Finally, a new president for the National Research Council

Maria Chiara Carrozza, a renowned engineer and former research minister, has become the 22nd president of the National Research Council, Italy's main research body, with 88 institutes on all disciplines across the country, 8500 researchers and a EUR 900 million budget. Carrozza's appointment is the culmination of an unusually long process, that started at the end of 2019 and was delayed several times, first as the pandemic hit the country and then as a government crisis erupted in January. The void left CNR without strong management during the negotiations on the National recovery and resilience plan (PNRR), that includes about EUR14 billion research and development investments. Many in the CNR community are unhappy with the draft, and fear that the plan will end up diminishing the institute's role. Mario Draghi, who in February replaced Giuseppe Conte as prime minister, will submit the final plan to the EU by the end of April.