GeoSciences IR Among the National Research Infrastructures Selected by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) to Train Researchers from Kenya
Three researchers from Kenya will come to Italy to receive advanced training in geosciences through GeoSciences IR, Italy’s first national research infrastructure entirely dedicated to geosciences. Developed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) by ISPRA, in collaboration with the National Research Council (CNR), the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS), and 13 Italian universities, GeoSciences IR provides users with cutting-edge expertise, technologies and research platforms for the study and management of the territory.
Thanks to an initiative promoted and funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR), GeoSciences IR has been selected among Italy’s centres of excellence to provide training for young Kenyan researchers in areas including advanced geomatics technologies for environmental monitoring, natural hazard assessment and management, and climate change adaptation strategies.
Maria Alessandra Gallone, President of ISPRA and the National System for Environmental Protection (SNPA), stated: “This initiative confirms the ability of Italy and ISPRA to provide advanced expertise and state-of-the-art technologies. Making this know-how available means offering a practical training programme based on innovative methodologies already employed in environmental monitoring and natural hazard assessment. It reflects the role that Italy and ISPRA are playing in building shared knowledge to address global environmental challenges, while supporting the development of young researchers committed to environmental protection and territorial resilience. I therefore warmly welcome and appreciate this initiative promoted by the Ministry of University and Research under Minister Bernini, which represents an important opportunity for academic and scientific cooperation with Kenya. By fostering high-level training and knowledge exchange, it constitutes a tangible investment in future generations and in strengthening scientific expertise.”
National Framework
The Italian Minister of University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini, has launched and funded, with an allocation of €500,000, a pilot international mobility programme enabling Kenyan researchers to carry out research activities at centres of excellence financed under Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).
The programme involves 13 Italian research institutions and supports 19 research projects, providing 48 three-month mobility placements. The initiative enhances the value of investments made through the PNRR and represents a concrete implementation of the scientific cooperation envisaged under the Mattei Plan for Africa, as well as the bilateral agreements between Italy and Kenya in the fields of higher education, research and innovation.
The selected researchers will conduct scientific activities in leading Italian laboratories and research infrastructures, contributing to the development of long-term partnerships between Italian and Kenyan institutions. The project also establishes a model that the Ministry of University and Research intends to consolidate and replicate in future scientific cooperation initiatives with Kenya and other African countries.