Italian National Research Council

About CNR
The National Research Council (CNR) is a public organization; its duty is to carry out, promote, spread, transfer and improve research activities in the main sectors of knowledge growth and of its applications for the scientific, technological, economic and social development of the Country.

To this end, the activities of the organization are divided into macro areas of interdisciplinary scientific and technological research, concerning several sectors: biotechnology, medicine, materials, environment and land, information and communications, advanced systems of production, judicial and socio-economic sciences, classical studies and arts.

CNR is distributed all over Italy through a network of institutes aiming at promoting a wide diffusion of its competences throughout the national territory and at facilitating contacts and cooperation with local firms and organizations.

From the financial point of view, the main resources come from the State, but also from the market: even 30% of its balance sheet, an extraordinary result, is the result of revenues coming from external job orders for studies and activities of technical advice as well as from agreements with firms, contracts with the European Union and with the other international organizations.

Activities
The National Research Council:

  • performs and promotes research activities in pursuit of excellence and strategic relevance within the national and international ambit, within the framework of the European cooperation and integration as well as of the cooperation with university research and with other public and private bodies.
  • manages and coordinates national and international programs and supports scientific and research activities of great interest for the national system, within the framework of the plan mentioned in article 6 and of the cooperation with universities and other public and private bodies;
  • takes care of the optimization, the precompetitive development and the technological transfer of the results of the research carried out by its own scientific network and by the persons referred to in article 3;
  • in the scientific, technological field and in the ambit of the technical regulation, it takes care of the cooperation with bodies and institutions of other countries or with international bodies, with reference to non-governmental agreements. Upon request of governmental authorities, it also provides specific competences for the national participation to organizations or international scientific programs between different governments;
  • through its own programs of research fellowships, it carries out training activity in Ph.D. courses, in accordance with article 4, paragraph 4 of law 3 July 1998, No. 210, advanced after-university specialization courses, permanent, continuous and recurrent training activity. It may also carry out non-university advanced training activity;
  • carries out supervision activities on bodies which accomplish the functions of normalization body, referred to in law 21 June 1986, No. 317, spreads specific techniques within the framework of its institutional tasks, and performs activities of certification, test and accreditation for public authorities, upon their request;
  • provides technical and scientific support to public authorities, upon their request;
  • may provide a third party with private law services in the pursuit of its own institutional activities.
For the carrying out of these activities and of any other related activity, including the economic utilization of its own research results, CNR may draw up agreements and conventions, take part or constitute associations, foundations or companies with public and private, Italian and foreign bodies, in accordance with its set of rules. CNR may also take part to international research centres in cooperation with similar scientific institutions of other countries.