Paola is forty years old, has three children and now astrophysicist. After ten years since then researcher precariousnow teaching mathematics and physics on superior. “In my third pregnancy, I missed the boat. I was told the research was not mine priority. Seeing that he was ugly, I entered a competition at school and luckily I won.” Sara, also a 39-year-old physicist, has one child. He is four years old and lives with his father in Rome, while she goes up and down from school. Spanishwhere he got a contract postdoc: 2,330 euros per month for three years, towards a research grant from 1,400 eurosupdated from year to year, as has been the case in Italy since 2020. These two dangerous researchers have in common the linking of their activities toNational Institute of Nuclear Physics (Infn), a public research agency dedicated to studying the basic elements of matter and the fundamental laws of the universe, where nearly a third of its staff is in dangerous conditions: 800 workers with the years of experience and training that I have excluded from any point of view stabilization. Although they carry out fundamental activities for the experiments and projects of an organization recognized throughout the world as ascientific excellence Italy.
Paola and Sara are fictitious names, as are the following names. People interviewed by ilfattoquotidiano.it they asked to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions. They are part of United Infn is precariousa group that has been fighting for years for the stabilization of the contracts of those working for the organization, across the national territory. There are around 800 temporary workers at Infn: 300 workers on fixed-term contracts and more than 500 workers on research grants or scholarships. Most grant recipients have implemented, even for more than 10 years, activity scientific importantgradually taking on important responsibilities and coordinating roles in international collaborations and research groups that could not function without them. All this time living with a deep discomfort: shrinking expired which causes anxiety, wages stopping for years, the impossibility of making plans for the future. A few months after signing a one-year extension, you already have to think about how to get another extension. Vulnerability that produces strong submission, both materially and psychologically.
As Claudio explains, 40 years old computer engineer who to deal with cyber security. He has worked at Infn for five years, on three different types of contracts. The last one as an employee technologist: he was hired at fixed time under Pnrr and his contract expires at the end of December. “From January 1 I will have to look for another job, perhaps in the private sector. Research for me is a job, it gives me great satisfaction, but you have to eat. I have a wife and two small children. I live on rent because I can’t afford the mortgage and to buy a car, my wife has to act as guarantor.” He talked about how his brother moved out Dutch and is now a manager: “I often think about the fact that I could have been a manager too, but at Infn there is no future. Here, vulnerability is a political and management choice.” He explains that many other colleagues working at Pnrr will end their terms at the same time as him: “Many project managers complain that with staff reductions they cannot guarantee continuity of service”.
United Precarious slams European funds Pnrr only used for infrastructure and not for recruitment. Forget that research is done with people and not with walls. Therefore, they explain, the government needs to allocate resources specifically dedicated to staff. “Existing laws and regulations, through law Sideboardalready allows immediate permanent recruitment, without further competition, for those who have at least gained experience three years of service in the final eight and were recruited through a competitive procedure. Potential beneficiaries of stabilization are: different hundreds person. But the Institution must be given a god funds jump for this purpose, otherwise it would never have happened”, they explained. However, the United Precariates continued, “today Infn only spent 46.5% of his current income: well below the legal limit of 80%. In other words, there would be enough margin to hire or stabilize, but this is not happening.”
Among the workers who must leave the Institute at the end of 2025, with the end of the Pnrr contract, there is also Giulia, 51 years old. He defines himself as a “historic temporary worker”: his first contract with Infn began in 2017 2004more than twenty years ago, after graduating in physics. Since then, there have been five projects, all different: research grants, fixed-term contracts, and even co.co.co. In between, several years as a schoolteacher. “A proper institution – he said – is not to be a I fell back. And the opposite welcomes those who have been doing it for years hyperspecialization to do research but it was never stable”. Why did he dedicate so many years to this organization? “Because I have studied all my life to train myself and there are not many other places in Italy to do research”. And this is the point he wants to focus on: “Beyond the material difficulties that I, like many other colleagues, experience, but in Italy we share with other workers, in precarious circumstances and otherwise, we must focus on how this country treats people who do research and culture. What future can we have?”.
