PRIN 2026

The PRIN 2026 Call, promoted by the Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR), supports fundamental research projects distinguished by scientific excellence, innovation, and methodological rigour. The programme aims to strengthen the national research system by fostering collaboration among universities, public research organisations, and AFAM institutions across various scientific fields.

With a total budget of approximately €259.9 million, PRIN 2026 funds collaborative research projects lasting three years, organised into the three ERC macro-sectors: Life Sciences (LS), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE), and Social Sciences and Humanities (SH).

ADOPT-EU – Firm-Level Channels of Technology Adoption: Finance, Governance, Labour, and External Knowledge in Heterogeneous European Economies

Scientific Leader: Professor Megha Patnaik

European firms adopt emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and automation, at different rates depending on their size, sector, ownership structure and institutional environment. The ADOPT-EU project aims to investigate the mechanisms driving these differences, examining how financial constraints, corporate governance, labour-market dynamics and access to external knowledge influence technological adoption. Through comparative analysis across European economies, the project intends to identify how these factors interact and shape firms’ responses to technological change. Its main goals include assessing the role of credit availability and family ownership, examining labour reallocation and skills development, and investigating the contribution of external expertise and R&D. By providing new empirical evidence on technological adoption, ADOPT-EU seeks to inform industrial and innovation policies, supporting more effective investment incentives, training measures and regulatory frameworks.

AI, Economic Agents, and the Future of Markets

Scientific Leader: Professor Matteo Escudé

Artificial intelligence is transforming economic decision-making by reshaping how individuals make choices, interact with markets and delegate tasks to algorithmic systems. The project aims to investigate how AI-assisted decisions influence individual behaviour, market outcomes and institutional frameworks, examining both the opportunities and risks associated with delegating economic activities to AI. Combining theoretical analysis, experiments and simulations, the research focuses on three main areas: individuals’ ability to evaluate and respond to AI-generated advice; the impact of algorithmic decision-making on market dynamics, including pricing, competition and resource allocation; and the role of algorithms in shaping communication, credibility and economic expectations. By identifying the conditions under which AI improves efficiency or amplifies decision-making errors and inequalities, the project seeks to inform the design of more effective institutions and regulatory approaches for AI-driven markets.

COSFIM – Corporate Governance, Sustainability, and Financial Markets

Scientific Leader: Professor Andrea Polo

Corporate governance plays a crucial role in determining whether firms translate sustainability commitments into concrete actions or merely signal compliance. The COSFIM project aims to investigate how governance mechanisms contribute to credible sustainability transitions and how their credibility is established, verified, valued by financial markets and sustained over time. Combining advanced textual analysis using large language models with satellite-based remote sensing, the project intends to develop innovative tools to assess corporate sustainability practices and independently verify environmental claims. Its main goals include examining the influence of shareholder activism on corporate strategies, assessing the consistency between sustainability commitments and actual environmental performance, investigating how financial markets evaluate transition credibility, and exploring the effects of political and regulatory changes. By integrating these perspectives, COSFIM seeks to advance the understanding of how corporate governance can foster measurable and lasting sustainability outcomes.

DEFEND — Dynamic Econometric Foundations for Extremes, Networks, and Dependence 

Scientific Leader: Professor Matteo Iacopini

Economic, financial, energy and climate systems are increasingly exposed to extreme shocks that can spread across interconnected markets, countries and institutions. The DEFEND project aims to develop innovative econometric methods to analyse systemic instability, addressing the limitations of existing models in capturing extreme events, nonlinear dependencies and the transmission of shocks. Combining statistical and probabilistic approaches, the project intends to establish a comprehensive framework for understanding how systemic risks emerge and evolve over time. Its main goals include developing models to assess extreme risks in interconnected systems, analysing changing patterns of dependence and shock propagation, and introducing Bayesian methods to investigate complex relationships and partially observable networks. Through applications to financial markets, energy systems and climate-related events, DEFEND seeks to improve the monitoring of systemic vulnerabilities and support evidence-based economic and policy decisions.

EU-RegEx – EU Regulatory Experimentalism: Explaining, Assessing, Designing

Scientific Leader: Professor Bernardo Giorgio Mattarella

Regulatory experimentalism is increasingly shaping the European Union’s approach to innovation, simplification and competitiveness through instruments such as regulatory sandboxes, living labs and pilot regimes. The EU-RegEx project aims to investigate this emerging regulatory model, examining its legal foundations, effectiveness and consistency with European and national legal frameworks. Combining legal analysis with interdisciplinary and empirical approaches, the project intends to assess how regulatory experimentation operates across key policy areas, including economic governance, artificial intelligence, healthcare innovation and the ecological transition. Its main goals include identifying the distinctive features of regulatory experimentalism, evaluating its compatibility with fundamental legal principles, assessing its effectiveness across different sectors and developing evidence-based guidelines for regulators. By identifying transferable best practices, EU-RegEx seeks to support more coherent regulatory frameworks that foster innovation while safeguarding fundamental rights, consumer protection, environmental sustainability and financial stability.