Regione Piemonte allocates five million euros to bring researchers into local SMEs
Boosting the research, development and innovation capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises with operational or production facilities in Piedmont, encouraging the recruitment of highly qualified individuals from the public research sector, is the goal of a new measure approved by the Regional Council. The initiative, called “Matchin – Mobilising Advanced Talents for Competence and High Innovation”, allocates €5 million from the European Regional Development Fund – ERDF, the European Union’s main tool for strengthening economic and social cohesion at regional and local levels.
The measure provides incentives for both hiring and temporary assignment of such professionals by SMEs. The aim is to create a systemic link between the public research and the productive sector, fostering an environment that supports the onboarding and professional growth of young research talents while stimulating business innovation.
The call for proposals, expected by the end of the year, is designed to help SMEs develop skills for industrial transition, entrepreneurship, adaptability to change and increased innovation capacity, in line with the objectives of Piedmont’s Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) 2021-27.
While waiting for the call with the operational details to be published, the Region has already announced that funding will be granted to projects capable of demonstrating strong innovation potential. This may happen either through the hiring of highly qualified professionals holding a PhD who, at the time of application, are engaged in, or have completed within the previous 12 months, a fixed-term collaboration for the implementation of R&D&I activities, or through the temporary mobility of researchers, technologists, and associate and full professors, arranged via agreements between SMEs and Research Organisations.
To support this process, activities aimed at promoting dialogue and interaction between companies and researchers will be organised in collaboration with local stakeholders and promoted by the Piedmont Region. In addition, through its Career HUB service, Politecnico di Torino will also launch dedicated initiatives for researchers and provide tools and operational support to turn this measure into a real opportunity – both for highly qualified professional growth and for positive outcomes for the University itself. Integrating researchers into industrial settings can indeed generate productive cross-fertilisation between academia and industry, creating further synergies and future collaborations.
The initiative has been warmly welcomed by Stefano Corgnati, Rector of Politecnico di Torino, Cristina Prandi, Rector of Università degli Studi di Torino, and Menico Rizzi, Rector of Università del Piemonte Orientale: “This is an innovative measure, which has never been tested before in Italy, and which recognises the strategic value of researchers as a bridge between universities and businesses. With Matchin, our universities reaffirm their role as drivers of regional development, promoting the talents trained in Piedmont’s universities and offering companies cutting-edge, cross-disciplinary technical and scientific skills that researchers naturally embody: flexibility and the ability to operate in complex, fast-changing environments, critical thinking, problem-solving and interdisciplinary collaboration, as well as a strong focus on results and innovation. This measure strengthens the competitiveness of local enterprises while giving researchers meaningful opportunities for professional development, contributing to the shared growth of the entire regional ecosystem”.