No. 972 - Funding research with scientific grants in Italy: the impact of 'PRIN'

Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional papers)
by Antonio Accetturo, Raffaello Bronzini, Federica Daniele, Irene Di Marzio, Elena Lazzaro, Francesca Modena and Lorenzo Raspollini
October 2025
Vai alla versione italiana Site Search

The study assesses the impact of the funding associated with winning a PRIN grant in 2015 or 2017 on the number of publications of researchers, their patenting activity and the likelihood of establishing a new business. The analysis is based on a comparison between the performance of researchers funded for the first time through the PRIN and that of researchers deemed eligible for funding but not supported due to the budget running out.

PRIN grants had a positive impact on the number of publications, with a stronger effect observed for the 2017 call, which provided more generous funding; the impact was more pronounced among younger researchers, women and, more generally, in scientific fields (STEM, biology and medicine). For the 2017 call, a positive effect was likewise found on business creation, but only in medical fields. By contrast, the impact on patenting activity was null.

Full text

  1. 09 October 2025
    No. 972 - Funding research with scientific grants in Italy: the impact of 'PRIN' (only in Italian)
    PDF 3 MB