The Italian Node of the European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC-IT) was constituted on 05/10/2021 as a JRU (Joint Research Unit), including a total of 16 partners (SZN, CONISMA, CNR, OGS, CTN-BIG, IZSPLV, ENEA, ISPRA, UNITUS, UNICA, UNIFE, UNIME UNIMIB UNINA UNITO, UNIVPM) with SZN as its coordinator and representative institute in EMBRC-ERIC.

The Italian JRU was established according to the principles of complementarity and synergy of the partners regarding the development of new collaborative research projects and research services and in order to strengthen scientific research and foster human and infrastructure resources exchange in the field of blue growth.

The JRU agreement has set itself the following objectives:

Strategic Agenda

• Valorisation of the resources and skills of each of the Parties through their coordinated organization and best practices sharing;
• Coordination of national activities within EMBRC–ERIC and provide support to the MUR and other Ministries in organizing the Italian membership in EMBRC–ERIC and in defining strategic research agendas and roadmaps related to sustainable blue growth;
• Strengthening of Italian scientific research in the field of marine biology and promote training, scientific dissemination and communication in this area;
• Promotion of technology transfer and new relationships with national companies;
• Design and organization of pilot actions and projects, demonstrating the peculiarity and value of the Italian contribution to EMBRC–ERIC;
• Conduction of joint activities aimed at consolidating, strengthening and expanding the EMBRC-ERIC Research Infrastructure and its impact in terms of science and innovation, with particular attention to the spill overs at the national level, also by participating jointly or individually in funding programs of the Research.

Public-public and public-private collaborations

• Coordination of an up-to-date National Index of scientific services for the «blue» community
• National services catalogue opened to EU Projects and Transnational Accesses
• Single access point: marketing at national and EU level
• Support to efficient and coordinated technology transfer
• Shared management of orders via the Node capacity
• Improved opportunity for scientific interactions, co-authorship and for interdisciplinary collaborations
• Favourable access conditions for associate partner

Improved fundraising capacity

• HE: Participation in EU projects as individual members of EMBRC-IT that can involve the other members of the JRU and EMBRC-IT itself as Affiliated Entity
• PNRR (NextGenerationEU): Strengthening and improvement of operative units (OU) of EMBRC-IT partners
• H2020: Access to EU-IR grants
• PON 2007-2013: Action on «Potenziamento strutturale»
• POR 2014-20: Action on «access to H2020 EU projects»

EMBRC-IT Partners

• Stazione Zoologica di Napoli Anton Dohrn (SZN) – Italian Node Coordinator
• Cluster Tecnologico Nazionale “Blue Italian Growth”(CTN-BIG)
• Consorzio Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare (CoNISMa)
• Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS)
• Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale di Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta (IZSPLV)
• Università di Cagliari (UNICA)
• Università di Ferrara (UNIFE)
• Università di Messina (UNIME)
• Università di Milano-Bicocca (UNIMIB)
• Università di Napoli Federico II (UNINA)
• Università di Torino (UNITO)
• Università della Tuscia (UNITUS)
• Università Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM)
• Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA)
• Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR)
• Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile (ENEA)

Summary

EMBRC-IT will offer opportunities for the Italian marine research and technological development community at large because:
• The JRU supports and reinforces the cohesion of the Italian Marine Research Community,
• It fosters a higher visibility of this community at the National (MIUR) and International (EU) level,
• It links marine biological resources to innovation, supporting cooperation with universities, research organizations and industries
• It creates critical mass, capable to interact with, and advise, policy makers

The result of its common effort will be more than the sum of the capacity of each.

Contact information

Node Director: Donatella de Pascale
Liaison Officer: Pasquale De Luca
JRU Manager: Giorgio Maria Vingiani