15 April – Leonardo da Vinci’s birth date – is the Italian Research Day in the world. More than 80 initiatives have been organised by the diplomatic-consular network abroad. Other initiatives, delayed due to the pandemic, will be announced in the coming weeks. The day celebrates Italian researchers and academics abroad. This is their day, created to thank them and to give them visible proof that their country, although far away, is close to them. Together with them, we aim to send a strong message to the world that Italy is a bearer of science, technology and innovation.
Italy is ranked 7th in the world for the number of scientific and research publications, and 8th for the quality of these publications (Scimago).
Science and research are strategic components of Italy’s external projection, and Italian researchers abroad, with their work, contribute not only to expanding the frontier of human knowledge, but also to testifying in the world to the value of our country’s higher education. Their every success is a success for Italy.
Italian researchers abroad are a vast community. An informal survey among the various diplomatic offices counted more than 33,000. The largest group is the United States, where it is estimated that more than 15,000 Italian researchers work. This is followed by the United Kingdom, with about 6,000, and France and Germany with about 3,500 Italian researchers each. The same number is estimated for the Iberian peninsula. Those further north? 500 in Norway. Those furthest from the motherland? 500 in Australia, 100 in Singapore, 150 in Japan, 50 in China and 120 in South Africa. There are also some in Vietnam, Korea and India.
The Italian diplomatic network encourages the formation of associations of Italian researchers abroad; it administers the ‘Innovitalia Platform’, through which it keeps researchers abroad connected with the national scientific and technological system and scientific diplomacy. Through the network of Italian scientific attachés, it organises aggregation and sharing initiatives, in order to foster collaboration and exchanges with Italy; to this end, the network has recently been increased by 50%, and now counts 44 experts accredited at foreign diplomatic offices in all five continents.
As part of this commitment to openly developing dialogue with foreign countries, we would also like to mention the executive protocols for scientific and technological cooperation that have been activated over the last five years (2015-2020). These have enabled us to co-finance – with contributions from the MUR, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of the Environment – over 1,000 research projects and the mobility of researchers between Italy and the rest of the world.
The initiative accompanying the opening of Research Day is part of this approach: short, intense promotional videos of our scientific and technological excellence, produced in collaboration with leading Italian research bodies. They will be used to disseminate the image of the Italy of innovation and research around the world; the Italy that does not stop and looks ahead, beyond Covid and its wounds, ready to start again and relaunch development, the economy and our Italian way of life, under the banner of knowledge and beauty. macos/deepLFree.translatedWithDeepL.text
