Grants and Loans in Italy | EFG - European Funding Guide

Grants are quite common in Italy. The government believes in supporting the Italian community with ample opportunity of studying and believes to make education accessible for everyone. This makes grants quite common in Italy. Acquiring a grant in Italy can be difficult. There is a lot of competition for grants and great academic results are often the biggest requirement to achieve a grant.

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Grants and Loans

General situation in terms of grants and loans

In Italy, it is very common for students with a good academic merit to get a grant or loan for your education. A lot of PhDs get paid by grants. The reason is that the Italian government wants to improve the education level of their students. Usually, getting a grant or loan for your education requires high academic results, but with other appropriate reasons you may also apply for the grant.

Type of grants and loans and providing institutions

In Italy, scientific grants get offered by universities through the government. One example of one of these grants is the ICGEB grant for Italian students. ICGEB stands for International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biology. This grant focuses on offering students the opportunity to acquire appropriate equipment for their research.

The majority of the grants get offered by the Italian government. These grants are used to fund researchers and masters. The focus of these grants is to be specified by the university.

Another grant given in Italy is the fellowship grant for the Boglascio Foundation. This grant offers those working in the Humanities and Art field the chance to learn to work in a multi-cultural international field.

Availability and conditions for getting a grant or a loan

The conditions for getting a grant differ from university to university. In case of the ICGEB grant mentioned before, a non-Italian student must reside in Italy and have at least language level B2 of Italian according to the European standard. This is due to the fact that most lectures get taught in Italian. For degrees that get taught in English, at least a level A2 of Italian is required.

Some grants can get up to 25.000 € p.a. depending on the study. For a PhD grant the funds can be used to pay for items directly related to the research. Thus for example scientific literature, consumable items etc.

Local grants and loans for foreign students

There are a lot of opportunities for foreign students to get grants and loans in Italy. The Ministry of Foreign affairs offers grants and loans for foreign students if they are eligible for getting a grant. The information required for foreign students can be found on website of the ministry of foreign affairs of Italy. The Italian government offers grants under the premise of a Law on Development Cooperation of the European Union.

Apart from the ministry of foreign affairs the DSU office Diritto allo Studio Universitario also offers grants. The DSU is an organisation that covers grants and scholarships for Italian residents as well as international students who want to study in Italy.

Typical grants and loans in Italy

Typical grants and loans in Italy are the fellowship and scientific grant. The government wants to provide equal education to everyone in order to increase the knowledge base of the Italian population. The most frequent grants are given by the government and universities can specify to whom these grants and loans are given.

The majority of scientific grants focuses on ecology and specific research. The European Cultural Foundation also funds a lot of grants in Italy. These are focusing on bridging the gap between countries in Europe and funding research to improve the knowledge economy of Italy as well as the European Union.