The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) offers to foreign universities the opportunity to apply for contributions for the promotion abroad of Italian language and culture. These contributions are granted for the establishment and operation of chairs of Italian language at foreign universities.
The contributions are intended for partially covering the remuneration of teachers hired directly by the universities under a local law contract. The term “chairs of Italian language” refers to chairs and/or teaching courses in universities in which the Italian language is among the languages taught according to the regulations of the institution concerned, even if the chair or course has a different designation/name.
Requests from universities that intend to use the contributions for purposes other than the remuneration of teachers of Italian language hired under local law contracts such as, by way of example, the purchase of books, teaching material or promotional material, the organization of conferences, conventions or other events, the remuneration of conference guests, travel expenses of teachers participating in conferences and external meetings cannot be taken into consideration.
The courses must focus on teaching the Italian language, must be held in Italian and must take place at the requesting university and not in Italy.
DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED
Applications for contributions to Cap.2619/2 must be accompanied by the following documents as per instructions provided:
- a motivation letter: one page long, on letterhead, signed, stamped, which must indicate briefly and at the same time in details the request, which must be consistent with the purposes for which contributions can be granted;
- Form A – request for contribution
- Form B – final report on the use of the last contribution received if the university has received contributions in previous years. If it is not possible to produce the report on the use of the contribution received in 2023 within the deadline for submitting the new contribution request, the university undertakes to transmit it no later than the end of the academic year (for universities that adopts the boreal calendar) or by the deadline of September 30th, 2024 (for universities that adopt the austral calendar).
The deadline to submit the application to manila.culturale@esteri.it is Friday, March 22nd 2024.
TIMELINES FOR THE USE OF GRANTED CONTRIBUTIONS
The contributions granted in the Financial Year 2024 must be used by the end of the activities of the Academic Year 2024/25 (according to the Northern or Southern Hemisphere academic calendar adopted by the Universities).
The return of unused or improperly used contributions is a precondition for applying for a new contribution. The deadline for the return is October 31st, 2024.
