LIBERA UNIVERSITA DI LINGUE E COMUNICAZIONE IULM

Their core work

IULM is a Milan-based university specializing in languages, communication, and media studies. In EU research, they contribute expertise in media systems analysis, digital platform regulation, cultural industries, and social communication — essentially, they study how information, culture, and media shape European societies. They also bring competence in participatory urban design, specifically how public space and community engagement can improve social wellbeing in housing neighborhoods. Their academic profile makes them particularly valuable in projects requiring qualitative social research, policy analysis, or cross-cultural communication expertise.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

IULM entered H2020 through the URBiNAT project (2018) with a focus on the physical and social dimensions of urban space — public wellbeing, sustainable design, active citizenship, and democratic participation at the neighborhood level. By 2021, their focus shifted decisively toward the digital public sphere: media platforms, cultural industries, fake news, and how European media systems shape identity and migration narratives. The trajectory is consistent with their institutional identity as a communications university — they moved from studying how physical spaces mediate community life to studying how digital platforms mediate culture and information across Europe.

IULM is orienting toward digital media governance and platform studies, making them a likely partner for future projects on media regulation, disinformation, and the cultural impact of digital transformation in Europe.

How they like to work

IULM has experience in both leading and joining consortia — they coordinated EUMEPLAT and participated in URBiNAT, showing flexibility across roles. Their two projects collectively involved 43 unique partners across 15 countries, suggesting they operate comfortably within large, internationally diverse consortia rather than small bilateral arrangements. This broad network, built on just two projects, points to an organization that brings specialized humanistic and social-science expertise that complements technical partners in interdisciplinary consortia.

IULM has built a network of 43 unique consortium partners across 15 countries through only two projects, indicating they are embedded in large, pan-European research consortia. Their geographic spread suggests European reach with no apparent concentration in any single region.

What sets them apart

IULM is one of the few Italian universities with a dedicated institutional focus on languages, communication, and media — not a general-purpose research university. This makes them a rare specialist node when consortia need expertise at the intersection of digital culture, media policy, and cross-cultural communication. Their combination of social science rigor and communication-studies identity fills a gap that engineering-heavy or natural-science consortia frequently underestimate until the dissemination and societal impact phases of a project.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EUMEPLAT
  IULM served as coordinator of this European-scale study on media platform externalities, covering fake news, migration narratives, and media market regulation — placing them at the center of one of the most policy-relevant media debates in the EU.
• URBiNAT
  An Innovation Action project combining urban design, social housing, and democratic participation across multiple European cities, where IULM contributed social and communication expertise to a predominantly design and planning consortium.