Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l'energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile (ENEA)

ENEA has highly qualified personnel, advanced laboratories, experimental facilities, and excellent instruments for the realization of projects, studies, tests, assessments, analyses, and training services, with particular reference to product and process innovation and the valorisation of results to contribute to the development and competitiveness of the national economic system. Human resources. ENEA's scientific and technological development activities are carried out in nine Research Centres throughout the country, in addition to five laboratories, the headquarters in Rome, a network of regional offices and the Brussels liaison office for participation in European and international research projects. ENEA has 2,316 employees of which 1,456 are researchers and technologists, almost 50.13% of them with a degree in Science and Health.

ENEA is strongly engaged in national and international research projects, funded under different programmes. Particularly concerning EC funded projects, in 2020, 47 new contracts were signed with the EC, relating to projects co-financed under different programs, for a total contribution of about 9.9 M€ to be spread over the multi-year period of validity of each contract (2014-2020 average, 10.1 9.9 M€/year). The ENEA activities underway in 2020 co-financed by EU programmes refer to 171 Horizon projects, out of which 124 started in previous years and are still in progress; the corresponding total EC co-financing to ENEA is of about 44.7 M€. For the period 2014- 2021, a total of 170 projects with the involvement of ENEA as coordinator or beneficiary were financed in the frame of H2020 (including RIA, IA, and CSA), out of which 28 are coordinated by ENEA.

ENEA brings together a strong interdisciplinary team involving researchers from several different and fields of food research, bringing together the skills and expertise necessary to realize the goal of the spokes where ENEA is actively involved, ranging from chemistry to chemical engineering, biology, chemistry, microbiology, biotechnology, food technology, omics science. The vast majority of our projects and research activities have always been based on this holistic and transdisciplinary approach.

ENEA relies on a wide and well-established network of national and international collaboration with several research/academia organisations, National Metrology Institutes and Designated Institutes, European/regional/local authorities, national health institutes, policy makers, networks, food businesses (SMEs, Big Industries, producer associations), ICT companies and developers, and consumer associations, in the frame of developed partnerships, joint projects, and participation to committees. Among them, EFSA, JRC (IRMM), Eurachem, Euramet, FoodMetNet, PRIMA, FoodAuthenticity Network, and FoodDrinkEurope are worth mentioning. ENEA also cooperates - through METROFOOD-RI - with several European Research Infrastructures (e.g., Anaee, EMPHASIS, IBISBA, SmartCow, LifeWatch, Euro-BioImaging, ELIXIR, MIRRI, EMBRC, EuOpenScreen).