UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PERUGIA

Their core work

The University of Perugia is a broad-based Italian research university with particular strengths in agricultural and food sciences, energy systems, biomedical research, and cultural heritage. Their H2020 portfolio reveals deep involvement in applied research — from olive oil authenticity testing (OLEUM) and plant genetic resource conservation (Farmers Pride) to non-destructive testing for aircraft (NDTonAIR) and diabetes cell therapies (ELASTISLET). They are also one of Italy's most active universities in science communication, running European Researchers' Night events (SHARPER) across multiple Italian cities almost every year. Their research teams contribute specialist expertise in chemistry, astrophysics, computational modelling, and environmental monitoring.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2014–2018), Perugia focused on energy efficiency, thermal energy storage, heritage science, and food quality — particularly olive oil authentication. From 2019 onward, their portfolio shifted noticeably toward public engagement and science communication (multiple SHARPER editions), energy harvesting technologies, and drone/sensor applications. The biomedical thread also strengthened, anchored by their largest coordinated grant on leukemia research.

Perugia is expanding from traditional lab-based research toward sensor/drone technologies and sustained public engagement programming, making them an increasingly attractive partner for projects requiring citizen science or field-deployed monitoring.

How they like to work

Perugia overwhelmingly operates as a consortium partner (51 of 69 projects) rather than a project leader, though they have coordinated 11 projects including their largest biomedical grant. With 809 unique partners across 55 countries, they function as a well-connected hub — comfortable in large international consortia and experienced in MSCA mobility networks. This makes them a low-friction partner to bring into a consortium: they know how EU projects work and can plug into diverse teams without requiring a leadership role.

An exceptionally broad network of 809 unique consortium partners spanning 55 countries, making them one of the more internationally connected Italian universities in H2020. Their collaborations span well beyond Europe, though the core activity is centered on EU member states.

What sets them apart

Perugia combines deep agricultural and food science expertise (rooted in Umbria's farming tradition — including niche areas like truffle science and olive oil fraud detection) with growing capabilities in sensor technologies and energy systems. Few Italian universities match their simultaneous strength in food authenticity research, biomedical sciences, and large-scale public engagement. For consortium builders, they offer a reliable Italian partner with proven H2020 track record, broad thematic flexibility, and an unusually large collaboration network for a mid-sized university.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ContraNPM1AML
  Their largest coordinated grant (EUR 1.88M) targeting therapeutic approaches for NPM1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia — demonstrates capacity to lead ambitious biomedical research.
• OLEUM
  Major food authenticity project on olive oil quality assurance, directly connected to Umbria's agricultural economy and resulting in analytical tools and an end-users network.
• NDTonAIR
  Coordinated an MSCA training network (EUR 516K) in non-destructive testing for aircraft structures — an unusual industrial application for this university, showing cross-sector reach.