Modigliani Research Grants - Worth €15,000 per year

1. General Rules 
To pursue the long-standing tradition of UniCredit and Associazione Marco Fanno, following the cooperation agreement signed in July 2012, UniCredit Foundation is announcing a competition in memory of Franco Modigliani for four research grants for research projects in the fields of economics and finance. The competition is open to young researchers of any nationality employed at any European universities within the regions in which UniCredit is present.

2. Details of the grants 
Each grant is worth €10,000 per year (gross of taxes). Grants shall be awarded for a maximum duration of two years and shall be directly paid out to the grantee. At least one of the four fellowships will be awarded to a female candidate.

3. Eligibility requirements 
To be eligible for the competition, applicants must:
1) be assistant professors or research assistants or employed in an equivalent position at any European universities within the EU countries¹ where UniCredit is present (UniCredit geography). Nationality is not relevant as an eligibility requirement;
2) be born after 1988 when applying (while for women the year of birth may be increased by one year per child);
3) have a PhD in economics or finance;
4) present a research project not yet financed with funds by other sources;
5) produce at least two articles published or forthcoming in international journals by the time of the decision of the Scientific Committee (where also articles conditionally accepted with minor revisions qualify as forthcoming). 

The topic of research must be in the fields of economics or finance.  The project can envisage collaboration with coauthors (who must meet same eligible requirements as the applicants). Grants may initiate from March 2025. Grants may initiate from March 2025.

4. How to apply
Applications must be filed only via the online form available on the Foundation’s website at https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/unicreditfoundation.html. The application must contain:

• the candidate’s first name, surname, nationality, date of birth;
• the candidate’s mailing address, including post code, telephone number and e-mail address;
• a short description of the research project;
• a declaration that the candidate has never been convicted of any crimes and has never been held in preventive detention or under house arrest;
• a declaration that there are no criminal proceedings pending against her/him;
• permission to the Foundation to process her/his personal details, pursuant to regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016.

Applications must be accompanied by the following documents (submitted online in a single PDF in English). Failure to do so will result in the exclusion from the competition:

• Curriculum Vitae,  including list of publications, of both authors and co-authors
• scan of a currently valid identification document
• research project (max 5 pages);
• implications of the project for the candidate’s university and cooperation with other universities, explaining how the project could improve international cooperation and the reputation of the candidate's university in the scientific community (max 1 page);
• indication of expected submissions of the research output to international conferences.

In addition, at least one reference letter written by an international expert in the research field of the submitted project, must be sent separately via e-mail by the expert to the Foundation address (see contacts below²);

5. Application deadline 
Candidates’ applications, complete with the accompanying documentation, must be delivered online no later than October 15, 2024, following the procedure indicated above. After this deadline, the online application procedure will be disabled.

As soon as the procedure is completed and the submission process closed, candidates will receive a confirmation message to their e-mail address confirming the acceptance of their application.

6. Scientific Committee 
The Foundation’s Scientific Committee will be responsible for the selection procedure and will identify the winners of the grants.

The Scientific Committee is appointed by the Foundation’s Board of Directors and is composed of at least five members among experts in economics and finance from the main European countries. In assessing candidates, the Scientific Committee will consider their academic curriculum, research project, academic and research track record, referee reports, and will assign the grant to candidates who demonstrate the ability to publish in excellent journals.

The Scientific Committee may invite candidates for an interview or seminar before selecting the winners.

7. Awarding date 
The grants will be awarded by 31 January 2025 by the Chairman of the Foundation on the basis of the final decision expressed by the Scientific Committee as provided for under Art. 6.

8. Requirements for receipt of the grants 
Grants shall be awarded for a maximum duration of two years.
The grant holder commits to:
1) report to the Foundation on the progress of her/his research by the end of the first year
2) submit a final paper to the Foundation’s Scientific Committee by the end of the second year.
3) present the main findings of her/his research to the Foundation’s Scientific Committee and Board of Directors.

9. Method of payment 
The grant is paid in advance by March of each year (March 2025 and March 2026 respectively). The Foundation reserves the right not to pay the second installment in the event of interruption of the research project.

10. Acceptance of all the conditions of the regulations
Participation to the competition implies unconditional acceptance of the entire contents of the above rules.

¹ _{The UniCredit EU perimeter includes the following countries: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia.}

_{² For any further information: contact UniCredit Foundation, Piazza Gae Aulenti – UniCredit Tower AItaly. e-mail: annalisa.aleati@unicredit.eu}