for conducting the research; purchases and maintenance of PCs, tablets, and similar products are excluded;

- expenses for disseminating results: organization of a final workshop (limited to publications, posters, brochures, etc.; protection of intellectual property limited to the to the portion of the patent attributable to the CNR).

Ineligible expenses

- laboratory equipment maintenance costs;
- project management;
- subcontracting;
- office supplies and stationery;
- purchases and maintenance of PCs, tablets and similar products;
- general expenses (e.g., telephone, fax, utilities, toner etc.).

Projects evaluation and selection  

Proposals will be evaluated by the members of the Expert Committees for “Short-Term Mobility” and for Bilateral Agreements, which have already been established by the CNR for the evaluation of international projects through Presidential Decrees and Board of Directors resolutions. The criteria for evaluating proposals will be as follows:

1. scientific relevance of the proposal (methodology, degree of originality and innovation);
2. documentation and presentation of the proposal;
3. usefulness and necessity of bilateral collaboration;
4. involvement of young researchers in the Italian research group*;
5. potential to attract public/private funding;
6. potential to generate research and development for the Cnr;
7. exploitation and/or dissemination/publication of results;
8. existence of previous agreements and/or joint publications.

Publication of selection results

The outcome of the scientific evaluation of the application will be communicated to the Italian laboratory director. The list of selected laboratories will be published on this web site.

 

For information:

Antonella Briuglia
Cnr - International Relations Unit
Tel.: 06 4993-3833
e-mail: antonella.briuglia@cnr.it

P.S. Please note that, upon completion of the application process, the application must be “closed” by the Principal Investigator of the proposal and subsequently validated by the Director of the affiliated institute (as specified above). The Director’s approval must, in any case, be obtained no later than 12:00 p.m. on October 15, 2026; otherwise, the application will not be considered valid or accepted. Requests for exceptions to the above provisions will not be granted, as it will not be possible to reopen the online procedure once it has closed.

**"Young researchers" are defined as researchers under the age of 35 who have earned a Ph.D. or have at least three years of postgraduate research experience at universities or qualified public or private national or international research institutions.

Note: If they are part of the Italian research group, please specify their research activities, training, and visits in the laboratory proposal.