Progetto Roberto Rocca

Roberto Rocca 1922-2003

The “Progetto Roberto Rocca” is a new collaboration between MIT and the Milan Politecnico Italy’s top engineering school, funded by the Fondazione Fratelli Agostino and Enrico Rocca to honor Dr. Roberto Rocca ( 1922-2003) an alumnus of both institutions. Beginning in 2005-6, the Progetto is providing $250,000 a year for five years to increase the two-ways circulation of people, ideas and scientific practices between MIT and Politecnico in the areas of bio-technologies and health, material sciences, micro and nano-technologies, energy, information society technologies, aerospace, environment, transportation, buildings and infrastructures, planning, industrial products and processes. Priority will be given to proposals that focus on the novel use of materials, and mathematical and physical modeling.

Through its annual call for proposals and applications, the Progetto Rocca will encourage research projects between MIT and Politecnico by supporting student fellowships, research stays, workshops, and faculty collaborations. Typical awards range between $2,500 for exploratory travel grants and $42,500 for a one year post-doctoral Rocca Fellowship at MIT. Priority is given to collaborations involving younger scholars - junior faculty members and graduate students and post-doctoral researchers and new projects. Proposals and applications are evaluated and selected by members of the MIT-Italy Program Scientific Committee.

Roberto Rocca as a graduate student at MIT

In particular, the Progetto supports:

Two One-year “Roberto Rocca post-doctoral Fellowships” at MIT for recent Politecnico Ph.D.s
6-12 months “ Roberto Rocca doctoral Fellowships ” that bring Politecnico doctoral students to MIT as visiting students
3-6 months study and research grants at Politecnico for MIT doctoral students and advanced undergraduates
seed funds ($5,000-10,000) for collaborative MIT/Politecnico faculty projects
lectures by MIT professors at Politecnico, and vice versa.
small MIT-Politecnico workshops on topics that are the subject of joint investigations

The Progetto Roberto Rocca is managed through the MIT-Italy Program. Its priorities and orientations are spelled out in the agreements signed by the Fondazione Rocca with MIT and Politecnico and are reviewed yearly by the Progetto’s advisory board, whose members come from MIT, Politecnico and the Fondazione Rocca.