ERC Experience: Zooming in the Synergy scheme

Elisa Giuliani is Full Professor of Management at the University of Pisa. She holds a PhD from the University of Pisa and a PhD from SPRU (Science Policy Research Unit) at the University of Sussex. She was a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute in 2004 and an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at SPRU in 2005. She has held visiting professorships at MIT Sloan School of Management, Bocconi University, and Lund University. She is ranked among the top 2% of scientists in the Elsevier–Stanford global ranking and is the recipient of an ERC Synergy Grant for the period 2026–2032. She is currently Editor for Research Policy and Associate Editor for the Academy of Management Annals.

Her research examines how innovation interacts with societal wellbeing, democratic governance, and responsible business conduct in an increasingly globalized economy. She aims to advance understanding of when and how innovation contributes to inclusive development, respects human rights, and strengthens democratic processes, and to critically investigate the conditions under which innovation can also produce negative societal externalities. Her work has been published in leading international journals, including Research Policy, World Development, Journal of Economic Geography, Journal of International Business Studies, and Journal of Business Ethics.

Arianna Martinelli is Associate Professor of Applied Economics at the Institute of Economics of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa. She holds a PhD in Economics from Eindhoven University of Technology, an MSc in Industry and Innovation Analysis from SPRU (Science Policy Research Unit) at the University of Sussex, and an MSc in Economics and Social Studies from Bocconi University.

Her research focuses on the economics of innovation, with particular emphasis on intellectual property rights (IPR). As an applied economist, she develops patent-based indicators and methodological approaches to capture various dimensions of the innovation process and its outcomes. In recent years, her research has increasingly focused on sustainability issues, particularly within the chemical industry. She has served as principal investigator and in other research roles in numerous projects funded by the Italian Ministry of Research and the European Union, including an ERC Synergy Grant for the period 2026–2032. Her work has been published in leading international journals, including Research Policy, World Development, Journal of Economic Geography, Industry and Innovation, Industrial and Corporate Change, and Technological Forecasting and Social Change.

Organized by Elena Franchi with the collaboration of Matteo Benedetti, Andrea Di Nicola, Sandro Montresor and the Research Support Division UniTrento.